I started volunteering at the city library today. The man who is my immediate supervisor is about to retire and is a bit of an English stereotype--very well-spoken with a dry sense of humor and an inclination to offer visitors tea. He appears to know everything about the history of the UK and I've learned all kinds of things about grave-robbing traps and medieval buildings and bridge disasters while spending time with him. He has a project in mind for me to work on, but he seems to be most interested that I feel NO PRESSURE about anything--arriving at a certain time, completing work, etc. Instead, I am to enjoy myself and feel free to use the kettle and read up on whatever fascinating files I encounter (so far, my favorite files are 19th century drawings of local gravestones). I am happy to oblige.
The library has quite a lot of information on the poet William McGonagall, and my supervisor is a bit of an expert on him. We ran across several files that refer to McGonagall, which excited me because McGonagall is an important part of my relationship with Steve. McGonagall is a terrible, but much-loved, local poet from the late 1800s, and Steve wooed me with his awful verse. Here's a little gem of an excerpt from "
The Sprig of Moss":
And when life's prospects at times appear dreary to ye,
Remember Alois Senefelder, the discoverer of Lithography
Magical, no? To be so brilliantly bad at your craft is a real gift. A
gift.
5 comments:
I think I have a gift for Todd coming up. :)
I am happy because you sound good and happy. It could be a lie, but I suspect not.
Oh, yes, nothing says Happy Birthday/Anniversary/Tuesday like a little William Topaz McGonagall. Read a short bio of him someday. They're usually as delightful as his poetry.
I am happy. :)
McGonagall ha! I'll see that and raise you Amanda McKitrick Ros, author of such peerless works as Irene Iddlesleigh, Delina Delaney or Oasis of Futurity.
Such a wonderful gift to the poetic arts with her understated Fumes of Formation or Poems of Puncture. Here's her Visiting Westminister Abbey.
"Holy Moses! Have a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here,
Mortal loads of beef and beer,
Some of whom are turned to dust,
Every one bids lost to lust;
Royal flesh so tinged with 'blue'
Undergoes the same as you."
CS Lewis's favourite bad writer and also officially recognised by Mark Twain.
Enjoy.
Holy cow! Impressive! Yes, yes, I see that William has some competition on the awful poetry front. Thanks for bringing her to my attention.
I'm the webmaster of McGonagall Online - the definitive McGonagall website (thanks for the link!). I have a lot of stuff from the library's collection already on the site, but if you unearth anything in the files that I haven't got, I'd really like to publish it.
If you're on the lookout for other bad poets, check out James McIntyre ( http://www.swiftandbored.com/mcintyre/ ), Canada's worst, and a man who took writing cheesy poetry rather literally:
We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.
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