Jul10 Fun Holiday – Clerihew Day
On July 10 celebrate the Clerihew, a form of poetry that was invented by English author Edmund Clerihew Bentley.
Write a funny poem about someone today.
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Commemorating Bentley’s birthday the unofficial holiday encourages people to read and write their own specific form of clerihews.
A clerihew is a 4-line biographical poem usually featuring and making fun of a well-known person. The first line always includes the name of the subject. The poem does not have a fixed meter or line length and has an AABB rhyme scheme.
Anatomy of a Poem
In poetry, a meter (or metre if you follow British spellings) refers to a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line that is set in length (a verse). A rhyme scheme refers to the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line in a poem. To identify a rhyme scheme, each line in a poem is designated with a letter. Lines that share a letter rhyme have words at the end that rhyme with each other.
It is believed that Bentley first came up with the clerihew at the age of 16 during a science class. The poem was about Sir Humphry Davy, a chemist. It was published in 1905.
How to Celebrate?
- Read some of Bentley’s clerihews.
- Spend some time coming up with your own clerihews. What about featuring some of your friends, family members, and co-workers in some of your poems?
- Learn more about the history, art, and science of poetry.
Did You Know...
...that the study of meter and rhyme in poetry and prose is called prosody?
Clerihew Day Observances
| Fun Holiday: Clerihew Day Observances | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Weekday | Date | Name |
| 2024 | Wed | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2025 | Thu | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2026 | Fri | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2027 | Sat | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2028 | Mon | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2029 | Tue | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2030 | Wed | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2031 | Thu | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2032 | Sat | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
| 2033 | Sun | 10 Jul | Clerihew Day |
