1785 in poetry

Events

• April 14 - Death of English poet William Whitehead in London. Reverend Thomas Warton succeeds him as Poet Laureate of Great Britain after the refusal of William Mason.
• May 22 - Scottish poet Robert Burns' first child, Elizabeth ("Dear-bought Bess"), is born to his mother's servant, Elizabeth Paton.

Works published in English

[[English poetry|United Kingdom]]

• Samuel Egerton Brydges, Sonnets and other Poems, published anonymously
• Robert Burns, "To A Mouse", "Halloween"
• Colman, George, and Bonnell Thornton, eds. Poems by the most eminent ladies of Great Britain and Ireland. Re-published from the collection of G. Colman and B. Thornton, Esqrs., with considerable alterations, additions, and improvements. London: W. Stafford, 1785: 2nd ed. of one of the earliest anthologies of women's writing in English
• William Combe, The Royal Dream; or, The P[rince] in a Panic, published anonymously
• William Cowper, The Task, Volume 2 of Poems, in addition to the title poem, the book includes "The Diverting History of John Gilpin" (a poem first published in 1782), "An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq.", "Tirocinium; or, A Review of Schools" (first volume of Poems published 1782, Poems 1815)
• George Crabbe, The News-Paper
• William Hayley, A Philosophical, Historical and Moral Essay on Old Maids
• Samuel Johnson, The Works of Samuel Johnson, poetry and prose in 11 volumes (another two volumes published in 1787 and another in 1788)
• Hannah More, Sensibility: A Poetical Epistle, United Kingdom
• Edward Lovibond, Poems on Several Occasions
• Charles Wilkins (translator), Bhagvat-geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon
• John Wolcot, writing under the pen name "Peter Pindar":
  • The Lousiad, Canto 1 (Canto 2 published 1787, Canto 3 in 1791, Canto 4 in 1792, Canto 5 in 1795)
  • Lyric Odes, for the Year 1785
• Ann Yearsley, Poems, on Several Occasions

Works published in other languages

• János Bacsanyi, The Valour of the Magyars, Hungary
• Jens Baggesen, Comic Tales, written in imitation of Voltaire; Denmark
• Friedrich Schiller, Ode to Joy, Germany

Births

Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• January 13 - Samuel Woodworth (died 1842), American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist and poet
• March 7 - Alessandro Manzoni (died 1873), Italian poet and novelist
• April 4 - Bettina von Arnim (died 1859), German writer, poet, composer and novelist
• April 6 - John Pierpont (died 1866), American poet, teacher, lawyer, merchant and Congregational minister
• October 18 - Thomas Love Peacock (died 1866), English satirical novelist and writer
• November 13 - Lady Caroline Lamb, born the Honourable Caroline Ponsonby (died 1828), English aristocrat, novelist and poet best known for her affair with Lord Byron
• Also:
  • Bhojo Bhagat (died 1850), Indian, Gujarati-language devotional poet
  • Gopala Krishna Pattanayak (died 1862), Indian, Oriya-language poet

Deaths

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• January 19 - Zaharije Orfelin (born 1726), Serbian educator, administrator, poet, engraver, lexicographer, herbalist, historian, winemaker, translator, editor, publisher, polemicist and traveler
• April 14 - William Whitehead (born 1715), English poet and playwright
• April 26 - Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff (born 1744), German
• April 27 - Henry Taylor (born 1711), Church of England clergyman, author and poet
• September 17 - Antoine Léonard Thomas (born 1732), French poet
• November 25 - Richard Glover (born 1712), English poet
• December 29 - Johan Herman Wessel (born 1742), Norwegian poet

Notes

References

1. "Paton, Elizabeth".
2. Cox, Michael, editor, ''The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature'', Oxford University Press, 2004, {{ISBN. 0-19-860634-6
3. Ludwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., ''Annals of American Literature: 1602–1983'', 1986, New York: Oxford University Press
4. Giovanni Bach, [[Richard Beck (scholar). Richard Beck]], Adolph B. Benson, Axel Johan Uppvall, and others, translated in part and edited by Frederika Blankner, ''The History of the Scandinavian Literatures: A Survey of the Literatures of the Norway, Sweden, Denamark, Iceland and Finland From Their Origins to the Present Day,'' p 179, Dial Press, 1938, New York
5. Web page titled [https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/AmPo1/AmPo.bib.html "American Poetry Full-Text Database / Bibliography" at University of Chicago Library website, retrieved March 4, 2009]
6. 978-0-313-28778-7, retrieved December 10, 2008
7. 978-81-7201-798-9, retrieved via Google Books on December 23, 2008