NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 A Funny Man

Q1.

A limerick is a nonsensical and funny verse consisting of five lines. Study the limerick given below and identify the rhyme scheme. 1. There was an Old Man with a beard, / Who said, “It is just as I feared! / Two Owls and a Hen, / Four Larks and a Wren, / Have all built their nests in my beard!” (Edward Lear) — Now, read another limerick: 2. There were two friends in Bengaluru's lanes, / One loved books, the other flew planes. / They'd laugh and they'd play, / In their own unique way, / Creating stories and flying in dreams' trains.

Answer

The rhyme scheme of both limericks is AABBA.

Line	Limerick 1 — ending	Limerick 2 — ending	Rhyme
1	beard	lanes	A
2	feared	planes	A
3	Hen	play	B
4	Wren	way	B
5	beard	trains	A

The shape of a limerick: Lines 1, 2 and 5 are longer and rhyme together; lines 3 and 4 are shorter and rhyme with each other. The short middle pair speeds the poem up, and the long last line lands the joke. As the book says — all limericks have the same rhyme scheme, AABBA.

Q2.

Follow the structure given below and write a limerick on your own. Line 1: Introduction of a person or place. Lines 2–4: A silly story. Line 5: An unexpected ending. [Frame: There was a child from ______ / Who ______ / ______ / She/He ______ / ______]

Answer

Method

Line 1 — name a person and a place: “There was a child from Jodhpur…”. The place gives you your A-rhyme.
Lines 2 and 5 must rhyme with line 1. Choose the place after checking that it has easy rhymes.
Lines 3 and 4 are short and rhyme with each other. This is where the silly story happens.
Line 5 must surprise — a twist, not a summary.
Keep the beat bouncy: da-dum da-da-dum da-da-dum.

Sample answer 1 (using the book's frame)
There was a child from Nagpur,
Who painted her cat on the door;
The cat, most annoyed,
Slipped out through the void —
And now there are paw prints galore!

Sample answer 2
There was a young boy from Guwahati,
Who ate only rice and chapati;
He grew rather round,
Rolled off down the ground,
And won the school race as a party!

Sample answer 3 — in the spirit of the poem
There was a strange man from Madurai,
Who wore both his shoes on his tie;
He greeted the crowd
With a bow, long and proud,
Then hopped down the road on one eye!

Checking your own limerick: Count the beats — 1, 2 and 5 should feel long; 3 and 4 short. Read it aloud. If your tongue trips, change a word. And make sure the last line surprises; a limerick that simply repeats line 1 is not finished.

NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 2 A Funny Man — Let us write