Collected Poems

by William McGonagall

Book by Mcgonagall, William Topaz, McGonagall, William

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Humor

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

He wrote about 200 poems, including his infamous "The Tay Bridge Disaster", which are widely regarded as some of the worst in English literature. Groups throughout Scotland engaged him to make recitations from his work; contemporary descriptions of these performances indicate that many listeners were appreciating McGonagall's skill as a comic music hall character, and his readings may be considered a form of performance art. Collections of his verse continue in popularity, with several volumes available today.

McGonagall has been acclaimed as the worst poet in British history. The chief criticisms are that he is deaf to poetic metaphor and unable to scan correctly. In the hands of lesser artists, this might generate dull, uninspiring verse. McGonagall's fame stems from the humorous effects these shortcomings generate. The inappropriate rhythms, weak vocabulary, and ill-advised imagery combine to make his work amongst the most unintentionally amusing dramatic poetry in the English language. His work is in a long tradition of verses written and published about great events and tragedies, and widely circulated among the local population as handbills. In an age before radio and television, their voice was one way of communicating important news to an avid public.

He died penniless in 1902 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Twas a little after the year eighteen hundred and twenty three
Was born in Scotland William McGonagall, the worst poet who e're would be
Though there may be some who fictitious him think
He lived, breathed and wrote, if you doubt just click this link

The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)

[Jazza1971 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to read them all,
Every poem by McGonagall,
Then search no further than this book,
They are all here, take a look.

His poetry is terrible, admittedly,
But still can fill one with glee.
The problem is his awful rhyme,
Which he likes to do all the time!

His poetry falls in to categories three,
Scottish places, battles and disaster misery.
The poems about battles are quite the bore,
Hence why I have rated this book a four.

The rhymes can be so bad,
You'll laugh so hard, folk'll think you're mad!
To make my point, I'll quote to thee,
My favourite bit of McGonagall poetry:

(From 'Montrose')

"Your beautiful Chain Bridge is magnificent to be seen,
Spanning the river Esk, a beautiful tidal stream,
Which abounds with trout and salmon,
Which can be had for the catching without any gammon."

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best worst poetry you'll ever read!

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you judge the poetry of William McGonagall. It's bad, everyone knows it's bad. That's the whole point of any collection of his. This collects all of it, which unfortunately highlights the fact that most of it is just plain bad doggerel. The poems celebrating battles in particular are generally just plain tedious. However, when it hits the right note, such as in The Tay Bridge Disaster, it inadvertently strikes a comedic chord that could be described as genius.
I certainly would not recommend anyone try to read their way through the whole collection, but dipping in at random and reading out loud is probably the way to go.
The autobiographical pieces are illuminating in so far as showing his prose was every bit as bad as his poems, and it would appear he wasn't in on the joke.
Ideally, there would be a carefully edited collection, dispensing with about 80% of the poems and presenting the best/worst.
And the short play is exactly what you would expect.

[Bolti · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Florence Foster Jenkins said, "People may say I can't sing, but no one can ever say I didn't sing."

[Philippa Sevigny · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, so he wasn't the world's greatest poet but I defy you not to enjoy these poems. Who else would write a poem to their tailor commending them on the quality of their tweed. Most famous for his disaster poems - particularly to the Tay Rail Bridge - he wrote in praise of events, people and places all over (including New York). Whilst decrying the poor state of the iron which caused the eponymous bridge to fall down, to be fair he also praised it when it was built, and also its replacement. It takes style to write this kind of poetry and pull it off in a way that makes you famous. The poetry is clear and straightforward, without hidden messages and meanings that you spend so long learning to untangle in your English lessons. Still have a soft spot for the Edinburgh shrubberies though.

[Raphael Merriman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of the most dreadful "poems" ever written, and all by one man who discovered his "gift" one day and went to his grave bequeathing a huge mass of terrible rhyming and diabolical scansion to an unsuspecting public.

And it's brilliant!

This wonderfully tongue-in-cheek collected works subjects the reader to McGonagall in all his dubious glory, listing among the 200+ compositions "The Tay Bridge Disaster", often considered the single worst poem ever written (which, in my humble opinion, is correct).

This collection is like car crash literature... you don't want to read the next poem, but you just can't help yourself!