Erudite Limericks about Existentialism

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes “existentialism” as a term of convenience. Jean-Paul Sartre adopted the name for himself, and most of us associate it with the likes of Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir and Martin Buber. But many, including Camus and Heidegger (pictured above), explicitly rejected the label. Today we’ve expanded the the post-war classification to encompass 19th century writers and thinkers like Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard and even Herman Melville.

It’s difficult to say where existentialism begins or ends, but we can generally agree that it has something to do with questioning the meaning and purpose of life, and concluding that being itself may be the greatest mystery of all. Why, after all, is there something rather than nothing?

So in the spirit of great mysteries, I’d like to present the following series of limericks inspired by some of the biggest names in existentialism.

Existence and Being

     Being and Nothing
     Some things are different and others are not
     Separate or one with the whole cosmic lot
               But the Being supreme 
               Is a bit like a dream
     Where something and nothing are tied in a knot  

     Existential Intransigence 
     Escaping existence I pen my next rhyme
     Ignoring the boundaries of being and time
               The surface, I skim it
               Resisting its limit
     To find myself drifting in dreamspace divine

     Being and Time
     Thus have I heard it that God is a process
     And not the scorekeeper who tallies your losses
               No mystical wealth 
               Just Being itself
     An effect which is more than the sum of its causes 

     Ergo Sum 
     Some stay and fight while the others are fleeing
     Some prefer ping pong and others go skiing
               But whatever your game
               We are mainly the same
     We all do one thing, and that thing is called being

     Ontological Soup 
     Far be it from me to unleash a long lecture
     But knowledge and being are bound by conjecture
               Cogito and sum
               Collapse into one
     Till our very existence reveals its rich texture

Eminent Existentialists

The next three limericks I wrote specifically with Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Martin Buber in mind.

     Jean Paul Sartre
     There’s a frustrated Frenchman they call Jean Paul Sartre
     Oh he and the clergy were wide worlds apart
               How he wanted to flee
               But condemned to be free
     For believing in nothing with all of his heart

     Existential Bliss
     We live in a world so absurd
     There’s no meaning or hadn’t you heard
               But it’s cause to rejoice
               For your life is your choice
     There’s no reason to follow the herd 

     I and Thou
     There comes a phenomenal moment before
     Our outward awareness arrives on the shore
               Before me and you
               Are sundered in two
     A single existence right down to the core

Further Reading

If you liked these limericks about existentialism, you might also enjoy :

• Limericks about Western Philosophy
• Limericks about German Philosophers 
• Limericks about Life after Death
• Limericks about Inquiry
• Limericks about Taoism
• What is a Limerick?