The Worst Poet in History | Tales From the Bottle

This poet did not take criticism well, in the rare instances he even acknowledged it.

"William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work.
He wrote about 200 poems, including "The Tay Bridge Disaster" and "The Famous Tay Whale", which are widely regarded as some of the worst in English literature. Groups throughout Scotland engaged him to make recitations from his work, and contemporary descriptions of these performances indicate that many listeners were appreciating McGonagall's skill as a comic music hall character. Collections of his verse remain popular, with several volumes available today.
McGonagall has been lampooned as the worst poet in British history. The chief criticisms are that he was deaf to poetic metaphor and unable to scan correctly. His only apparent understanding of poetry was his belief that it needed to rhyme. McGonagall's fame stems from the humorous effects these shortcomings are considered to generate in his work. Scholars argue that his inappropriate rhythms, weak vocabulary, and ill-advised imagery combine to make his work amongst the most unintentionally amusing dramatic poetry in the English language. His work is in a long tradition of narrative ballads and verse written and published about great events and tragedies, and widely circulated among the local population as handbills. In an age before radio and television, their voice was one way of communicating important news to an avid public."

More on Wikipedia:

[FriedrichHerschel]

An Irishman, living in Scotland, writing poetry against alcohol?
Now I've seen it all.

[WretchedIcon]

His story serves as an important reminder: if you're going to do anything in life, do it good, or spectacularly bad. The mediocre are what get lost to time.

[JWQweqOPDH]

As an engineering student (with high functioning autism) who hates language arts classes, his poems sound like something I'd proudly turn in for an assignment.

[aprilflynn]

As a fellow shitty poet, I find this very inspiring. Here was a man who clearly felt a calling, and he didn't let any mere lack of talent get in the way of that.

[shmackydoodRon]

We talked about him in college when the question arose as to whether poetry could be objectively good or bad.

[pennyforyourthots]

Honestly, his poetry is kind of genuinely impressive in the sense that it's somehow terrible, but not boring. It almost reads like Star wars dialogue, where it's simultaneously too literal but also way too theatrical at the same time.

[danielx]

He is one of the most important writers in human history. Once, I sat in a library in Scotland and read one of his books and laughed and laughed and laughed.

His style is so consistent. Most of us could predict what his next line will be. Even when he makes those weird lurches into "we'll die less when we build our houses good" it's not even surprising because you get used to him just being obtuse.

[JMUDoc]

"Which meter did McGonagall use?"
"No."

[jadegecko]

A lot of my enjoyment comes from the fact that he seems to feel the need to shoehorn technical details into the poem
"A bridge collapsed and it was very sad. Many lives were lost. Anyway, let me explain how buttresses would've helped the structure"

[StudioUAC]

I love his tenacity! He didn't care what others thought of his work. He kept doing what he loved, despite the criticism!

[JohnSmith-efrn]

An Irishman did, once upon a time
Took to using verses and rhyme
Those with ears took it to be a crime
And he was left without a dime

[Conqueringrule]

I was really hoping this video was going to be about Zhang Zongchang, but those were pretty entertaining too. He was a Chinese Warlord who wrote completely awful poetry (or was potentially framed by his rival warlord with fake poetry, which I think would be just as good). My favorite poem of his is this:
"Tour Taishan"

From a distance, Taishan is dark, with thinner heads and thicker heads.

If you turn Mount Tai upside down, the lower head is thinner and the upper head is thicker.

That described his thoughts upon seeing the mountain Taishan, where he came to the epiphany that if the mountain was upside down then the bottom of the mountain would be thicker than the top. Truly inspiring stuff

[Fort]

And yet, the irony is that I'm sure there were many actual good poets at the time who are totally forgotten now, while this dude is still remembered

[Saltience]

McGonagoll’s poetry may be no good
Surface level observations, nothing under the hood.
Target practice for all those in town
His rhymes gave him money, but not much renown
But while his works may have been a miss
He lived a good life, ignorance is bliss.

thank you for reading my mcgonagall level poetry

[wieldylattice]

3:00 honestly if this is the poem someone wrote about the tragic accident I died in, I would love it a lot more than a sincere poem. None of that “woe are the victims” sentimental nonsense. Gets straight to the point, talks about the root cause of accident, and presents it in a way that is both memorable and humorous

[Zholat]

I really enjoy his use of "killed dead"

[JamesFromTexas]

"He who laughs at himself never loses anything to laugh at, " may have been what he was going for. I really hope he just leaned into his silliness and lived a happy life.

[jesusojeda]

He realized not only fame but infamy was a valid source of income. Today he would be a youtuber, no doubt.

[stueyphone]

If he managed one thing in his life, is that he left a legacy. We are still here in the present talking about this man and his work. TRULY, remarkable.

[ratto]

As the poems continue, I find myself saying "NO PLEASE STOP" out loud. It just GOES ON AND ON.