The worst poems by great writers

Kristen Stewart may have been criticised for writing a bad poem, but Wordsworth and Shakespeare got away with far worse

Kristen Stewart and William Wordsworth: kindred poets? Photo: John P. De Graeve/REX/Tavin/Everett/REX

By Charlotte Runcie

The Telegraph - 21 Feb 2014

Poor Kristen Stewart. Last week she allowed Marie Claire to publish a poem she'd written. It didn't go down well. Newspapers, critics and Twitter users fell over themselves to condemn it as "the worst poem of all time", while the ink was still warm.

The evidence? Flagrant thesaurus abuse ("Your nature perforated the abrasive organ pumps"), self-indulgent line breaks ("this pining erosion is getting dust in / My eyes") and bits that are just plain, good, old-fashioned nonsense ("I reared digital moonlight"). It is not exactly Shakespeare.

But then, sometimes Shakespeare wasn't exactly Shakespeare either. In fact, many of our most revered and beloved writers throughout history have let some shockingly bad verse slip below the literary radar, with nary a dent in their reputations to show for it.

But no longer. Enjoy the following poetic stinkers from, supposedly, our "greatest" writers. Laureateships and knighthoods can be returned in the post. 
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