“A CLERIHEW,” MATHEMATICIAN HOWARD EVES WROTE, “is a form of light verse, akin to the limerick, that became popular in England.”
Edmund Clerihew, 1875–1956, English novelist and humorist, inventor of the clerihew. Image from The Bookman, 1913, via Wikipedia.
Wikipedia notes, “Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 – 30 March 1956), who generally published under the names E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley, was an English novelist and humorist, and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics.” Eves offers two of these verses; I’ve collected others from a variety of sources.
Mathematical Circles Adieu, by Howard Eves, Prindle Weber & Schmidt, 1977.
Eves’ Clerihews. The two in Eves’ book Mathematical Circles Adieu follow here:
Sir Christopher Wren/ Said, “I am going to dine with some men./ If anyone calls,/ Say I am designing St. Paul’s.”
St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Image by Mark Fosh via Wikipedia.
Archimedes of Syracuse/ To get into the news,/ Called out “Eureka”/ And became the first streaker.
Image from Wikipedia.
The Clerihew Format. A clerihew consists of four lines, the first and second rhyming, the third and fourth rhyming. Its first line names a person; the other three describe a humorous bit of biography. Unlike familiar poetic formats, there’s no counting of syllables (like Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter), nor word counts. The jagged pacing is part of the fun, as is recognizing why the person is worthy of a clerihew.
Other Scientific Personages. Sir Humphrey Davy/ Abominated gravy./ He lived in the odium/ Of having discovered sodium.
Sir James Dewar/ Is a better man than you are./ None of you asses/ Can liquefy gases. (Sir James also invented the thermos bottle.)
Philosophical Ones. Did Decartes/ Depart/ With the thought/ “Therefore I’m not”?
After dinner, Erasmus/ Told Colet not to be “blas’mous”/Which Colet, with some heat/ Requested him to repeat.
This one prompted some research on my part.
Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1466–1536, Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest, satirist, and philosopher. Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger via Wikipedia.
John Colet, 1467–1519, was an English Catholic priest, founder of St. Paul’s School in London and a friend of Erasmus.
National Literary Rivals. The people of Spain think Cervantes/ Equal to half-a-dozen Dantes:/ An opinion resented most bitterly/By the people of Italy.
George III, King of England, 1738–1820, reigned 1760 to his death. Portrait by Johann Zoffany, 1771, via Wikipedia.
Our Revolutionary Rival. George the Third/ Ought never to have occurred./ One can only wonder/ At so grotesque a blunder.
A Modern Rivalry. The music of Katy Perry/ Is kinda scary./ I heard it and sniffed,/ I much prefer Taylor Swift.
My Trumpian Failures. I composed two clerihews, albeit prematurely. One used the rhyming words Trump and dump, hale and jail. The other, Trump and chump, Hoosier and loser.
Alas, I must rephrase. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024