File under: WTF.
"Robert Burns's poetry might have been dismissed as "sentimental doggerel" ... but that hasn't stopped diminutive I'm A Celebrity contestant David Gest and pop legend Michael Jackson from recording an album of the much-loved Scottish poet's work. Gest's spokesman ... explained that he and Jackson were originally planning to do a musical about Burns's life, but decided instead to turn his poetry into show tunes."
I am not familiar with Burns's work, but I don't think it's a coincidence that these three stanzas end the first poem of his I looked up on the Internets:
Is there a man, whose judgment clear
Can others teach the course to steer,
Yet runs, himself, life's mad career,
Wild as the wave,
Here pause-and, thro' the starting tear,
Survey this grave.
The poor inhabitant below
Was quick to learn the wise to know,
And keenly felt the friendly glow,
And softer flame;
But thoughtless follies laid him low,
And stain'd his name!
Reader, attend! whether thy soul
Soars fancy's flights beyond the pole,
Or darkling grubs this earthly hole,
In low pursuit:
Know, prudent, cautious, self-control
Is wisdom's root.
(Robert Burns, from "A Bard's Epitaph," 1786)
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