Rejuvenating Limericks about Life After Death

From that first moment when we recognize the certainty and irreversibility of our own mortality—usually between the age of 5 and 7—we humans begin to wonder about the possibility of life after death. Even a young child can recognize the basic principle of cause and effect. So she naturally assumes that something must come before birth, and something else must happen after death.

Religion and folklore have built upon these natural queries and intuitions for many thousands of years. Meanwhile, philosophers and neuroscientists continue to debate weather the mind exists independently of the body.

It’s only logical then that we should have a series of limericks about life after death.

Egyptian Ethos

Judging by the size and durability of the Great Pyramids, it’s safe to say that the Egyptians took life after death pretty seriously.

     Mummy Knows Best
     Life after death is a quizzical concept
     Told long ago by a Pharaoh named Hosept
               Go see what he said
               In the Book of the Dead
     A series of secrets the mystics below kept

Credo of Christians

Many households still keep a collection of books about life after death on their bookshelf. They generally refer to it as the New Testament. One interpretation suggests that only the good and the pure will be rewarded with eternal life beyond this earthly existence.

     The Distant Promise
     The uppermost matters defy all description
     Instead we pursue an elaborate fiction
               Expecting a prize 
               When each of us dies
     So many maintain this unbending conviction 

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

     Virtue’s Reward
     There’s a theme on which some will expound
     On where ultimate Truth can be found
               If to Good we will strive
               Will our souls all survive
     Or just nourish the worms underground?

Further Speculations

There’s no end to the number of stories you might come up with to explain life after death. Most of them revolve around the idea of an eternal, indivisible soul. My own theory is that our souls are made up of spiritual stuff which can be broken down into what I call Seldons, the same way our physical stuff can be broken down into atoms.

     Transmigration of Souls
     There’s a comforting concept of metempsychosis
     The spirit moves on while the flesh decomposes
               But the birth rate’s exceeded
               So new souls are needed
     And this is the number one problem it poses

     Eternal Units
     I’ve rejected the common position
     That the soul is not prone to division
               But it’s scattered in pieces
               When the life force releases
     You might say I’m a metaphysician

     Evanescent Emergence
     From out of the void we form phantoms discrete
     The body and spirit make something complete
               We are one before birth 
               But many on Earth
     Till the soul slips away and the cycles repeat

     The End
     When beckoned by death’s fateful kiss
      In this moment you might reminisce
               As your past is unfurled
               You cling to the world
     Now let go and descend the abyss

Further Reading

If you liked these limericks about life after death, you might also enjoy :

• Limericks about Time & Impermanence
• Limericks about Existentialism
• Limericks about Moby Dick
• Limericks about Religious Problems
• Limericks about Skepticism
• What is a Limerick?