I amna fou’ sae muckle as tired – deid dune. It’s gey and hard wark coupin’ gless for gless Wi’ Cruivie and Gilsanquhar and the like, And I’m no’ juist as bauld as aince I wes. If you recognize the first stanza from Hugh MacDiarmid’s 1926 poem ‘A Drunk Man Looks At A Thistle’ you may also […]
Tag: poem
‘Lament of the Lowly Rusty Tea Strainer’
Drink in, if you will, these highlights from the poem “Lament of the Lowly Rusty Tea Strainer,” by Fred J. Johnston, published in the journal Laboratory Medicine (Volume 11, Issue 6, 1 June 1980): …So oft have I been clogged with crud That’s mixed with tarry clotted blood. I’ve often seen a tapeworm dead And helped […]
‘Stethoscope’ – and other medical poems
If you’re looking for poetic material with medical themes, the pages of the journal Medical Humanities are a good place to begin. The publication regularly features medically inspired poems – turn for example to Volume 37, Issue 1, which features : ● ‘Stethoscope’ (by Anne K Merritt) Here’s an extract : “She has wandered with […]
The Tay Bridge Disaster, remembered on its anniversary
Today, December 28, is the anniversary of the Tay Bridge Disaster. The tragedy is now remembered in connection with the disaster of the poem it inspired. William McGonagall (whose family name, at least, is familar to readers of the Harry Potter books, because his grave is in the cemetery near the coffee shop where the first […]
“Of Mice and Men” research poetry
The proprietor of the EasternBlot blog has made (wrought?) a poem entirely from the titles of 40 academic articles that begin with the phrase “Of Mice and Men”. The poem begins: Of mice and men.2 Of mice and men, metals and mutations.3 Of mice and men, corticosteroids, and vicarious participation.4 Of mice and men–universality and breakdown […]
Improbable TV: Tay Bridge Disaster recited on a train on the bridge
Here’s a new episode of the Improbable Research TV series. It’s the 4th of many episodes featuring the bad poetry of William Topaz McGonagall. (For no good reason at all, we are releasing this 4th episode before we release the 3rd episode.) William Topaz McGonagall, who died in 1902, is widely regarded as the worst poet […]
Bad Poems Today in Edinburgh, at 2 pm
Join us today for a historic revelation. at the Edinburgh Science Festival. Our three-part event begins at 2:00 pm. Newly Discovered Poems by William Topaz McGonagall. This special event begins with a revelation of utterly no importance, but great historical interest: the first modern recital of two more nearly-lost poems by the bad poet William […]
Improbable TV: ‘Stirling Castle’ with Terry Jones
Here’s a new episode — #McG-001, “Stirling Castle” with Terry Jones — of the Improbable Research TV series. It’s the first of many episodes featuring the bad poetry of William Topaz McGonagall. William Topaz McGonagall, who died in 1902, is widely regarded as the worst poet ever to write in the English language. On March […]
McGonagall poem: Hawthornden
Two nights ago, on March 19, 2011, at the University of Dundee, two overlooked bad poems by William Topaz McGonagall were given their first public reading in over a century, and perhaps ever. [Click here for event details.] The second of those poems, “Hawthornden”, was recited by Professor Chris McManus of University College London. Here […]
McGonagall poem: Stirling Castle
Two nights ago, on March 19, 2011, at the University of Dundee, two overlooked bad poems by William Topaz McGonagall were given their first public reading in over a century, and perhaps ever. [Click here for event details.] The first of those poems, “Sterling Castle: A Descriptive Poem”, was recited by Eddie Small of the […]