Poets

A listing of poets and their major works


Africa

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Algeria Si Mohand 1848 1905
Angola Agostinho Neto 1922 1979
Egypt  Ahmed Shawqi 1868 1932 Esh-Shawqiyyat, his selected works, in four volumes
Ethiopia  Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin 1936 2006 Prologue to African Conscience Black Antigone
Mali  Fily Dabo Sissoko 1900 1964 Poèmes de l’Afrique noire Les Jeux de destin
Morocco Mohammed Awzal 1680 1749 The Reservoir The Ocean of Tears
Nigeria  Chinua Achebe 1930 2013 Beware, Soul-Brother, and Other Poems  Another Africa
Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor 1906 2001 A l'appel de la Race de Saba
Somalia Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame (Hadrawi) 1943
South Africa Mazisi Kunene 1930 2006 Emperor Shaka the Great The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain
Sudan Gely Abdel Rahman 1931 1990 Poems from Sudan  Cavalery and Broken Sword Songs of the Marchers
Tanzania  Shaaban bin Robert 1909 1962 Utubora Mkulima (Diwani Ya Shaaban 8) Koja La Lugha 
Tunisia Aboul-Qacem Echebbi 1909 1934 Defenders of the Homeland To the Tyrants of the World

Asia

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Afghanistan Khushal Khattak 1613 1689 Selections from the Poetry of Afghans Poems from the Diwan of Khushhal Khan Khattak
Afghanistan Abu ʾl-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi (Ferdowsi) 940 1020 Book of Kings
Azerbaijan Fuzûlî 1494 1556 The Epic of Layla and Majnun
Azerbaijan Imadaddin Nasimi 1369 1417  Emād-al-dīn Nasīmī
Azerbaijan Samad Vurgun 1906 1956 Muradkhan Khumar
Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam 1899  1976 The Rebel Bhangar Gaan
China  Du Fu 712 770 A Spring View
China Li Bai 701 762 Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day The Hard Road to Shu Quiet Night Thought
China Zhou Shuren (Lu Xun) 1881 1936 Diary of a Madman
Cambodia  Preah Botumthera Som,  1852 1932 Tum Teav 
Cambodia  Krom Ngoy 1865 1936 Working in the Farm to Earn a Living Choosing a Spouse Poverty and its Causes
Cambodia Chuon Nath 1883 1969 Nokor Reach
India Rabindranath Tagore 1861 1941 Gitanjali  Gora
Jana Gana Mana
Ghare-Baire
Manasi
Indonesia Chairil Anwar 1922 1949 Roar Mixed with Dust Sharp Pebbles and the Seized and The Broken Aku
Iran  Ferdowsi 940 1020 Shahnameh 
Iran Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Rumi) 1207 1273 Maṭnawīye Ma'nawī  The Works of Shams of Tabriz
Iran Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Hafez) 1325 / 26 1389 / 90 Mystic Poetry (Ghazal, Irfan)
Iran Rudaki 858 941 Adam of Poets
Iran Nezami Ganjavi 1141 1209 The Five Jewels (Panj Ganj) Nozhat al-Majales Makhzan al-Asrar
Iran  Abū-Muhammad Muslih al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (Saadi) 1210 1291 / 92 Bustan (The Orchard) Gulistan (The Rose Garden)
Iran Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Abu'l-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm al-Khayyām Nīshāpūrī
(Omar Khayyám)
1048 1131 Rubáiyát
Iran  Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani (Nasir Khusraw) 1004 1088 Safarnama (The Book of Travels) The Gourd and the Palm-tree
Iraq Maarouf Al Rasafi 1875 1945 A Praise to the Development of the Future
Israel Hayim Nahman Bialik 1873 1934 nationalistic poems
Japan Koizumi Yakumo (Patrick Lafcadio Hearn) 1850 1904 Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things Meiji Era
Japan  Murasaki Shikibu 973 / 978 c 1014 / 31 The Diary of Lady Murasaki The Tale of Genji Poetic Memoirs
Jordan Mustafa Wahbi al-Tal 1897 1949 Poetry, Essay, Philosophical Literature, Social Commentary
Kazakhstan Abai Qunanbaiuli, known as Abai Kunanbaev 1845 1904 The Book of Words
Korea Kim Sowol 1902 1934 Azaleas
Korea Ko Un 1933 Otherworld Sensibility Flowers of the Moment  The Sound of my Waves
Kurdistan Khana Qubadi 1700 1759 Shirin and Khasraw)
Kyrgyzstan Toktogul Satylganov 1864 1933 improvising poet and singer
Lebanon Kahlil Gibran 1883 1931 The Prophet Broken Wings The Earth Gods 
Lebanon Said Akl 1911 or 19 2014 Yara  Khumasiyyat Al Majdaliyyah (Epic)
Malaysia Usman Awang 1929 2001 traditional Pantun poems
Mongolia Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj 1906 1937 My Native Land
Mongolia  Byambyn Rinchen 1905 1977 Anu hatun (Queen Anu)
Mongolia  Hadaa Sendoo 1961 Come Back to Earth
Myanmar Min Thu Wun 1909 2004 Nursery Songs for Maung Khway
Nepal  Laxmi Prasad Devkota 1909 1959 Like Strength
Nepal  Motiram Bhatta 1923 1953 Manodweg Prawah Panchak Prapancha Shakuntala
Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal 1877 1938 Asrar-e-Khudi
Bang-e-Dara (The Call of the Marching Bell)
Rumuz-e-Bekhudi Payam-e-Mashriq, Zabur-e-Ajam
Palestine  Mahmoud Darwish 1941 2008 Passers Between the Passing Words
Mural
Bed of a Stranger
State of Siege
Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?
Philippines Francisco Balagtas 1788 1862 Florante at Laura
Saudi Arabia Ghazi Abdul Rahman Al Gosaibi 1940 2010 Ghazi Al Gosaibi
Sri Lanka  Ananda Samarakoon 1911 1962 Namo Namo Mata
Syria Nizar Qabbani 1923 1998 Marginal Notes on the Book of Defeat
Tajikistan Rudaki 858 941 founder of Persian classical literature
Tajikistan  Ferdowsi 940 1020 Shahnameh (Book of Kings)
Tajikistan Saadi, 1210 1291 / 92 Bustan and Gulistan
Tajikistan Molavi 1207 1273
Tajikistan  Nasir Khusraw
Tajikistan  Sadriddin Ayni
Tajikistan  Gulnazar Keldi
Thailand Sunthorn Phu 1786 1855 Nirat Phukaothong Nirat Suphan
Turkmenistan Magtymguly Pyragy 1724 1807 Tukmenin
Uzbekistan Abdulla Oripov 1941 Mitti Yulduz (The Little Star)
Uzbekistan  Erkin Vohidov 1936 Tong Nafasi (The Breath of Morning)
Uzbekistan Gʻafur Gʻulom 1903 1966 Dinamo (Dynamo)
Tirik Shiqlar (Alive Songs)
Uzbekistan (Mirtemir) Mirtemir Tursunov 1910 1978 Poet and literary translator
Vietnam Nguyễn Du 1766 1820 The Tale of Kiều
Vietnam  Nguyễn Đình Chiểu 1822 1888 Lục Vân Tiên Dương Từ-Hà Mậu
Vietnam  Hàn Mặc Tử 1912 1940 Gái Quê (Country Girls) Chơi Giữa Mùa Trăng (Playing in the Moon Season)
Yemen Abdullah Al-Baradouni 1929 1999 From the Land of Sheba On the Path of Dawn,

Europe

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Albania Gjergj Fishta 1871 1940 Lahuta e Malcís (The Highland Lute)
Albania Naim Frashëri 1846 1900 Fjalët e Qiririt (Words of the Candle)
Andorra Albert Salvadó 1951 L'enigma de Constantí el Gran
Armenia  Hovhannes Tumanyan 1869 1923 The Dog and the Cat The Capture of Tmkaberd
Armenia  Sayat-Nova 1722 1795 Armenian poet, musician and ashik
Armenia Paruyr Sevak 1924 1971 We Are Few but We Are Called Armenians The Unsilenceable Belfry
Austria  Franz Grillparzer 1791 1872 Dramatist
Austria  Peter Rosegger 1843 1918 Zither und Hackbrett (poems in Styrian dialect, 1870)
Austria Johann Nepomuk Nestroy 1801 1862 Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus 
Belarus  Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich (Yanka Kupala) 1882 1942 Ziarno The Little Flute From the Heart
Belarus  Kanstancin Mickievič (Yakub Kolas) 1882 1956 The Fisherman's Hut
Belgium Emile Verhaeren 1855 1916 Les Flamandes Les moines Les Soirs
Belgium Maurice Maeterlinck 1862 1949 Serres chaudes DouzeChansons
Flanders  Hendrik Conscience 1812 1883 Flemish Life in Four Stories
Flanders  Guido Gezelle 1830 1899 Longfellows Song of Hiawatha (translation, 1886) Kerkhofblommen
Flanders Hugo Claus 1929 2008 The Sorrow of Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina Izet Sarajlić 1930 2002 Sarajevo War Journal
Republika Srpska  Aleksa Šantić 1868 1924 Emina
Republika Srpska  Gordana Kukić ? ? ?
Bulgaria  Hristo Botev 1846 / 47 1876 My Prayer (Moyata molitva) At Farewell
Bulgaria  Ivan Vazov 1850 1921 Under the Yoke Epic of the Forgotten
Croatia Marko Marulić 1450 1524 Judita Davidiad
Croatia Miroslav Krleža 1893 1981 Balade Petrice Kerempuha (Ballads of Petrica Kerempuh) Gospoda Glembajevi
Cyprus Vasilis Michaelides 1849 1917 The 9th of July 1821 The Woman From Chios The Fairy
Cyprus Demetrios Libertis 1866 1937 Apanta of Libertis
Czech Republic  Karel Hynek Mácha 1810 1836 Máj (May)
Czech Republic Božena Němcová 1820 1862 Národní Báchorky a Pověsti (National Stories and Legends) Slovak Fairy Tales and Legends
Czech Republic Jan Neruda 1834 1891 Knihy Veršů (Books of Verses)
Denmark  Adam Oehlenschläger 1779 1850 Der er et Yndigt Land (the Danish National anthem) Thors Reise til Jotunheim, Langelandsreisen
Faroe Islands  William Heinesen 1900 1991 Arktiske Elegier og Andre Digte (Arctic Elegies and Other Poems)
England William Shakespeare 1564 1616 Playwright, poet, actor
Estonia  Lydia Koidula 1843 1886 Emajõe Ööbik, (The Nightingale of the Emajõgi (the Mother River))
Estonia Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald 1803 1882 Kalevipoeg (Kalev's Son) Lembitu
Finland Johan Ludvig Runeberg 1804 1877 Maamme (Finland's national anthem)
Finland  Elias Lönnrot 1802 1884 Kalevala
France  Victor Hugo 1802 1885 Les Contemplations and La Légende des Siècles  Les Misérables The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
France  Charles Baudelaire 1821 1867 Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil)
Georgia Shota Rustaveli Georgia Jerusalem The Knight in the Panther's Skin
Germany  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 1832 Faust
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Götz von Berlichingen The Sorrows of Young Werther
Germany  Friedrich Schiller 1759  1805 The Robbers Don Carlos
Gibraltar  Héctor Licudi 1959 Barbarita
Greece  Homer unknown unknown Iliad Odyssey
Greece  Dionysios Solomos 1798 1857 Hymn to Liberty
