A Clerihew (or clerihew) is a very specific kind of short biographical humorous verse.
Wiktionary:
Wikipedia:clerihew
Alternative spellings
Clerihew
Etymology
Named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley
Noun
clerihew
A rhyme of four lines, usually regarding a person mentioned in the first line.
The clerihew, as you can see,
is shorter than it ought to be,
with just four lines I’m s’posed to tell,
what it’s all about...oh well.
In Play: Unfortunately, it's difficult to work this word into a conversation. One would probably have more success asking, "Hey, do you want to hear a Clerihew?" and then reciting an example....The form was invented by and is named after Edmund Clerihew Bentley. As a student, Bentley invented the clerihew on Humphry Davy during his studies, and it was a great hit with his friends. The first use of the word in print was in 1928.
...
The first ever Clerihew was written about Sir Humphry Davy:
Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
...
In 1983, Games Magazine ran a contest titled "Do You Clerihew?" The winning entry was:
Did Descartes
Depart
With the thought
"Therefore I'm not"?
Clara Huges
Uses Clarihews
To show how humorous
She thinks her wit is to us.
Miss Spelling
Has an effect most telling,
Using devices mnemonic
To render English spelling and pronunciation less demonic.
Stargzer
Tried to please her,
But she couldn't be satisfied
No matter how hard he tried.