When it comes to short verse forms, the limerick is probably the first type of poem that comes to mind. However, the best ones are entirely unpublishable, as George Bernard Shaw once declared, alluding to their risqué reputation. (Next time you’re at a party, just bring up that memorable opening line, “There once was a man from Nan-tucket...” and see how it goes over.)

Another short verse form not as well known, but certainly just as clever, is the clerihew.

The clerihew (pronounced CLER-ih-hyoo) is a humorous poem of two rhymed couplets. It usually includes a famous person’s name in the opening line. Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1956), who made this poem form famous, started writing clerihews while attending St. Paul’s School in London. The story goes that he was bored one day during a chemistry lecture and scribbled down the following poem:

Sir Humphrey Davy

Abominated gravy.

He lived in the odium

Of having discovered sodium.

Bentley went on to write several books of clerihews, first publishing in 1905 with Biography For Beginners, and later collections in 1929 and 1939. The British writer and critic G.K. Chesterton, one of Bentley’s life-long friends and a fellow classmate at St. Paul’s, also wrote clerihews.

To write a clerihew, start with a famous person. The clerihew usually introduces a famous person in the rhyme of the first line, elaborates on this person in the next line, and then uses a second rhyming couplet to express a witty or light-hearted anecdote or observation about this person. The first two lines rhyme, and then the third and fourth lines share a new rhyme.

Most people can call upon easy rhymes (like day, way, play), but it’s a little harder to test your wit rhyming with multisyllabic words (like nefarious, precarious, Aquarius). If you’re interested in using lots of crazy rhymes, look for a rhyming dictionary, available at most book stores and public libraries. A rhyming dictionary arranges words based on their endings (—ence, —able, —tion, for example).

When you rhyme, the rhymes don’t always have to be a perfect corresponding end sound like “free” and “be.” When the rhymes are close but not quite, they are called off-rhymes, as in “office” and “pompous” or “season” and “sneezing.” Sometimes you can use one word to rhyme with a group of words, such as “melodious” and “the both of us” or “situation” and “since you ate some.” The more you rhyme, the more comfortable you will become at fitting words together to create the sounds you want.

Here’s another clerihew from Bentley which uses some clever rhymes:

The people of Spain think Cervantes

Equal to half-a-dozen Dantes;

An opinion resented most bitterly

By the people of Italy.

In today’s tabloid-crazy, Jerry Springer, spin-city world, it’s hard to believe the clerihew hasn’t become more popular. After all, there are so many public officials, celebrities and pop stars that are worthy of a clerihew. Give it a try. Here are a few of mine ....

There’s only one king: that’s Elvis

The rock star with a swinging pelvis.

His adoring fans are many

But he ain’t gettin’ a penny.

Good ol’ George Dubya

The rich folks love ya

Maybe it’s the silver spoon

That makes ya talk like a buffoon.

Osama bin Laden has plans

Hatched secretly in foreign lands

But we don’t know if he’s living

And what orders he’s been giving.

The dubious distinction of Mike Tyson

Is that he bites in the ring he fights in.

A heavyweight like Ali or Spinks

But he don’t care what we thinks.