Clerihew Totally Explained

Everything about Clerihew totally explained

A Clerihew (or clerihew) is a very specific kind of short biographical humorous verse.

Structure and style

A Clerihew has the following properties:

It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people
It has four lines of irregular length (for comic effect); the third and fourth lines are usually longer than the first two
The rhyme structure is AABB; the subject matter and wording are often humorously contrived in order to achieve a rhyme
The first line consists solely (or almost solely) of the subject's name.

Clerihews are not satirical or abusive, but they target famous individuals and reposition them in an absurd or commonplace setting, often with an over-simplified and slightly garbled description (similar to the schoolboy style of 1066 and All That).
The unbalanced and unpolished poetic meter and line length parody the limerick, and the clerihew form also parodies the eulogy.

Practitioners

The form was invented by and is named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley. As a student, Bentley invented the clerihew on Humphry Davy (see below) during his studies, and it was a great hit with his friends. The first use of the word in print was in 1928. Clerihew published three volumes of his own clerihews, including Biography for Beginners (1905).
Bentley's friend, G. K. Chesterton, was also a practitioner of the clerihew and one of the sources of its popularity. However, other serious authors also produced clerihews, including W. H. Auden, and it remains a popular humorous form among other writers and the general public.

Examples

The first ever Clerihew was written about Sir Humphry Davy:
ť Sir Humphry Davy

   Abominated gravy. ť He lived in the odium

   Of having discovered sodium.
   Other classic Clerihews included:
ť Daniel Defoe

   Lived a long time ago. ť He had nothing to do, so

   He wrote Robinson Crusoe. ť George the Third

   Ought never to have occurred. ť One can only wonder

   At so grotesque a blunder. ť John Stuart Mill,

   By a mighty effort of will, ť Overcame his natural bonhomie

   And wrote Principles of Political Economy. ť Edgar Allan Poe

   Was passionately fond of roe. ť He always liked to chew some,

   While writing anything gruesome. ť "No, Sir," said General Sherman,

   "I did not enjoy the sermon; ť Nor I didn't git any

   Kick outer the litany." ť Sir Christopher Wren

   Said "I am going to dine with some men. ť "If anybody calls,

   "Say I'm designing St Paul's." ť Sir James Dewar

   Is better than you're ť None of you asses

   Can liquefy gasses! ť Edmund Clerihew Bentley,

   Was evidently ť A man

   Who couldn't get his poems to scan.
   In 1983, Games Magazine ran a contest titled "Do You Clerihew?" The winning entry was:
Did Descartes
Depart
With the thought
"Therefore I'm not"?
Among the runners-up were:
Mrs. Steve Lawrence
Has an abhorrence
For junk food-you might say
She's a gourmet.
Labor Leader Jimmy Hoffa
Apparently refused an unrefuseable offer
It is widely feared
That he just disappeared

Further Information

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