by Bernard Lamb<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was a Neanderthal man<\/p>\n Who found that his grunts didn\u2019t scan;<\/p>\n This hearty meat-eater<\/p>\n Invented the metre<\/p>\n To prove they certainly can.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Said this primitive poet of Thame:<\/p>\n \u201cMy verses may sound rather lame;<\/p>\n I think, given time,<\/p>\n I could invent rhyme,<\/p>\n With line-endings just sounding the same.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While carving cave walls with his stick,<\/p>\n He made a verse-form looking slick:<\/p>\n With very few rhymes<\/p>\n And only five lines,<\/p>\n He\u2019d invented the first limerick!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are many subtleties in all languages, with huge differences in meaning between words which are often confused or misused. This limerick clearly illustrates that between \u2018may\u2019 (allowed to) and \u2018can\u2019 (able to).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A lover of grammar, named Anne,<\/p>\n Asked, \u201cPlease may I sleep with this man?\u201d<\/p>\n When told, \u201cNo, you can\u2019t,\u201d<\/p>\n She replied, \u201cBut dear Aunt,<\/p>\n Experience proves that I can!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Limericks about English verse by Bernard Lamb The pioneering poet There was a Neanderthal man Who found that his grunts didn\u2019t scan; This hearty meat-eater Invented the metre To prove they certainly can. Said this primitive poet of Thame: \u201cMy verses may sound rather lame; I think, given time, I could invent rhyme, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":111,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-675","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe pioneering poet<\/h3>\n
May and can<\/h3>\n