Monday, April 20, 2009

Mondays with McGonagall: Loch Leven

More from William's autobiography this week, except this is a poem, with the somewhat hubristic title Magnificent Poem on Loch Leven:



Beautiful Loch Leven, near by Kinross,
For a good day's fishing the angler is seldom at a loss,
For the loch it abounds with pike and trout,
Which can be had for the catching without any doubt;
And the scenery around it is most beautiful to be seen,
Especially the Castle, wherein was imprisoned Scotland's ill-starred Queen.

Then there's the lofty Lomond Hills on the eastern side,
And the loch is long, very deep, very wide;
Then on the southern side there's Benarty's rugged hills,
And from the tops can be seen the village of Kinross with its spinning mills.

The big house of Kinross is very handsome to be seen,
With its beautiful grounds around it, and lime trees so green,
And 'tis a magnificent sight to see, on a fine summer afternoon
The bees extracting honey from the leaves when in full bloom.

There the tourist can enjoy himself and while away the hours,
Underneath the lime trees shady bowers,
And listen to the humming of the busy bees,
While they are busy gathering honey from the lime trees.

Then there's the old burying ground near by Kinross,
And the dead that lie there turned into dusty dross,
And the gravestones are all in a state of decay,
And the wall around it is mouldering away.




3 comments:

  1. Mr McGonagall's understanding of pollination is interesting: "The bees extracting honey from the LEAVES when in full bloom."

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  2. What do you expect? The guy's a poet, not a botanist! :D

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  3. Whether it's trains, queens or lochs, he succeeds in ending his poems with a death theme. Macabre achievements aside, he is right of course about the scenery. It deserves a magnificent poem. Bring it on.

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