— Wilfred Owen, concluding lines of "Dulce et Decorum est", written 1917, published posthumously this year
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France). Fire and Ice by Robert Frost Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To know that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. --first published in December in Harper's Magazine
Events
May – Irish poet W. B. Yeats concludes a lecture tour (begun in the fall of 1919) in the United States and crosses the Atlantic to settle in Oxford. December – The Poems of English war poet Wilfred Owen (killed in action 1918) are published posthumously in London with an introduction by his friend Siegfried Sassoon; only five of Owen's verses had been published during his lifetime, thus his work is introduced to many readers for the first time, including the 1917 poems "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and "Dulce et Decorum est"; the latter 28-line poem's horrifying imagery makes it one of the best-known condemnations of war ever written. Ezra Pound moves from London to Paris where he moves among a circle of artists, musicians and writers who are revolutionising modern art. The Dial, a longstanding American literary magazine, is re-established by Scofield Thayer; the publication becomes an important outlet for Modernist poets and writers (until 1929), with contributors this year including Sherwood Anderson, Djuna Barnes, Kenneth Burke, Hart Crane, E. E. Cummings, Charles Demuth, Kahlil Gibran, Gaston Lachaise, Amy Lowell, Marianne Moore, Ezra Pound, Odilon Redon, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sandburg, Van Wyck Brooks, and W. B. Yeats. First issue of the anthology of Scottish poetry, Northern Notes, edited by Christopher Murray Grieve. Russian poet Nikolay Gumilyov co-founds the "All-Russia Union of Writers" in the Soviet Union, where he makes no secret of his anti-Communist views, crosses himself in public, and doesn't care to hide his contempt for half-literate Bolsheviks. His fate changes in 1921.
Works published in English
United Kingdom Maurice Baring, Poems 1914–1919 Edmund Blunden, The Waggoner and Other Poems Robert Bridges, October, and Other Poems Cambridge Poets 1914–1920, anthology edited by Edward Davison W. H. Davies, The Song of Life, and Other Poems Walter de la Mare, Poems 1901 to 1918 T. S. Eliot: Poems, including Gerontion (text) and Sweeney Among the Nightingales The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism Robert Graves, Country Sentiment Aldous Huxley, Leda India in Song: Eastern Themes in English Verse by British and Indian Poets, an anthology of Indian poetry in English published in the UK (London: Oxford)Joshi, Irene, compiler, "Poetry Anthologies" , "Poetry Anthologies" section, "University Libraries, University of Washington" website, "Last updated May 8, 1998", retrieved June 16, 2009. 2009-06-19. John Masefield, Enslaved, and Other Poems Hope Mirrlees, Paris: A Poem (Hogarth Press, 1st edition misdated 1919) Harold Monro, Some Contemporary Poets (1920), criticism Wilfred Owen, Poems, introduction by Siegfried Sassoon (posthumous) Ruth Pitter, First Poems Ezra Pound, American poet published in the United Kingdom: Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, LondonAckroyd, Peter, Ezra Pound, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, 1980, "Bibliography" chapter, p 121 Umbra, London Nina Salaman, The Voices of the Rivers Siegfried Sassoon, Picture Show Edward Thomas, Collected Poems, foreword by Walter de la Mare Iris Tree, Poems Valour and Vision: Poems of the War, 1914-1918, anthology edited by Jacqueline T. Trotter Charles Williams, Divorce Humbert Wolfe: London Sonnets Shylock Reasons with Mr. Chesterton, and Other Poems W. B. Yeats, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, "The Second Coming" first published in The Dial magazine for November (published again in 1921 in Yeats' Michael Robartes and the Dancer)
United States
Stephen Vincent Benét, Heavens and Earth Witter Bynner, A Canticle of Pan Hart Crane, "My Grandmother's Love Letters" in The Dial, his first real step towards recognition as a poet W.E.B. Du Bois, Darkwater Robert Frost, Miscellaneous Poems William Ellery Leonard, The Lynching Bee Edgar Lee Masters, Domesday Book Edna St. Vincent Millay, A Few Figs From Thistles Ezra Pound, American poet published in the United Kingdom: Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, London Umbra, London Lizette Woodworth Reese, Spicewood Charles Reznikoff, Poems published by the New York Poetry Book Shop; the book features poems from Reznikoff's Rhythms and Rhythms II From Bettyby Lola Ridge My doll Janie has no waist and her body is like a tub with feet on it. Sometimes I beat her but I always kiss her afterwards. When I have kissed all the paint off her body I shall tie a ribbon about it so she shan't look shabby. But it must be blue-- it mustn't be pink-- pink shows the dirt on her face that won't wash off. Lola Ridge, Sun-Up, including "Betty" Edward Arlington Robinson: Lancelot The Three Taverns Carl Sandburg, Smoke and Steel Sara Teasdale, Flame and Shadow, including" There Will Come Soft Rains" Galway Wescott, The Bitterns William Carlos Williams, Kora in Hell. Improvisations
Other in English India in Song: Eastern Themes in English Verse by British and Indian Poets, London: Oxford; anthology; Indian poetry in English, published in the United Kingdom Yone Noguchi, Japanese Hokkus, Japanese poet writing in English Maneck B. Pithawalla, Sacred Sparks, Karachi: M. B. PithawallaVinayak Krishna Gokak, The Golden Treasury Of Indo-Anglian Poetry (1828-1965), p 316, New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi (1970, first edition; 2006 reprint), , retrieved August 6, 2010 Tom Redcam, San Gloria, verse play, Jamaica W. B. Yeats, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom, The Second Coming first published in the November issue of The Dial magazine (see quotation, above; published again in Michael Robartes and the Dancer 1921)
