December 2010
2 posts
Robert Lowell's noted Mrs Dalloway limerick
There was once a Mrs named Dalloway,
Who had the misfortune to fall in the River Tay,
Her skirts they swelled up,
A pop and—“oh, what muck!”
For she required the use of a bag of the genus colostomy. [pron. ‘colostomay’]
- Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell's famous Madame Bovary limerick
There once was a Madame named Bovary,
Who developed a cyst on her ovary,
Her piss came out green,
Oh what could it mean?
She should not have committed adultery.
- Robert Lowell
Note: this limerick, devised by Lowell in his days studying at Harvard, remained a firm favourite amongst friends and relatives for the rest of his life. It was part of Bob’s regular ‘repertoire’, and he...