McGonagall’s Works

McGonagall published over 200 poems in his lifetime, mostly on printed broadsheets he sold in the street or after giving one of his “entertainments”. These poems may be perused here, grouped either by publication or by subject matter.

Poems by Subject

Though most famous for his disaster poems, McGonagall’s range of subjects was actually far wider:

• Disasters
• Military
• Geographical
• Deaths & Funerals
• Famous People
• History
• Moral Tales
• Temperance
• Events in the News
• Autobiographical
• Miscellaneous

Poems by Publication

The name “Poetic Gems” chosen by McGonagall for his first (and only) book of poems has been adopted and adapted for later collections of his work. Choose from one of the titles below:

• Poems and Song (null 1878)
• Poetic Gems [First Series] (1890)
• Poetic Gems [Second Series] (1891)
• Poet McGonagall’s Masterpieces (After 1894)
• Select Poems of McGonagall (null 1910)
• Poetic Gems (null 1934)
• The Real McGonagall (null 1948)
• More Poetic Gems (null 1962)
• Last Poetic Gems (null 1968)
• The Great McGonagall (null 1968)
• The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay and other Disasters (null 1972)
• McGonagall and Tommy Atkins (null 1975)
• The World’s Worst Poet (null 1979)
• Poetic Gems [Duckworth 1980 Version] (null 1980)
• More Poetic Gems [Duckworth Version] (null 1980)
• Still More Poetic Gems (null 1980)
• Yet More Poetic Gems (null 1980)
• Further Poetic Gems (null 1980)
• Yet Further Poetic Gems (null 1980)
• Last Poetic Gems [Duckworth Version] (null 1980)
• Poetic Gems [Duckworth 1989 Version] (null 1989)
• The Tay Bridge Disaster and Other Poetic Gems (null 2000)
• William McGonagall: A Selection (null 2003)
• Collected Poems (null 2006)

A few poems remain unpublished in any printed poetry collection.

Full Lists of Poems

Alternatively, you can consult a complete list of all McGonagall poems, listed either alphabetically or chronologically.

Non-Poetic Works

McGonagall wasn’t just a poet, he turned his hand to literary criticism in this essay:

• Shakspeare Reviewed