World
Works of 'World's Worst Poet' rakes in more than Harry Potter at auction!
London | May 17, 2008 12:43:34 PM IST
He was dubbed as the "world's worst poet", but now Scottish Bard William McGonagall has had the last laugh, for his odes have raked in more money than the very famous Harry Potter books at an auction. A total of 35 of McGonagall's works - many of them autographed - have been sold for 6,600 pounds in an auction in Edinburgh. The Harry Potter books only brought in 6,000 pounds. The ditties by "The Tayside Tragedian" went for more than a collection of Harry Potter first editions signed by author JK Rowling. McGonagall was born in Edinburgh in 1825, but spent much of his life in Dundee as a handloom weaver in the jute mills. He did not start writing poems until he was 47, but went on to write about subjects including Scottish battles and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. "He was a confident gentleman who thought that his poetry was some of the best," BBC quoted Alex Dove, from auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, as saying. "He once walked all the way to Balmoral to try to become Poet Laureate. Unfortunately the Queen wasn't in. He spent a lot of time on the streets of Dundee trying to sell his poems and performing them, much to the amusement of the residents," they added. David Kett from the library service in Dundee believes much of the criticism McGonagall receives is unjustified. "He's really popular because he promoted himself to an enormous extent and he produced this interesting and unique verse, which has resonated down the ages," he said. "Because some people take offence with it and ridicule it, they fail to realise what McGonagall is trying to say, which is a narrative of all the events he saw. "It's bad in parts, but there are parts of the poetry where he does achieve a certain extent of lyricism, describing one of the country parks he mentions 'the bees buzzing in the lyme trees' - really conjures up the image," he added. (ANI)
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