Works published in other languages
France Louis Aragon, Feu de joieAuster, Paul, editor, The Random House Book of Twentieth-Century French Poetry: with Translations by American and British Poets, New York: Random House, 1982 Natalie Clifford Barney, American resident and published in France, Poems & Poemes: Autres Alliances (bilingual English and French) Jean Cocteau, Poésies 1917–1920Bree, Germaine, Twentieth-Century French Literature, translated by Louise Guiney, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1983 Philippe Soupault, Rose des vents Tristan Tzara, pen name of Sami Rosenstock, Cinéma calendrier coeur abstrait maisons Charles Vildrac, Chants du désespéré
Indian subcontinent Including all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:
Telugu poetry Garimella Satyanarayana, Makoddi tella doratanamu, a Telugu-language song famously used by Indians marching for freedom; the very militant lyric was banned for a time by the colonial government, which arrested the poet Rami Reddi also known as "Duvvuri": Jaladangana, celebrates farming season and the beauty of nature in the rural countryside, Indian, Telugu-languageDas, Sisir Kumar, "A Chronology of Literary Events / 1911–1956", in Das, Sisir Kumar and various, History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956: struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy, Volume 2, 1995, published by Sahitya Akademi, , retrieved via Google Books on December 23, 2008 Venakumari, Telugu-language pastoral poems depicting the struggles of peasants
Other Indian languages Ananda Chandra Agarwala, Jilikani, Assamese-language poem reflecting ancient Assamese ballads Bhaskar Ramchandra Tambe, Tambe Yanci Kavita, Marathi-language poems; edited by V. G. Mayadev Chanda Jha, Mahes Vani Sanghra, Maithili-language devotional songs addressed to Lord Siva Dharanidhar Sharma Koirala, Naibedya, Nepali-language poetry, didactic poems popular in Darjeeling Lala Kirpa Sagar, Laksmi Devi, Punjabi-language, long, narrative epic poem modeled on Sir Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake; depicts Maharaja Ranjit Singh's battles with Jaimal Singh, a hill chieftain Pt. Ram Naresh Tripathi, Pathik, very popular Hindi-language Khanda Kavya which went into 30 editions; patriotic and expressing love of the rural countryside; strongly influenced by Gandhi's thought Surendra Jha 'Suman', also known as "Suman", Candi Carya, adaptation of Durgasaptasati in verse, Maithili-language Vaijanath Kashinath Rajwade, Kesavasutanci Kavita, Marathi-language article offering the first thematic classification and detailed analysis of Keshavsut's poems, criticism published in the monthly Manoranjan in July, September, October and November
Spanish language Enrique Bustamante y Ballivián, Poemas autóctonos, PeruFitts, Dudley, editor, Anthology of Contemporary Latin-American Poetry/Antología de la Poesía Americana Contemporánea Norfolk, Conn., New Directions, (also London: The Falcoln Press, but this book was "Printed in U.S.A.), 1947, p 595 León Felipe, Veersos y oraciones del caminante ("Verses and Prayers of the Walker"), first volume (second volume, 1930), SpainDebicki, Andrew P., Spanish Poetry of the Twentieth Century: Modernity and Beyond, University Press of Kentucky, 1995, , retrieved via Google Books, November 21, 2009 Alfonsina Storni, Langour, Argentina Miguel de Unamuno, El Christo de Velázquez ("Christ by Velázquez"), Spain
Other languages Piaras Béaslaí, "Bealtaine 1916" agus Dánta Eile, Ireland António Botto, Canções do Sul ("Songs of the South"), Portugal Ernst Enno, Valge öö, Estonia Kahlil Gibran, Al-'Awāsif ("The Tempests") and Spirits Rebellious (English translation),Kurian, George Thomas, Timetables of World Literature, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2003 Lebanese-born Arabic poet in the United States Vladislav Khodasevich, The Way of Corn, Russia Tom Kristensen, Pirate Dreams, Denmark Jan Lechon, The Scarlet Poem, Poland Boleslaw Lesmian, The Meadow, Poland Eugenio Montale, Ossi di seppia ("Cuttlefish bones"), Italy Les Poètes contre la guerre, France Anton Schnack, Tier rang gewaltig mit Tier ("Beast strove mightily with beast"), Germany Edith Sodergran, The Shadow of the Future, Sweden Georg Trakl, Der Herbst des Einsamen ("The Autumn of The Lonely"), Austrian native published in Germany Pavlo Tychyna, Instead of Sonnets or Octaves, Ukraine Tin Ujević, Lelek sebra ("Cry of a slave"), Croatian Henrik Visnapuu, Talihari, Hõbedased kuljused and Käoorvik, Estonia
Births Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article: January 24 – Keith Douglas (killed in action 1944), English poet February 21 – Ishigaki Rin 石垣りん (died 2004), Japanese poet; she was an employee of the Industrial Bank of Japan, sometimes called "the bank teller poet" February 23 – David Wright (died 1994), South African-born English poet February 29 – Howard Nemerov (died 1991), American poet, United States Poet Laureate from 1963 to 1964 and from 1988 to 1990 March 5 – Madhunapantula Satyanarayana Sastry (died 1992), Indian, Telugu-language poet (surname: Satyanarayanashastri) March 11 – D. J. Enright (died 2002), English academic, poet, novelist and critic March 24 – Balachandra Rajan (died 2009), Indian critic, novelist and writer of Indian poetry in English April 27 – Edwin Morgan (died 2010), Scottish poet and translator June 13 – Ruth Guimarães (died 2014), Afro-Brazilian classicist, fiction writer and poet June 15 – Amy Clampitt (died 1994), American poet and author June 18 – Rosemary Dobson (died 2012), Australian poet July 18 – Zheng Min (died 2022), Chinese poet August 16 – Charles Bukowski (died 1994), American poet, novelist and short-story writer