Doggerel Doggerel Doggerel 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". In English it has been used as an adjective since the 14th century and a noun since at least 1630. Appearing since ancient times in the literatures of many cultures, it is characteristic of nursery rhymes and children's song. The Scottish poet William McGonagall (1825-1902) has become famous for his
Allegory in the Middle Ages known work of allegorical literature until the 12th century. Although allegorical thinking, elements and artwork abound during this period, it was not until the rise of the medieval university in the High Middle Ages that sustained allegorical literature appears again. The earliest works were by Hugh of St Victor ("Didascalicon", 1125), Bernard Silvestris ("Cosmographia", 1147), and Alanus ab Insulis ("Plaint of Nature", 1170, and "Anticlaudianus") who pioneered the use of allegory (mainly personification) for abstract speculation on metaphysics and scientific questions. The High and Late Middle Ages saw many allegorical works and techniques. There were four great works from this