From William Blake to Emily Dickinson, English-language poetry has a prominent place in world literature . This is why this literary genre is a great tool for learning English.
Through verses, allegories and other figures of speech, you can explore the particularities of this foreign language. Because poetry is made to be read and recited aloud, nothing better to quickly learn English vocabulary and grammar.
In this article, we invite you to discover ten famous Anglophone, English and American poets who have marked the history of English literature with their internationally recognized works. Who knows, it might even help you become bilingual?
William Shakespeare, the Immortal Bard (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare is a famous English playwright and poet . We also speak of the English language as “the language of Shakespeare”. He did not only mark English literature. His numerous publications are known all over the world.
He began his career in London with the theater group Lord Chamberlain’s Men after leaving Stratford-upon-Avon, the city in which he studied.
Most of his works were written between 1589 and 1613. Among his achievements are many plays that have marked memories and minds such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello and many others.
In 1606, the writer published the ” Sonnets “. It is a collection of 154 poems whose subjects vary, ranging from love and death and all those emotions that make us living beings. His writing style is complex , he uses many metaphors and handles the art of rhetoric with finesse.
His plays continue to be performed and some have been adapted for cinema such as Romeo and Juliet, a film directed by Baz Luhrmann in 1996, where the actor who plays Romeo is Leonardo DiCaprio.
From the poem Lover’s Complaint :
FROM off a hill whose concave womb reworded A plaintful story from a sistering vale, My spirits to attend this double voice accorded, And down I laid to list the sad-tuned tale; Ere long espied a fickle maid full pale, Tearing of papers, breaking rings a-twain, Storming her world with sorrow’s wind and rain.
William Blake, major artist in English history (1757-1827)
William Blake is one of the references of Anglo- Saxon literature, but also of the English-speaking artistic world of the end of the 18th century. Indeed, he was a multi-media artist . Beyond poetry, he is known to have talents for drawing, painting and engraving.
It was at the drawing school, where he studied for ten years, that he wrote his first verses. At fourteen, he became a pupil of the engraver James Basire, with whom he drew the antiquities of Westminster Abbey. This stage of formation marks his melancholy inspiration .
Very committed , he took part in the riots of 1780 in front of Newgate prison, the equivalent of the London Bastille.
His first collection came out in 1783, where he brought together his poems written from his twelfth to twenty years, followed by the ” Songs of Innocence ” illustrated with his drawings. This second work was a great success.
Encouraged by this success, he published the ” Book of Prophecy ” in 1791 and the ” Songs of Experience ” in 1794.
A successful poet, he did not abandon painting and exhibited at the same time at the Royal Academy. His death in 1827 interrupted his illustration of Dante’s ” Divine Comedy “.
William Blake was a multi-faceted artist who can be described as a craftsman, doing everything himself. He wrote, edited and illustrated all his literary works which makes him an inspirational figure known worldwide today.
Excerpt from “ Aguries of Innocence ”
To see a worldin a grain of sandAnd a heaven in awildflower,Hold infinity in thepalm of your handAnd eternity in anhour.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, the “prince of paradox” (1874-1936)
Gilbert Keith Chesterton marked British literature at the beginning of the 20th century . It was at sixteen that he sharpened his pen as a journalist , before embarking on detective novels . He is indeed known for his series of short stories ” The Wisdom Of Father Brown “, ” The Incredulity Of Father Brown “… whose main character is Father Brown.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s work is very varied: he was a journalist, poet, biographer and even a Christian pologète.
Chesterton is an atypical author who earned him the nickname “prince of paradox”. Indeed, the author delivers strong texts mixing humor and deep observations . His literary quest was based on the quest for being, for what is hidden behind man.
Burglars respect property. They just want the property, by becoming theirs, to be more fully respected.
Excerpt from The Named Thursday
His friend George Bernard Shaw, spoke of him in the “Times” in these words: “He was a man of colossal genius “.
Alexander Pope, England’s greatest classical poet (1688-1744)
Alexander Pope was born into a wealthy family. He is now considered the greatest English poet of the early 18th century thanks to his satirical poems and his translation of Homer.
A poet of the salons, of the city and of the social classes , he nevertheless had to live on the margins of society, outside of London. Indeed, Catholic he was expelled from London and had to go into exile in Benfield.
This English writer began his schooling in Twyford, then had to train as an autodidact. It was therefore at the age of twelve that he began to write his poems. He was introduced to London literary circles by the writer Wycherley in 1701.
At twenty, he published a primitive text: “ Essai sur la critique ”, a translation of the “Iliad ” and at thirty the satire “ Dunciade ”.
Away from London life, he is nevertheless judged as a prodigy of his generation . Moreover, he is one of the most quoted English writers.
Pope is not unanimously accepted by his contemporaries, but he is nevertheless judged as the Horatian poet par excellence , fully sharing the social rules and aesthetic ideas of his time.
George Gordon Byron, called Lord Byron (1788-1824)
Baron Byron is a British poet , representative of the romanticism of Great Britain. He lived a rich and eventful existence and died young of swamp fever in Greece. His inspiration comes from his many trips to Europe in the midst of the Napoleonic wars.
His initial collection, ” Hours of Idleness “, was published when he was only 19 years old. He is known for his short poems: ” She walks in beauty “, ” When we two parted ” and ” So, we’ll go no more a roving “, but also for collections highlighting heroes such as ” Le Pèlerinage du chevalier Harold ” and ” Don Juan” .
It was ” The Pilgrimage of the Knight Harold ” that opened the doors to success for him . Indeed, he narrates the epics of a lonely young man across Europe. Largely inspired by his personal experience, punctuated between writing, travels and female conquests.
