The Worst Poet in the World | From Cautionary Tales

Bushkin. You're about to hear an episode of Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford. Tim's podcast explores mistakes from history and importantly what we can learn from them. As you can imagine, there's a lot of disasters to choose from, but there's always an interesting angle on what we can take from them. I learn something new every time.

You'd be surprised, but a shipwreck from the sixties can teach us something about a mistake we all make when making decisions today. This episode is about a poet. William McGonagall is remembered today as the worst poet in the world, and Tim is obsessed with his work. I think I am too. Here's a quick example.

A pathetic tale of the sea I will unfold, enough to make one's blood run cold, concerning four fishermen cast adrift in a dory, As I've been told, I'll relate the story. 'Twas on the eighth April, on the afternoon of that day, that the village of Louisbourg was thrown into a wild state of disarray. So, what can we learn from a disastrous poet? Tim has a few ideas, and in true revisionist history style, he has a feeling we've been understanding McGonagall all wrong.

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