Donald Trump may not have A-list performers at his inauguration this Friday, but at least he has a poem –one that many people already hate.
According to the Independent, the poem was written by American Joseph Charles McKenzie and pays homage to the president-elect’s Scottish roots, from his mother’s side.
It refers to a great hero who comes down from his tower (Trump Tower?) to snatch power from a “tyrant” and save the people from “slavery’s chains.” Does that make President Obama the tyrant in this situation? The poem, of course, is open to interpretation.
McKenzie’s poem also gives a shout out to “harridans” — a word for bossy, belligerent women.
“Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps/Teach women to look and behave like us chaps/The Domhnall defends the defenseless forlorn/For, a woman’s first right is the right to be born.”
Many on social media were not pleased.
“This harridan may never stop throwing up,” wrote one Twitter user.
This harridan may never stop throwing up. https://t.co/7M0jaLaTu3
— Typewriters Quiet (@moustratus) January 17, 2017
Other users thought the poem was so great they couldn’t even pick out a favorite verse.
“Can’t even decide what my favorite (most terribly awful) part is, there’s just too much to choose from,” wrote one person.
Can't even decide what my favorite (most terribly awful) part is, there's just too much to choose from https://t.co/4WEuZxq8dJ
— Leila A. McNeill (@leilasedai) January 17, 2017
“This is sarcastic, right? Let’s all pretend this is sarcastic,” said another.
This is sarcastic, right? Let's all pretend this is sarcastic. https://t.co/0r3mVKwIjt
— Liesbeth Corens (@onslies) January 17, 2017
In 2008, Trump said “I think I do feel Scottish,” to the Guardian while on a visit to his mother’s hometown. While on a stop over in Scotland after Brexit, Trump praised the country for “taking their country back” and voting to leave — except that Scotland had voted to stay in the United Kingdom.
Scottish social media had a field day with the Donald, tweeting messages at him that said things like “They voted Remain and they hate your guts, you ludicrous tangerine ballbag.”
Read the full poem below:
“Come out for the Domhnall, ye brave men and proud,
The scion of Torquil and best of MacLeod!
With purpose and strength he came down from his tower
To snatch from a tyrant his ill-gotten power.
Now the cry has gone up with a cheer from the crowd:
“Come out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!”
When freedom is threatened by slavery’s chains
And voices are silenced as misery reigns,
We’ll come out for a leader whose courage is true
Whose virtues are solid and long overdue.
For, he’ll never forget us, we men of the crowd
Who elected the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
When crippling corruption polluted our nation
And plunged our economy into stagnation,
As self-righteous rogues took the opulent office
And plump politicians reneged on their promise
The forgotten continued to form a great crowd
That defended the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
The Domhnall’s a giver whilst others just take,
Ne’er gaining from that which his hands did not make.
A builder of buildings, employing good men,
He’s enriched many cities by factors of ten.
The honest and true gladly march with the crowd
Standing up for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
True friend of the migrant from both far and near,
He welcomes the worthy, but guards our frontier,
Lest a murderous horde, for whom hell is the norm,
Should threaten our lives and our nation deform.
We immigrants hasten to swell the great crowd.”
Coming out for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
Academe now lies dead, the old order rots,
No longer policing our words and our thoughts;
Its ignorant hirelings pretending to teach
Are backward in vision, sophomoric in speech.
Now we learnèd of mind add ourselves to the crowd
That cheers on the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
The black man, forgotten, in poverty dying,
The poor man, the sick man, with young children crying,
The soldier abroad and the mother who waits,
The young without work or behind prison gates,
The veterans, wounded, all welcome the crowd
That fights for the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!
Whilst hapless old harridans flapping their traps
Teach women to look and behave like us chaps,
The Domhnall defends the defenseless forlorn;
For, a woman’s first right is the right to be born.
Now the bonnie young lassies that fly to the crowd
Have a champion in Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!