finishing the last line with _limb_ or _hen_ or _bun_. A serious writer could do that with impunity, and indeed with praise, but the more exacting traditions of Limerical composition insist that, having fixed on _Ham_ as the end of the first line, you must find two other rhymes to _Ham_, and good rhymes too. This is why there is so large a body of uncompleted Limericks. For many years I have been trying to finish the following unfinished masterpiece:-- There was a young man who said "_Hell!_ I don't think I feel very well----" That was composed on the Gallipoli Peninsula; in fact it was composed under fire; indeed I remember now that we were going over the top at the time. But in the quiet days of Peace I can get no further with it. It only shows how much easier it is to begin a Limerick than to end it. Apart from the subtle phrasing of the second line this poem is noteworthy because it is cast in the classic form. All the best Limericks are about a young man, or else an old one, who said some short sharp monosyllable in the first line. For example:-- There was a young man who said "_If_---- Now what are the rhymes to _if_? Looking up my _Rhyming Dictionary_ I see they are:-- cliff hieroglyph hippogriff skiff sniff stiff tiff whiff Of these one may reject _hippogriff_ at once, as it is in the wrong metre. _Hieroglyph_ is attractive, and we might do worse than:-- There was a young man who said "If One murdered a hieroglyph----" Having, however, no very clear idea of the nature of a hieroglyph I am afraid that this will also join the long list of unfinished masterpieces. Personally I should incline to something of this kind:-- There was a young man who said "If I threw myself over a cliff I do not believe _One_ person would grieve----" Now the last line is going to be very difficult. The tragic loneliness, the utter disillusion of this young man is so vividly outlined in the first part of the poem that to avoid an anticlimax a really powerful last line is required. _But there are no powerful rhymes._ A serious poet, of course, could finish up with _death_ or _faith_, or some powerful word like that. But we are limited to _skiff_, _sniff_, _tiff_ and _whiff_. And what can you do with those? Students, I hope, will see what they can do. My own tentative solution is printed, by arrangement with the Editor, on another page (458). I do not pretend that it is perfect; in fact it seems to me to strike rather a vulgar note. At the same time it is copyright, and must not be set to music in the U.S.A.