A Fine Line
Many limericks get their laughs out of schadenfreude (our rather objectionable tendency to feel pleasure at another’s misfortune). Such a one I wrote today:
An naïve, pure-hearted young vet
Found his clients became quite upset
When he first manifested
Conditions first tested
By Georges Albert Édouard Tourette.
To show just how slight a distinction there is between comedy and tragedy, I wrote an epilogue describing this poor guy’s later life. If this section is funny at all, it’s because of its very seriousness.
Thirty years on, and his debts
Are greater than all his regrets;
He garners his keep
On a farm, shearing sheep,
Hooked on gambling and light cigarettes.
Thanks again to the Limerick Database (see my earlier post about it) for both precipitating and facilitating my limerick writing!
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Tags: limericks, poetry, schadenfreude, writing
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