Repentant Limericks about Guilt and Redemption

There’s a curious connection between conscience and consciousness. The capacity for guilt and remorse is a necessary condition for mindful beings. Freudians label it the superego. Michael of Northgate, a 14th century monk, deliberated upon the Ayenbite of Inwyt. In the parlance of new age secularism, we simply refer to that little voice inside our heads, whispering to us with an innate knowledge of right and wrong.

The Wellspring of Guilt and Conscience

Wherever its origins, whatever its source, we’re all familiar with the rueful sensation of a heavy conscience. And the following series of limericks about guilt and redemption takes a long hard look at that sorry feeling. Agonizing though it may be, it’s a big part of what separates our bipedal species from the four-legged beasts.

It should come as no surprise then that this uniquely human characteristic carries such weighty, religious overtones. It’s part of the responsibility that comes with possessing a soul. After all, isn’t God himself just another personification of that knowing little voice dwelling inside of us?

We have names for those people who have no sense of remorse and no ability to self examine. We usually call them sociopaths or psychopaths. And they make terrible roommates.

For a couple thousand years, the church has made a good business out of magnifying and exploiting this tendency to punish ourselves with a guilty conscious. From what I can discern, Christianity has even made guilt a prerequisite on the spiritual path toward redemption. So the following limericks commemorate that intriguing tradition.

     Compassion
     I see there’s a reason for acting depraved
     You first have to sin if you want to be saved
               Step out of place
               And be granted His grace
     So where’s the incentive to be well-behaved?

     Reconciliation
     There once was a weighty confession
     The holiest form of expression
               Despite your intention
               There’ll be no redemption
     Until the first act of transgression

     Eschatology
     There’s life after death or so many believe
     Rewarding the righteous, not those who deceive
              But who will get in?
              The one without sin?
     But everyone’s guilty beginning with Eve

Secular Sorrow

But, of course, a person can enjoy a full spectrum of guilty sensations without the trappings of religious convention. The psychological anguish takes on many forms.

     Regrets
     There’s an uneasy feeling of guilt
     From memories that cause us to wilt
               You got what you wanted
               And now you’re being haunted
     By shadows of milk that you’ve spilt

     Recollections
     On dark murky waters an iceberg comes drifting
     A body of memories dangerously shifting
               Casually spoken
               The surface is broken
     The voice can be frigid, disturbed or uplifting

     Guilt & Bewilderment
     There’s a Russian who suffers from mental dysfunction
     Arrived at a morally perilous junction
               His mind in a fever
               He strikes with a cleaver
     And now he’s perturbed by a pound of compunction

     The Sins of Silence 
     Watch for the words that are spoken with violence
     Dividing us up on our Stygian islands
               But holding them back
               Is a form of attack
     I swear that there’s nothing so cruel as the silence

Weaponized Wordplay

I recently made the costly mistake of sharing some of my more prurient and provocative limericks, which were quickly identified as offensive and misogynistic. Far from my intention to incite anger and discord, I was only trying to uphold the tradition of writing limericks of the off-color variety. So I quickly issued an apology, but not before a few pages had already fallen into the hands of a local clergyman.

     An Apology
     There once was a pome which offended
     Has the heyday of limericks now ended?
             I beg you forgive me
             They might just outlive me
     Lest our standards are rightly upended

     Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Bears
     A community teeters on total disaster
     When tables are turned between servant and master
             A few lines of magic
             Result in the tragic
     When handed a reckoning blast from the pastor

Further Reading

If you enjoyed these limericks about guilt and redemption, please consider sharing the post or subscribing to the blog. You might also want to check out some of these stimulating articles:

• Limericks about Darkness and Sorrow
• Limericks about Moby Dick
• Limericks about Introspection
• Serious Limericks: There once was an unsmiling rhymer