July 10 - Clerihew Day

What's a clerihew and why the heck are we celebrating it? Named in honour of British writer Edmund Clerihew Bentley's birthday in 1875, a clerihew is a four line rhyming verse similar to a limerick, humerous and biographical in nature. Bentley's first collection of poetry entitled, Biography for Beginners, introduced and popularized the form in 1905. Here's a couple of examples of his early clerihews:

The art of Biography

Is different from Geography.

Geography is about maps,

But Biography is about chaps.

It was a weakness of Voltaire's

To forget to say his prayers,

And one which to his shame

He never overcame.

To celebrate the day, why not try your hand at creating a clerihew of your own. It's harder than it looks!