The Worst Poet in the World | From Cautionary Tales

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Recorded07 May 2026

Publisheromnycontent.com ↗

Handlerec:18292068

Show notes

In light of our current series on mistakes, we're sharing an episode from Cautionary Tales—a podcast that’s all about mistakes and what we can learn from them. This story is about a poet—some say the worst poet in the world–William McGonagall. McGonagall's works were full of jarring meter, banal imagery, and awkward rhymes. They made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day. What can we learn from such a disastrous poet? And it is possible we’ve misunderstood McGonagall all along? We'll be back with a new mistake next week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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