Wordsworth In Rap

OK! Now they have gone too far. Call me old-fashioned: call me a stuffed shirt, but there are certain jewels in our cultural and literary heritage that you just do not take liberties with. How would you react to Leonardo daVinci's Mona Lisa reinvented as pop star Madonna in a cone bra? Shock and horror, right? Well, now some Philistines have cast their insidious gaze on William Wordsworth's most famous poem, 'Daffodils'. The ageless poem has been 'updated' for the 21st century by being turned into a cringe-making rap song. Is nothing sacred?

Here's a tiny sample of the atrocity:

Original Version

Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance

Rap Version

Must have been 10,000 I saw in my retina
No more than a glance
Then I register they're beautiful etcetera
I never knew in advance
But they were tossing up their heads like a pogo dance

The rap has been recorded to mark the bicentenary of the poem with the aim of appealing to the next generation of Lake District visitors. Next generation of what: MTV aficionados, who would not recognize the romanticism in a sublime work if they were hit on the head with it? Give me a break.

The tourist chiefs have also commissioned an equally toe-curling pop video featuring a man dressed as a giant red squirrel. The video of MC Nuts was shot on the banks of Ullswater, which was Wordsworth's inspiration for 'Daffodils'. I think any further comment on this sacrilege would be superfluous.

Its creators say that, as well as making the works of Wordsworth relevant to a younger audience, the rap also shows a clever use of wordplay and is a distant relative of poetic rhyming verse. Oh great! Now they're comparing MC Hammer to Wordsworth.

A Cumbria Tourism spokesman said: "Wordsworth's Daffodils has remained unchanged for 200 years; and to keep it alive for another two centuries, we wanted to engage the YouTube generation who want modern music and amusing video footage on the web. I would like to remind the 'honorable' gentlemen that the 'unchanged' Daffodils has remained a source of delight for generations, to those who appreciate the finer aspects of life. Leave the 'YouTube generation' to their mindless video games and what passes for music in their lexicon. You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear.