William McGonagall centennary
Sun, 2002-05-05 10:39
#1
William McGonagall centennary
This year 2002 is the 100th since the death of the legendary badpoet, William Topaz McGonagall, regarded far and wide as the worst poet ever, (Until I came along anyway). McGonagal was convinced of his own genius and regarded himself as thetrue poet Laureate, he was teetotal and pontificated loudly on the evils of drink, despite many performances in pub rooms, whereit was common for his water to be spiked so hewound up seriously sozzled. It may also explain why many landlords, renting out pub rooms which always filled with people eager to groan at his so-selfconciously serious odes that he rarely got paid afterwards. His intro to his own collection, Poetic Gems begins ""The first man who threw peas at me was a publican..." and so it goes on.
Arthur Chappell
(That hadn't finished when it posted itself) McGonagal was an emotive wrangler, eagerto wtrite about every death of a nobleman and disaster to show his loyalty to the British public.... If some lord or Laird snuffed it, he wouldbe cursed withan epitaph in verse from McGonagal. OF course his most famous coup was the writings on the Tay Bridge, one written after the building ofthe Bridge, with its omenous verse, "Beautiful Railway Bridge of The Silvery Tay! I hope that God willprotect all passengers/By night and by day/And that no accident will befall them while crossing/The Bridge of the Silvery Tay. Of course, the accident did happen, the Bridge collapsed with a train filled with passengers, prompting the awfully dogerall infested "Beautiful Railway Bridge of The Silvery Tay! / Alas ! I am very sorry to say/That ninety lives have been taken away/Onthe last Sabbath day of 1879/ Whuich wil be remember'd for a very long time. I love McGonagall's story and hoispoetry, cramming as many words into aline as possible before some truly attrocious rhymes , deadly ernest to the point of painful, a hero in every sense ofthe word, hope we don't overlook his centenarry folks AC arthurchappell@clara.net www.arthurchappell.clara.net/contents.htm
Liana
Oh lets have the whole thing.... its marvellous!
I'm particularly fond of the attempt to rhyme Edinburgh with sorrow.. aww..
Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
'Twas about seven o'clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clods seem'd to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem'd to say-
"I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."
When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers' hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
"I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay."
But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sught,
And the passengers' hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov'd most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.
So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o'er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill'd all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav'd to tell the tale
How the disaster happen'd on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.
It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of thSilv'ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.
David Floyd
McGonagall is probably the biggest influence on my poetry career. Pure genius!
timmy wazzock
*cartwheels thru in a stringfellowesque thong*
fish
*follows on street scooter ... panting*
fish
i've visited tamworth a number of times ... so far i havent been inspired to immortalise it in verse ... do you think i should try it moya?
fish
whooooo moya ... am usually there at weekends ... but if i find myself in the vicinity on a wed i will pop in for sure ... do i have to do anything for the tea and biscuit?