Bono would seem to have no future as a poet, after a verse he wrote comparing Volodymyr Zelensky to St Patrick was widely derided on social media.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, read the poem aloud at a lunch on St Patrick’s Day in Washington. Comparing how the snakes were driven out of Ireland to the Ukrainian president’s defence of his country, Bono’s effort finished: “Ireland’s sorrow and pain/ Is now the Ukraine/ And St Patrick’s name now Zelensky.”
Colm Keegan, a poet and playwright, said his initial reaction was an “eye roll” at Bono attempting a political statement while also “trying to have a bit of craic”.
Keegan said the poem was in the form of a limerick, a satire or comedy with the AABBA rhyme scheme that usually does not say anything profound. “But that’s what Bono is trying to do, subvert the limerick poem to say something important,” said Keegan, who reckons the U2 singer’s effort failed to “pull it off” and was “clunky”.
“The time for joking is gone, and it makes a political statement instead of a quick and easy joke,” he said. “Our favourite thing to do is slag off someone who gets too big for their boots, and Bono’s boots are very big.”
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Rita Ann Higgins, a Galway poet, said Bono’s theme was “self-explanatory” in that he compared St Patrick to Zelensky, but when using rhyme, it needs to be a “good rhyme”.
“Does it work? It could work better,” Higgins said.
“I’m an avid supporter of drafting, and seeing the difference when you get to draft 15 and you compare it to draft one.”