There Once Was A Man From Nantucket

Straightzi

Last night I was doing some research on the history of limericks and partway through that I came to a realization - I did not know the rest of one of the most famous ones. I knew the first line, naturally, and I knew that it was in some form obscene. It's so obscene, in fact, that it is regularly referenced in media with just the first line, at which point the speaker is cut off.

I think it's pretty easy to make some guesses at the rest of the poem, to be clear. There are some obvious rhymes. And part of the joy of limericks is definitely how easy it is to hit the meter and rhyme scheme, they're a fun little one-off goofy poem, that's the whole thing. But more than actually knowing it was obscene (or, truly, presuming that it was obscene), I understood that it was shorthand for obscenity.

The traditional obscene version, per Wikipedia:

There was a young man from Nantucket
Whose dick was so long he could suck it.
He said with a grin
As he wiped off his chin,
"If my ear was a cunt I would fuck it."

Anyways, do you know the rest of the poem? Do you know some other version of the poem?

I needed anime to post.

i don't remember the specific wording i knew when i was youthful but i definitely had a different final line

BahamutZERO

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

I knew or suspected it had to do with rhyming Nantucket with fuck it but the rest was a mystery

Projeck

Yes of course I know the poem

i have this tattooed on my member

Veldrin

Yes of course I know the poem

oh shit it's projeck

Tallahasseeriel

Yes of course I know the poem

I don't know any other limericks tho

Straightzi

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

I needed anime to post. wrote: »

i don't remember the specific wording i knew when i was youthful but i definitely had a different final line

I want to say the version I knew in my youth involved him toting around his suckably long dick in a bucket?

But I couldn't give you anything substantial beyond that.

Veldrin

Yes of course I know the poem

I'm actually a little surprised that the version we have over here is so spot on

Projeck

Yes of course I know the poem

Straightzi wrote: »

I needed anime to post. wrote: »

i don't remember the specific wording i knew when i was youthful but i definitely had a different final line

I want to say the version I knew in my youth involved him toting around his suckably long dick in a bucket?

But I couldn't give you anything substantial beyond that.

there's this variation i found online:

there once was a man from nantucket
who carried his balls in a bucket
and he said to his hon
while fondling one
if this were an oyster i'd shuck it

3cl1ps3

Yes of course I know the poem

That's the exact version I know, as it was told to me by other 11 year olds at summer camp.

Rhesus Positive

Yes of course I know the poem

Projeck wrote: »

Straightzi wrote: »

I needed anime to post. wrote: »

i don't remember the specific wording i knew when i was youthful but i definitely had a different final line

I want to say the version I knew in my youth involved him toting around his suckably long dick in a bucket?

But I couldn't give you anything substantial beyond that.

there's this variation i found online:

there once was a man from nantucket
who carried his balls in a bucket
and he said to his hon
while fondling one
if this were an oyster i'd shuck it

Interesting, as I know a different one with the subject of testicles

There once was a fellow from Cosham
Who took out his bollocks to wash 'em
His wife said, "Jack,
If you don't put them back,
I'll step on the buggers and squash 'em"

Kane Red Robe

I knew a version of the man from Nantucket that wasn't obscene, which has made all references to it in media throughout my life very confusing

I can't remember the version I knew as a kid but it wasn't obscene at all and I had no idea it was supposed to be until now.

facetious

Yes of course I know the poem

Good timing, just last night I was reading random songs from this 18th century songbook: https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_collection_of_songs/xRlOAAAAcAAJ?q=&gbpv=1&bshm=bshwcqp/1#f=false

They are some of the filthiest fucking lyrics I've ever read.

I was drawn to it from reading this snippet, and this is, genuinely, one of the LEAST filthy bits:

"They f----d 'em up the stairs,
They f----d 'em down the stairs,
They f----d 'em on the chairs,
They f----d 'em off the chairs,
And first they f----d 'em here,
And then they f----d 'em there,
But still they kept f----g on, Sir."

Tef

Yes of course I know the poem

When I played for the local sports ball team we would sing dirty limericks anytime we had to travel eg away games or whatever

Coinage

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

I don't care for this poem.

RMS Oceanic

Once an engine attached to a train
Was afraid of a few drops of rain
It went into a tunnel,
and squeaked through its funnel
And wouldn't come out again

MegaMan001

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

Holy shit that's a lot more graphic than I assumed it was

Label

Larlar.

Captain Inertia

Yes of course I know the poem

There once was a rabbi from Keith
Who circumcised men with his teeth.
It was not for the treasure,
Nor sexual pleasure,
But to get at the cheese underneath.

Captain Inertia

Yes of course I know the poem

I may have been to some bawdy pub shows at ren faire….

Dirtyboy

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

Projeck wrote: »

i have this tattooed on my member

In shorthand?

Houk the Namebringer

I also was unaware of the exact wording of the poem

for some reason in my memory one of the lines ended with bucket

but man I knew the poem was dirty but good lord

sarukun

I knew the first two lines, but not the last three.

Darmak

Yes of course I know the poem

My wife had never heard this before.

She giggled when I told her lol

Lucedes

I knew a version of the man from Nantucket that wasn't obscene, which has made all references to it in media throughout my life very confusing

there was a children’s version with bucket and another rhyme and it was distributed in a book of cleaned-up nursery rhymes (mother goose somehow involved in the title?)

RMS Oceanic

MegaMan001 wrote: »

Holy shit that's a lot more graphic than I assumed it was

Well he did get Montressor'd

Tallahasseeriel

Yes of course I know the poem

I'm pretty sure I first heard the first line from the Simpsons episode Homer goes to space where he recites it doing cartwheels but hits a wall before he can get to the dirty parts.

After that either one of my step siblings or my step dad told me the rest of it I think. I was probably like 14.