His style is satirical and he likes to count historical elements drawn from his travels as in ” Parisina ” and ” Le Prisonnier de Chillon “.
Did you know ?
English verse is stress-based. It is composed of a number of syllables (syllables), stressed and unstressed with more or less regularity, which form a set called meter (metre).
John Keats, aka Junkets (1795-1821)
Like his compatriot Lord Byron John Keats, he is British. He too is considered a second-generation romantic .
His work is short, consumption prevailing at the age of 25 years. Initially dedicated to a career as a surgeon, he quickly returned to his first love: letters. It was in 1817 that he began to publish his initial poem: ” Lines in Imitation of Spencer ” with the help of Leigh Hunt.
During the four years he wrote, he dabbled in many genres : from sonnet to romance to epic. Alas, he is not recognized during his lifetime. Frequenting, however, the literary circles of the time, it was only after his death that he was counted among the greatest poets of the English language .
His most masterful works are the six odes of 1819:
- ” The Ode on Indolence “,
- ” The Ode on Melancholy “,
- ” The Ode to Psyche “,
- ” The Ode on a Greek Urn “,
- ” The Ode to a Nightingale “,
- ” The Ode to Autumn “.
They are also the most recognized poems in the English language . Through comparison and metaphor, John Keats delivers a melancholic and strong text.
Emily Dickinson, the reclusive poetess (1830 – 1886)
Emily Dickinson was born in the United States in Massachusetts. The poetess grew up in a bourgeois family and lived a simple and reclusive existence. Only twelve of his verses will be published during his lifetime .
It was only after his death in 1886 that his sister Lavinia discovered hundreds of hidden poems. Thomas Wentworth and Mabel Loomis Todd, who were close to the poetess, decided in 1890 to publish a collection of these famous poems.
However, these verses are far from being the originals, for they bring many modifications.
In 1955, Thomas H. Johnson published a collection, ” The Poems of Emily Dickinson “. The latter contains all the poems as they were written by the poetess.
His literary style includes short, untitled verse . The punctuation she uses is not the most classic and her rhymes are not perfect. She evokes in her verses subjects such as death, religion, immortality and epistolary exchanges .
Excerpt from ” Poem 153 “
Dust is the only Secret Death, the only One You cannot find out all about In his “native town.”
Nobody know “his Father” Never was a Boy—Hadn’t any playmates,Or “Early history”
Industrial! Laconic!Punctual! Sedate!Bold as a Brigand!Stiller than a Fleet!
Builds, like a Bird, too!Christ robs the NestRobin after RobinSmuggled to Rest!
Edgar Allan Poe, the Bostonian (1809 – 1849)
Edgar Allan Poe is also an American author, he is one of the figures of the romantic movement . The poet was born in Boston in 1809 and also wrote stories, novels, plays and short stories. He is considered the inventor of the detective novel .
In 1827, he began his career by publishing anonymously under the signature “by a Bostonian” a collection of poems ” Tamerlane and other verses “. He then worked for numerous magazines as an editor and literary critic such as the ” Broadway Journal ” in New York or ” Graham’s Magazine ” in Philadelphia, the city in which he published most of his mythical texts.
Edgar Allan Poe published many poems. Among the best known are ” Le Corbeau ” (1845), ” Annabel Lee ” (1849) and ” Lénore ” (1843). According to him, writing and reading are “spiritual experiences” and the aesthetics of the works have a real influence on the reader . These readings will help you better decipher the English newspaper!
Charles Baudelaire was the French translator of the productions of Edgar Allan Poe and allowed him to make his work known in France.
Excerpt from the poem The Raven
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door .Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my bedroom door—Only this, and nothing more.”
Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December, And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor. Eagerly I wished the morrow; — vainly I had sought to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow — sorrow for the lost Lenore — For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore — Nameless here for evermore.
John Ashbery, one of America’s greatest poets (1927-2017)
He is known to have been a poet, essayist, literary critic, playwright, translator and American university professor, but also as one of the founders of the New York School , chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
His track record is impressive and he has established himself since the 1950s as one of the greatest poets of the American literary scene and is one of the famous English-speaking personalities.
John Lawrence Ashbery began writing poetry at the age of 16, when he was a boarder at Deerfield Academy. In 1949, he entered Harvard University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts, then Columbia University where he graduated with a Master of Arts.
His first publication was the collection ” Turandot and other poems ” in 1953, the start of a rich career. The author has received numerous awards such as the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Award and the International Feltrinelli Prize for Poetry.
To discover his bibliography, we recommend three essential titles:
- ” Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror “,
- ” States of the game: 13 American poets “.
Maya Angelou, emblematic figure of cultural and political life in the United States (1928-2014)
To close our overview of the figures of English poetry, we could not fail to mention Maya Angelou.
From her real name Marguerite Johnson, the poetess is also known as an African-American writer, actress and activist. Indeed, she is one of the essential figures of American civil rights.
For fifty years, she occupied the American public scene with to her credit: an autobiographical series in seven volumes, three essays, several collections of poetry . His popularity has even earned him starring in plays, movies, and TV shows.
It was the initial volume of her autobiographical series, ” I know why the caged bird sings “, which made her known to the general public. She recounts her life there until she was 17 years old.
It was not until 1971 that she released her first collection of poetry entitled ” Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Diiie “, proposed for the Pulitzer Prize.
In 2013, she received the National Book Award for “outstanding service to the American literary community” and died in 2014 following a long illness.
These authors are true figures of English literature and their work continues to be studied and recognized.
Do you want to discover more about English and American culture or practice your English so you can decipher these works yourself? Why not also discover English songs? There will always be a native English teacher from England, the United States, Australia or elsewhere, near you to teach you this subject on Superprof!
