Description:

The very form of the limerick makes it sound humorous.
This short workshop sets the very simple exercise of writing a limerick, true to form, with entirely non-lewd or humorous content. Content of a serious, philosophical, beauteous or emotional nature.
Far more difficult than it sounds.
It will teach us a lot about form versus content.

A limerick is a five line poem, written in anapaest with often cataleptic elements. . The meter, though important, is the lesser requirement to the rhyme structure.
The first, second and fifth line rhyme. The third and fourth lines rhyme. Usually the third and forth lines are shorter.
AABBA
These rules can not be broken.
If you are unfamiliar with the form it is imperative you Google it and read some. You will find them all, without exception, rude and or humorous.
Hence the challenge.

My favourite un-rude, humorous limerick

There was an old lady from Clyde
who ate forty apples and died
the apples fermented
inside the lamented
and made cider inside her inside.

Leader: weirdelf (Jess)
Moderator(s): Wesley Snow
Scribbler (Stan)

Objectives: To write a serious limerick

Level of expertise: Open to all

Subject matter: Limericks
If you are unfamiliar with the form the Wikipedia article is not bad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_%28poetry%29
and a Google search turns up some good examples.
 

I be taking a fairly hands off approcach to this workship, asking members to critique each other's limericks.

Do not forget to select "Can you make a limerick serious" from the workshop droplist at the bottom of the Submit a poem page and put (Limerick Workshop) in the title

I've decide to use SondCload https://soundcloud.com/upload-beta as way for us to record our limericks and let each other hear them. If your computer doesn't have a microphone, don't worry, the workshop will work anyway, however do try to recored your limerick and post the URL of your recording. Limericks sound best aloud.

Let's start with a discussion of the form.