Скачать или смотреть The Tay Bridge Disaster

"The Tay Bridge Disaster" is a poem written in 1880 by the Scottish poet, William McGonagall, who has been widely acclaimed as the worst poet in history. The poem recounts the events of the evening of December 28, 1879, when, during a severe gale, the Tay Rail Bridge at Dundee collapsed as a train was passing over it with the loss of all on board (now thought to be 75 people, not 90 as stated in the poem). The foundations of the bridge were not removed and are alongside the existing newer bridge.


The poem is by far the most famous ever written by McGonagall, and is still widely quoted. It begins:

:"Beautiful railway bridge of the silv'ry Tay
:Alas! I am very sorry to say
:That ninety lives have been taken away
:On the last sabbath day of 1879
:Which shall be remembered for a very long time."

And it ends:

:"Oh! Ill-fated bridge of the silv'ry Tay
:I now must conclude my lay
:By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay
:That your central girders would not have given wa