Futility Closet

William McGonagall has been called "the only truly memorable bad poet in our language," responsible for tin-eared verse that could "give you cauliflower ears just from silent reading": Alas! Lord and Lady Dalhousie are dead, and buried at last, Which causes many people to feel a little downcast; And both lie side by side in one grave, But I hope God in His goodness their souls will save. In this episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll sample McGonagall's writings, follow the poor poet's sadly heroic wanderings, and wonder whether he may have been in on the joke after all. We'll also consider a South Carolina seventh grader's plea to Ronald Reagan and puzzle over a man's outrageous public behavior. Our segment on William McGonagall, the world's worst poet, is drawn from Norman Watson's beautifully researched 2010 book Poet McGonagall: A Biography. The best online source on McGonagall is Chris Hunt's site McGonagall Online, which contains extensive biographical materials, a map of the poet's travels, and a