Teacher's Column
Hello,from Douglas!
There once was a lady from Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside
And the smile on the face of the tiger
The above short poem is called a Limerick. A limerick is a short poem
that has a strong rhythm and rhyme.
Rhythm:
The rhythm for this limerick is o(weak) O (strong)
oOooOooOo
oOooOooOo
ooOooO
ooOooO
ooOooOooOo
Rhyme:
The first, second and last lines rhyme (Niger, tiger, tiger)
And the third and fourth lines rhyme (ride, inside)
Now after you read this limerick, then look at the meaning. We sometimes
talk about "riding the tiger", which means to be in a dangerous
situation, and to have trouble getting away from it.
Imagine you are riding a tiger. The tiger cannot get you from its back,
so you are safe as long as you are riding it. It can be very fun and
exciting up there, moving along quickly nad feeling the powerful animal
beneath you, but, as soon as you get off, the tiger can easily attack
you with its claws and bite. So it is hard to get off, or at least very
dangerous.
Have you ever felt that way in your life? You were in a situation where
things were fun, but you were a little worried or scared about the
situation? Perhaps you knew that this situation was going to stop being
fun soon and might turn dangerous. If wo, you were riding the tiger,
just like the poor lady from Nier, who apparently did not have a good
ending to her life.
Hopefully things will not turn out so bad for you.
Douglas Moore