Definition

1. Noun:
   • A short, humorous, and satirical poem consisting of exactly four lines, forming two rhymed couplets (AABB rhyme scheme). It typically mentions a famous person by name in the first line and presents a whimsical, often irreverent, biographical fact or observation about them.

Usage

• A clerihew is a specific, light-hearted poetic form used for comic effect. It is named after its inventor, Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The rules are simple: the first line must contain the name of a well-known figure, and the poem should be brief and witty.

Examples

• Noun:
  • "The president is George W. Bush, / Who is happy to sit on his tush, / While sending his armies to fight, / For anything he thinks is right" is a classic clerihew.
  • Edmund Clerihew Bentley wrote a famous clerihew about Sir Christopher Wren: "Sir Christopher Wren / Said, 'I am going to dine with some men. / If anybody calls / Say I am designing St. Paul's.'"

Advanced Usage

• As a literary form: The clerihew is often used in literary circles and publications as a form of light verse or parlor game, where the challenge is to create a clever and concise biographical joke about a historical or contemporary figure.
• Structural flexibility: While traditionally four lines with an AABB rhyme, modern clerihews sometimes play with meter, but the defining features remain the named subject and the humorous, satirical tone.

Variants and Related Words

• Clerihewist (n, rare): A person who writes clerihews.
  • He was an avid clerihewist, always crafting funny verses about politicians.

Synonyms

• Light verse: A general term for poetry that is playful or humorous in nature.
• Satirical poem: A poem that uses humor, irony, or ridicule to criticize.

Related Idioms or Phrases

• To write/penn a clerihew: The specific act of composing a poem in this form.
  • For the magazine's contest, she decided to pen a clerihew about a famous scientist.

Noun

1. a witty satiric verse containing two rhymed couplets and mentioning a famous person
   • `The president is George W. Bush, Who is happy to sit on his tush, While sending his armies to fight, For anything he thinks is right' is a clerihew