English poetry
The history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to today.[1] Over this period, English poets have written some of the longest-surviving poems in Western culture. The language and its poetry have spread around the world.
The earliest surviving poetry from the area now called England was probably transmitted orally (or passed from person to person by mouth, without being written down). It was then written down in versions that do not now survive. Because of this, it is difficult to say which poems were the earliest. There is a lot of controversy over this issue.
A number of major national poetries have developed. These include American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Indian poetry. It may be controversial to describe Irish literature as English or British, even though it is in the English language.
English Poetry Media
The Seeds and Fruits of English Poetry, Ford Madox Brown
The first page of Beowulf
Supposed portrait of Edmund Spenser, English Renaissance poet and author of The Faerie Queene.
- John Donne, late 17th century copy of a 1616 work by Isaac Oliver (died 1622). See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.
- WilliamWordsworthProjectGutenbergeText
en:George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
John Clare (1793-1864), Poet.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti: selfportrait
Related pages
References
- ↑ This refers to poetry written in Anglo-Saxon, the direct predecessor of modern English.