1. Quotes
  2. Authors
  3. William McGonagall

William McGonagall Quotes

William Topaz McGonagall was an Irish weaver, poet and actor who lived in Scotland. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work.

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

McGonagall has been lampooned as the worst poet in British history. The chief criticisms are that he was deaf to poetic metaphor and unable to scan correctly. His only apparent understanding of poetry was his belief that it needed to rhyme. McGonagall's fame stems from the humorous effects these shortcomings are considered to generate in his work. Scholars argue that his 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 narrative ballads and verse 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. Wikipedia  

✵ 1825 – 29. September 1902
William McGonagall photo
William McGonagall: 8   quotes 1   like

Famous William McGonagall Quotes

“I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses.”

William McGonagall

Poetry, The Tay Bridge Disaster (1880)

“BEAUTIFUL Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay!
With your numerous arches and pillars in so grand array
And your central girders, which seem to the eye
To be almost towering to the sky.”

William McGonagall

Written before the disaster.
Poetry, The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay (1878)

“Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.”

William McGonagall

The death toll was actually 75.
Poetry, The Tay Bridge Disaster (1880)

“I was seized with a strong desire to write poetry, so strong, in fact, that in imagination I thought I heard a voice crying in my ears –"Write! Write"I wondered what could be the matter with me, and I began to walk backwards and forwards in a great fit of excitement, saying to myself– "I know nothing about poetry."”

William McGonagall

"The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall".
Other works

“But I may say Dame Fortune has been very kind to me by endowing me with the genius of poetry. I remember how I felt when I received the spirit of poetry. It was in the year of 1877.”

William McGonagall

"The Autobiography of Sir William Topaz McGonagall", published in the Weekly News
McGonagall's "knighthood" was an honorary one conferred on him by King Theebaw of the Andaman Islands: "Knight of the White Elephant of Burmah".
Other works

“Then King Edward ordered his horsemen to charge,
Thirty thousand in number, it was very large;
They thought to o'erwhelm them ere they could rise from their knees,
But they met a different destiny, which did them displease;
For the horsemen fell into the spik'd pits in the way,
And, with broken ranks and confusion, they all fled away,
But few of them escap'd death from the spik'd pits,
For the Scots with their swords hack'd them to bits.”

William McGonagall

Poetry, The Battle of Bannockburn

“All hail to the Rev. George Gilfillan, of Dundee,
He is the greatest preacher I did ever hear or see.
He preaches in a plain, straightforward way,
The people flock to hear him night and day,
And hundreds from his church doors are often turned away,
Because he is the greatest preacher of the present day.”

William McGonagall

McGonagall's first poem.
Poetry, Lines in praise of the Rev. George Gilfillan (1877)

Similar authors

Charles Baudelaire photo
Charles Baudelaire 133
French poet
Mikhail Lermontov photo
Mikhail Lermontov 34
Russian writer, poet and painter
Aleksandr Pushkin photo
Aleksandr Pushkin 33
Russian poet
Robert Southey photo
Robert Southey 51
British poet
Henri-Frédéric Amiel photo
Henri-Frédéric Amiel 50
Swiss philosopher and poet
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow photo
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 202
American poet
Léon Bloy photo
Léon Bloy 22
French writer, poet and essayist
Thomas Hardy photo
Thomas Hardy 171
English novelist and poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley photo
Percy Bysshe Shelley 246
English Romantic poet
Arthur Rimbaud photo
Arthur Rimbaud 66
French Decadent and Symbolist poet