Poetry: Everybody's a Critic

[nebroadwe]

Just to prove that, in addition to dishing it out, I have to take it, editorially speaking ...

My friend Marian today defends her doctoral thesis. In honor of the occasion, I wrote her a limerick: A brilliant grad student named Marian
Defended her thesis with nary an
Objection from those
Who properly chose
To award her degree without tarryin'.
Which has spawned a lively literary debate among our circle.

The Lawyer: You cheated with that "an." Only Tom Lehrer can get away with that.
Me: Beg to differ. [whips out credential] He has a master's in mathematics, but I have a doctorate in English. If he can do it, I can do it.
The Engineer: Dude, it's still cheating.
Me: Haven't any of you Philistines read Ogden Nash? Sheesh!
The Economist: I thought it was brilliant. As far as I'm concerned (though I am much closer to 'Mathematician' than 'Poet' on the Mathematician-Poet spectrum), there are no rules in Poetry... nor in Limericketry.
Me: Thank you, sir. [pedantically] Well, there are the requirements of form: a limerick has five lines with an AABBA rhyme scheme (the A lines containing three metrical feet each and the B lines two). Otherwise you're writing something else.
The Social Worker: [tongue firmly planted in cheek] I dunno. This all smacks of geekiness to me.

I might add, "What do they teach them at these schools?" You'd think lawyers, at least, would have encountered part-rhymes, given the more-than-occasional judge who breaks into verse in his or her opinions.

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UPDATE: The economist just produced a haiku and the lawyer a verse from a ballad. I've added a tanka. The rest of the group is discussing the best way to anesthetize the committee with food so that all the questions are drowsy and good-natured. Heh.

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UPDATE 2: It's now officially Dr. Marian. Woohoo!