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	Podcast:		Revisionist History
	Episode:		The Worst Poet in the World \| From Cautionary Tales
	Category:		Society & Culture
	Duration:		00:41:21
	Publish Date:		2026-05-07 04:01:00
	Description:		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.
	Total Play:		0