Template:Short description Template:For Template:Redirect Doggerel, or doggrel, is poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning.
The word is derived from the Middle English dogerel, probably a derivative of dog.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In English, it has been used as an adjective since the 14th century and a noun since at least 1630.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Appearing since ancient times in the literatures of many cultures, doggerel is characteristic of nursery rhymes and children's song.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ExamplesEdit
The Scottish poet William McGonagall (1825–1902) has become famous for his doggerel,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which many remember with affection despite its seeming technical flaws, as in his poem "The Tay Bridge Disaster": Template:Quote
Hip hop lyrics have also explored the artful possibilities of doggerel.<ref> Template:Citation. </ref>
Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas is written in this format. It irritates the Host of The Tabard so much that he interrupts him and makes him tell a different tale.