The premise of this limerick you shall find,
If you choose to read beyond the last line!
The Golden Boy
A tale of gold the brothers Grimm spin.
My story on track for ending in sin.
I baked, I brewed, was ready to stew,
A baby boy since my name no one knew.
‘Til out the queen’s mouth, Rumpelstiltskin!
The Premise
What started out as a humble attempt to meet a Vocal + Assist Facebook Group Challenge ended up landing me a Top Story. Super Yay! Our challenge, if we so happened to choose it, was to “Write a piece of flash fiction, no word minimum, 1000 words maximum. […] No specific genre but you MUST include the word ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ somewhere in the story.”
I began by reading the original Grimm’s fairytale of Rumpelstiltskin. After all, it’s been a while since I read any of their originals. If you know anything about the brothers Grimm, their “fairytales” are really the stuff of nightmares gone awry. The endings aresuper tragic and the tale which begins simple enough quickly turns into a murder scene or twisted descent into hell on earth.
I received a comment that the limerick in my Rumpelstiltskin inspired story was great. Two slight issues: 1) The rhyme was not originally mine—that title goes to the brothers Grimm, and 2) Although it is quite close, it doesn’t actually meet the requirements of a limerick.
Original Rhyme From “Rumpelstiltskin”
Today do I bake,
tomorrow I brew,
The day after that the queen's child comes in;
And oh! I am glad that nobody knew
That the name I am called is Rumpelstiltskin!
The number of lines is correct. But Rumpelstiltskin’s little ditty is missing one crucial element. It rhymes; however, the rhyme scheme is off. We need AABBA for a limerick. What we have here from our dear Mr. Rumpelstiltskin is a rhyme scheme of ABCBC. His rhyme is catchy and can easily catch you off guard.
So I wanted to update Rumpelstiltskin’s song to be a true limerick while also highlighting his twist in fate. Yup, I’m kind of nerdy like that!
Read my Vocal + Assist story here:
Learn more about poetry here:
(Specifically line numbers and rhyme scheme.)
About the Creator
Stephanie J. Bradberry
I have a passion for literature and anime. And I love everything involving academia, health, metaphysics and entrepreneurship. During my free time I enjoy nature, crocheting, reading, my kiddos, and writing.
Visit me @ stephaniebradberry.com
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Comments (14)
Hey, a fun piece! Great job. I have love the Rumplestiltskin tale since I was a kid. 👏😊
I love that you went the extra mile to make Rumplestiltskin's to become a true limerick! Such dedication! Love your limerick!
Very good Stephanie. Good enlightening read.
Amazing! I really love how you put all your expertise into these. Your attention to detail is unmatched! I really love how you made a Rumpelstiltskin limerick! (I call him Rumply 😅) Btw, I still have to read your Rumply story ❤️
Great entry. Well done.
Great work Stephanie
I love love love your attention to detail on all things poetry. I actually had to use what you taught me in your poetry analysis series on H.P. Lovecraft before I wrote "The Stranger in the Otherlight." It really helped 😄
Oh I do love me some Brothers Grimm. I just read now since my mind is completely saturated. This sounded wonderful, learned a few things.
Haha excellent work on this!! Loved the explanation too.
I was just saying that I hate when people have a long note over explaining their short poem, but I take it back. This is the kind of backstory I like to see.
I liked that background story and information Great stuff
Ditto what Heather said! 💕🙂
I love your 'nerdy like that' side!! It speaks to my own :) This was great!!
Nice❤️✨