Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Neither rhyme nor reason


I had to laugh at that truly dreadful Carole Anne Duffy poem commissioned especially for the Radio Times Christmas issue. It's hilarious. It's based on the 12 days of Christmas and veers between earnest, bizarre, topical, non-sensical and just plain daft.

To wit, the sixth day:

'I bought a magic goose from a maiden (comely)
this goose laid Joanna Lumley'

Is this serious? Or is it some kind of joke? Again:

'I bought a magic goose from a bargain bin, it
was the goose laid Alan Bennett'

Hmm, must be the first time Alan Bennett has been associated with any sort of bargain bin. He'd be mortified. This woman's the poet Laureate! She clearly dashed it off in a hurry.

I don't claim to know a thing about poetry, but surely she's having a laugh. Or am I missing the point and it's a great work of art?

I could have thrown a load of fridge magnets up in the air and come up with something better.

7 comments:

Chris Hughes said...

Ha ha, I didn't know about this until now (for me, Christmas Radio Times begins on the first Saturday page and ends on the last Friday page) but I've just read it and it's staggeringly bad. "The first gold ring was gold indeed - bankers' profits fired in greed." Stick it to the man!

Jon Peake said...

I'm still laughing. The whole things ABSURD!

planet mondo said...

Perhaps it's some 'here's one I had ready' affair, just personalised for the BBC.

I know it's hugely popular, but I can't stand Kipling's If . Whadda load of ol' corn. And I've seen so many offices where it's Blu-Taked up as a motivational motif - ridiculous.

Cocktails said...

There must be something deep and meaningful in their somewhere.

Or maybe there isn't and that's the point. It's a load of flippant rubbish, like the contents of RT and Christmas telly.

Ooof.

Anonymous said...

Surely it's a spoof written by their hilarious new star columnist, Tim Dowling.

Jon Peake said...

Yes, Tim Dowling. I must sit down, my sides are splitting. Is he not the unfunniest man alive?

Kolley Kibber said...

I really don't get poetry at all,to my shame, but even I can see that's a load of old pony. Maybe the next verse will have some pointy birds in it.

And I'm adding a thumbs-down to Tim Dowling. I only read his column in the Saturday Guardian to make myself angry. Where did he come from, and why is he everywhere?

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