Had to dredge this old thread up when I saw it mentioned to offer this tidbit:
We had in our region, until he passed recently, an eccentric monied man who proclaimed himself a poet and wrote below the 4th grade level (honestly!...my 9 year old niece was writing more sophisticated work than this guy!). AND he had the audacity to buy ad space in the local trade papers to publish his work on a weekly basis...he shall remain unnamed. But, here, courtesy of this quirky quack, is what I believe to be the all-time worse opening line (or close to it) in the history of English poetry...from a poem of his about a certain type of sailing vessel. Ready?
Here it is:

Dread not dreadnought

How's that for poetic barf, folks?...and he misspelled the former suffix as " -naught" as well!