clerihew

American  

[kler-uh-hyoo] / ˈklɛr əˌhyu /

noun

Prosody.

1. a light verse form, usually consisting of two couplets, with lines of uneven length and irregular meter, the first line usually containing the name of a well-known person.

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clerihew British  

/ ˈklɛrɪˌhjuː /

noun

1. a form of comic or satiric verse, consisting of two couplets of metrically irregular lines, containing the name of a well-known person

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Etymology

Origin of clerihew

1925–30; named after E. Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956), English writer, its inventor

Explanation

A clerihew is a short poetic form about a famous person. Clerihews rhyme and consist of four lines. Clerihew was the middle name of the man who invented the form. Like the haiku, the clerihew is a very short type of poetry with a specific form. A clerihew must have four lines and consist of rhyming couplets. A clerihew should also be about a famous person. If this all sounds serious, it isn't. Like a limerick, a clerihew is usually humorous (though not necessarily dirty, as limericks tend to be). People write clerihews for fun and to amuse.

Example Sentences

A clerihew contest was suggested by both David Smith and Michael Greene.

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2015

And it prompted the Toronto political writer Andrew Coyne to dust off the Edwardian form the clerihew: Kim Kardashian Was a slave to her passion She married for l’amour Or perhaps for an hour.

From New York Times • Nov. 4, 2011

Yet his clerihew on the subject mocks rather than jeers: "The mustache of Adolf Hitler Could hardly be littler," Was the thought that kept recurring To Field-Marshal Goering.

From Time Magazine Archive

The first clerihew, written by Bentley at 16 when he was attending a lecture on chemistry: Sir Humphrey Davy Detested gravy.

From Time Magazine Archive

A proper clerihew consists of two couplets that humorously characterize a person whose name provides one of the rhymes.

From Time Magazine Archive