專八閱讀：最差詩人詩集拍賣

　　A collection of 35 poems by William Topaz McGonagall, often referred to as the "world's worst poet" in the English language, has sold for $12,900 at an auction in Edinburgh.

　　The collection, self-published by McGonagall, was sold by Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers Friday, with the buyer choosing to remain anonymous.

　　The works, described as having poor vocabulary and bad rhyming, tackle topics from a theatre fire to Britain's imperial wars to women's suffrage.

　　In fact, the selling price outpaced that of a set of inscribed Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, which fetched about $12,100 at the same event.

　　McGonagall was a weaver in Dundee, Scotland who often recited his works on the street and tried to sell them. He was ridiculed during his lifetime, keeping an umbrella nearby for protection against hurled eggs and vegetables.

　　One of his poems attests to the routine derision he experienced:

　　"Every morning when I go out/The ignorant rabble they do shout/There goes Mad McGonagall!"

　　"Everyone knows him as the world's worst poet, but we are still talking about him today and he's attracted an international audience," said Alex Dove, books specialist at Lyon & Turnbull.

　　"He's appreciated because he's comedic."

　　McGonagall, who died in 1902, was always proud of his work, despite the bad reception. He even produced a short autobiography, two copies of which were created and are inscribed with this tribute: "dedicated to himself, knowing none greater."

　　His most infamous poem is called The Tay Bridge Disaster (1879), which recalled the tragedy in which 75 people died.

　　"So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay/Until it was about midway/Then the central girders with a crash gave way/And down went the train and passengers into the Tay."

　　參考譯文

　　一本收有威廉•托帕茲•麥戈納格爾35首詩作的詩集日前在愛丁堡以12900美元被拍賣。麥戈納格爾常被稱作“世界最差英語詩人”。

　　這本由麥戈納格爾自己出版的詩集于上周五在“里昂和特恩布爾”拍賣行被一位不愿透露姓名的買主拍下。

　　麥戈納格爾的作品主要以一次劇院大火、英國帝國戰(zhàn)爭和婦女選舉權(quán)為創(chuàng)作題材，但他的詩作被認為詞匯貧乏，缺乏韻律。

　　而如今這本詩集的拍賣價超過了有JK•羅琳親筆簽名的一套《哈利•波特》系列叢書，這套《哈利•波特》叢書在此次拍賣中以12100萬美元的價格售出。

　　麥戈納格爾曾是蘇格蘭敦提市的一名紡織工人。他常在大街上朗誦并推銷自己的詩作。但他一生都遭到人們的嘲笑，為了擋住人們砸向他的雞蛋和蔬菜，他在住處附近撐了把傘。

　　他詩集中的一首作品真實反映了他當(dāng)時的處境：

　　“每天清晨我走出家門/迎接我的就是那些無知的嘲笑/麥戈納格爾，他要瘋了。”

　　“里昂和特恩布爾”拍賣行的圖書專家亞歷克斯•多弗說：“人人都知道他是世界上最糟糕的詩人，但今天我們?nèi)栽谡務(wù)撍鹆撕芏鄧庾x者的興趣。”

　　“他之所以受到關(guān)注是因為他的詩作具有喜劇效果。”

　　麥戈納格爾于1902年去世。盡管他一生備受抨擊和嘲笑，但他一直以自己的作品為自豪。他還創(chuàng)作了一本短篇自傳，其中兩冊上的題詞為：“獻給他自己，一個偉大的詩人。”

　　麥戈納格爾最糟糕的一首詩作名為《泰橋的災(zāi)難》，這首詩歌回顧了1879年發(fā)生在泰橋上的一次災(zāi)難，當(dāng)時共有75人喪生。