colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (02/09/86)
> Someone asked about the famous bad poet of Scotland, William McGonagall, ...
Julia A. Moore wrote poetry that was even worse than McGonagall's. The
last line of her "Sketch of the Author's Life" is easily the worst last line
of any poem ever written. Most of her poems were about disasters. If
there's enough interest I'll post her "Ashtabula Disaster," which I have
by heart.
I add that Mark Twain tried to imitate her poetry and failed--he couldn't
even get close.
"Two children died some years ago,
Before they went to Chicago." --Julia A. Moore
--
Col. G. L. Sicherman
UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
CS: colonel@buffalo-cs
BI: csdsicher@sunyabvajer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (02/12/86)
> Julia A. Moore wrote poetry that was even worse than McGonagall's.
I'm curious, what makes McGonagall or Moore a "distinguished bad poet"?
Surely there are thousands of people in the world who write equally terrible
poetry; is it that Moore and McGonagall succeeded in getting published
widely?
--
UUCP: Ofc: jer@peora.UUCP Home: jer@jerpc.CCUR.UUCP CCUR DNS: peora, pesnta
US Mail: MS 795; CONCURRENT Computer Corp. SDC; (A Perkin-Elmer Company)
2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642 xxxxx4xxxcolonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (02/16/86)
> I'm curious, what makes McGonagall or Moore a "distinguished bad poet"? > Surely there are thousands of people in the world who write equally terrible > poetry; is it that Moore and McGonagall succeeded in getting published > widely? Your assumption is wrong. Mrs. Moore wrote poetry that was unimaginably bad. Even people who _tried_ to write poetry as bad as hers failed. She had an infallible sense of the banal and the bathetic. "Come all good people far and near, Oh, come and see what you can hear." --Julia A. Moore -- Col. G. L. Sicherman UU: ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel CS: colonel@buffalo-cs BI: csdsicher@sunyabva
sara@mhuxj.UUCP (TRIGS) (02/16/86)
Perhaps it is only a matter of having been widely published-- at least widely enough to be parodied by the likes of Mark Twain, or to parody criticism written by the likes of Gilbert Highet.
phoenix@genat.UUCP (phoenix) (02/23/86)
Have you ever read/heard any Vogon poetry? :-) -- The Phoenix (Neither Bright, Dark, nor Young) ---"A man should live forever...or die trying." ---"There is no substitute for good manners...except fast reflexes."