1788 in poetry

Events

• December – Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne.

Works published in English

[[English poetry|United Kingdom]]

This year three works of poetry, all written by women (the Falconars, More and Yearsley), condemn slavery; while Samuel Pratt is an early advocate of animal rights:

• Henry Cary, Sonnets and Odes, the author turns 16 years old this year
• William Collins, Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland
• William Crowe, Lewesdon Hill, published anonymously
• Maria Falconar and Harriet Falconar:
  • Poems
  • Poems on Slavery
• James Hurdis, The Village Curate
• Robert Merry, writing under the pen name "Della Crusca", Diversity
• Hannah More, Slavery: A Poem
• "Peter Pindar", see John Wolcot, below
• Samuel Jackson Pratt, Sympathy
• William Whitehead, Poems by William Whitehead, published posthumously, edited by William Mason (see also Plays and Poems 1774)
• John Wolcot, writing under the pen name "Peter Pindar", Tales and Fables
• Ann Yearsley, A Poem on the Inhumanity of the Slave Trade

[[American poetry|United States]]

• Timothy Dwight, published anonymously, "The Triumph of Infidelity: A Poem", satire in heroic couplets; supports Calvinism and attacks Voltaire, David Hume, Joseph Priestley and their followers
• Philip Freneau, Miscellaneous Works of Mr. Philip Freneau, Containing His Essays and Additional Poems
• Francis Hopkinson:
  • An Ode, in honor of the Adoption of the U.S. Constitution
  • Seven Songs, for the Harpsichord or Forte-Piano
• Peter Markoe:
  • "The Times", satire on prominent Philadelphia society people
  • "The Storm", attributed to Markoe
• William Roscoe, The Wrongs of Africa: A Poem
• Susanna Rowson:
  • Poems on Various SubjectsDavis, Cynthia J., and Kathryn West, Women Writers in the United States: A Timeline of Literary, Cultural, and Social History, Oxford University Press US, 1996 , retrieved via Google Books on February 7, 2009
  • A Trip to Parnassus

Works published in other languages

• Basilio da Gama, Relação abreviada da República e Lenitivo da saudade; Brazil
• Joseph Quesnel, Colas et Colinette, a comedy in verse, French language, published in Quebec, Canada

Births

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

• January 22 – Lord Byron (died 1824), English poet and leading figure in Romanticism
• March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff (died 1857), German poet and novelist
• May 16 – Friedrich Rückert (died 1866), German poet, translator and professor of Oriental languages
• June (day unknown) – Eliza Townsend (died 1854), American poet who published anonymously
• c. October 14 – Robert Millhouse (died 1839), English weaver poet
• October 24 – Sarah Josepha Hale (died 1879), American writer, influential editor, author of nursery rhymes, including "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
• December 6 – Richard H. Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby") (died 1845), English poet, humorist and priest

Deaths

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

• March 29 – Charles Wesley (born 1707), English Methodist clergyman and hymn writer
• June 12 – Johann Andreas Cramer (born 1723), German poet, writer and theologian
• July 5 – Mather Byles, (born 1707), English Colonial American clergyman and poet
• July 31 – Thomas Russell (born 1762), English poet whose Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems are posthumously published in 1789
• October 13 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent (born 1709), Irish poet and politician
• October 28 – William Julius Mickle (born 1734), Scottish-born poet
• Giulio Variboba (born 1725), Arbëresh poet

Notes

References

1. "Robert Burns - Auld Lang Syne". [[BBC]].
2. (2004). "The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature". Oxford University Press.
3. Ludwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., ''Annals of American Literature: 1602–1983'', 1986, New York: Oxford University Press
4. 978-0-618-16821-7, retrieved via Google Books
5. Web page titled [http://www.academia.org.br/abl/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?infoid=812&sid=105 "Basílio da Gama/Bibliografia"] at the Academia Brasilia Letros website, retrieved February 4, 2009
6. Story, Noah, ''The Oxford Companion to Canadian History and Literature'', "Poetry in French" article, pp 651-654, Oxford University Press, 1967