Poetry World Records

Milan author and longtime teacher Sergio Roedner kept polishing Il libro dei 1000 limerick, and his 10 November 2026 edition swaps most of the remaining repeats for new poems, including playful takes on Edward Lear printed beside the originals. His Italian limericks run from a braying mayor in Zoagli to a prelate whose cassock catches the wind while paragliding over Schio. RecordSetter compared the full text of all 1,000 numbered entries and counted 980 different limericks of his own, counting revised repeats once and leaving out the Lear and Gianni Rodari poems he quotes and one quatrain that is not a limerick.

Ael, a young poet from Chennai, India, composed a complete sestina on a phone in 5 minutes and 54.18 seconds. A sestina is a demanding 36-line form in which six end words rotate through six stanzas in a fixed pattern; here the words were stone, river, hand, bird, salt and light, pulled from a Google search moments before the clock started. The unedited screen recording shows every line typed live under an on-screen stopwatch, from the first keystroke to the final word, "stone." That is a tricky form to finish in under six minutes, let alone with a stopwatch running.

Ael, a young poet from Chennai, India, composed a 10-line acrostic poem on a phone in 1 minute and 53.69 seconds. In an acrostic, the first letters of the lines spell a word down the page; here the word was "prodigious," pulled from a Google search seconds before the clock started. The unedited screen recording shows every line typed live under an on-screen stopwatch, from "Put me above the lands" to a closing line about summers past. Ten lines of kings, borders and freedom in under two minutes is a prodigious pace indeed.

Sam Klarich, Abby, Brittani, and Emily each read the first four limericks of John Ciardi’s The Hopeful Trout And Other Limericks[] in a combined two minutes, 18.92 seconds. The four limericks they read were The Elephant Boy, Goodbye Please, The Thingamajig and Keeping Busy Is Better Than Nothing.

James Hulser recited the At A Minute Or Two ’Til Two tongue twister in 7.57 seconds.

Ael, a young poet from Chennai, India, handwrote a five-line limerick on a clipboard in 34.25 seconds. The poem follows the classic AABBA rhyme: a ghost who sat on a post, gave a great scream, dissolved in a dream, and vanished, almost. The continuous overhead video shows every line going down in pen under an on-screen timer, which stops as the last word is finished. A whole ghost story, rhymed and done in about half a minute.

This record was set as part of Prius Records, a two-day event streamed live on the Internet. In a 48-hour period, URDB officials adjudicated 200 Prius-related world records. This was the most records ever documented in a 48-hour window, a world record in and of itself. The event took place in Los Angeles, California on March 30th and 31st, 2011. See all the records set at the event here.

Sarah Olson recited the poem "Troll Sat Alone on His Seat of Stone" by J.R.R. Tolkein from her memory while holding her cat. The poem contains a total of 412 words.

Alicia Weber performed 802 consecutive perfect push-ups in one hour. After finishing the push-ups, Weber performed a plank exercise while reciting a published poem.

Sathar Adhoor wrote a poetry book measuring one centimeter in length and width. The book weighs 300 mg and contains poems translated in 66 different languages.

Teenage author Aaron Ozee published nine poetry collections. Learn more about his works here.

Shripad Vaidya wrote a poem about nature in Hinglish. The poem is titled "Nature's Nature One Mirage One True" and consists of 3,751 words.