Guernsey George Métivier 1790 1881 Rimes Guernesiaises
Hungary  Sándor Petőfi 1823 1849 National Song, John the Valiant
Hungary János Arany 1817 1882 Toldi trilogy The Bards of Wales
Iceland  Jónas Hallgrímsson 1807 1845 poet, author and naturalist
Iceland Hallgrímur Pétursson 1614 1674 Aldarháttur Rímur af Lykla-Pétri og Magellónu
Iceland Halldór Laxness 1902 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature
Ireland  Thomas Moore 1779 1852 The Minstrel Boy The Last Rose of Summer
Ireland  William Butler Yeats 1865 1939 The Tower The Winding Stair and Other Poems
Italy  Dante Alighieri (known as Dante) 1265 1321 Divine Comedy
Latvia  Jānis Pliekšāns (Rainis) 1865 1929 Poet
Liechtenstein Peter Kaiser 1793  1864 historian and statesman
Lithuania  Kristijonas Donelaitis 1714 1780 The Seasons (Metai)
Lithuania  Maironis (born Jonas Mačiulis) 1862 1932 Pavasario Balsai (The Voices of Spring)
Luxembourg  Edmond de la Fontaine (known as Dicks) 1823 1891 D’Vulleparlament am Grengewald
Luxembourg Michel Rodange 1827 1876 Renert
Luxembourg  Michel Lentz 1820 1893 Ons Heemecht (the national anthem of Luxembourg)
Macedonia  Kočo Racin 1908 1943 White Dawns
Macedonia  Georgi Pulevski  1817 1895 Rechnik od tri Jazika
Macedonia  Kole Nedelkovski 1912 1941 A Voice from Macedonia (Glas od Makedonija)
Malta  Dun Karm Psaila 1871 1961 Innu Malti National Antham Maltese
Moldova  Mihai Eminescu 1850 1889 Luceafărul (The Vesper / The Evening Star / The Lucifer / The Daystar)
Moldova  Grigore Vieru 1935 2009 Writer
Monaco Louis Notari 1879 1961 Monaco national anthem
Montenegro Petar II Petrović-Njegoš 1813 1851 Gorski vijenac (The Mountain Wreath)
Netherlands  Joost van den Vondel 1587 1679 Joannes de Boetgezant (1662), on the life of John the Baptist,
Netherlands  Jacob Cats 1577 1660 Sinne en Minnebeelden
Friesland  Gysbert Japicx (or Japiks) 1603 1666 writer, poet, schoolmaster and cantor
Norway Henrik Wergeland 1808 1845 Digte, Første Ring (poems, First Circle)
Poland  Adam Mickiewicz 1798 1855 Pan Tadeusz Dziady
Poland  Juliusz Słowacki 1809 1849 Kordian Balladyna Beniowski
Poland Zygmunt Krasiński 1812 1859 Three National Bards - the trio of great Romantic poets
Poland Jan Kochanowski 1530 1584 The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys
Portugal Luís de Camões 1525 1580 The Lusiads
Portugal  Fernando Pessoa 1888 1935 The Book of Disquiet
Romania Mihai Eminescu 1850 1889 Luceafărul, Scrisoarea I
Russia  Alexander Pushkin 1799 1837 Eugene Onegin Boris Godunov
Dagestan Rasul Gamzatov 1923 2003 Zhuravli
Ossetia  Kosta Khetagurov 1859 1906 Mother of Orphans
San Marino  Pio Chiaruzzi 1949 Labirinti da lui Fondata
Scotland  Robert Burns 1759 1796 Auld Lang Syne A Red, Red Rose A Man's a Man for All That
Scotland  Christopher Murray Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) 1892 1978 Annals of the Five Senses
Scotland  John Barbour 1320 1395 The Brus
Scotland  Edwin Morgan 1920 2010 Starlings In George Square
Serbia  Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, 1813 1851 Gorski Vijenac (The Mountain Wreath)
Serbia  Vladislav Petković Dis 1880 1917 Spomenik (Monument)
Serbia  Oskar Davičo 1909 1989 Anatomija (Anathomy)
Kosovo  Din Mehmeti 1932 2010 Albanian poet
Kosovo  Ali Podrimja 1942 2012 Thirrje (The Calls, 1961)
Slovakia  Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav 1849 1921 Sonety (1882 - 1886) (Sonnets)
Slovenia France Prešeren 1800 1849 A Wreath of Sonnets (Sonetni Venec)
Spain  Miguel de Cervantes 1547 1616 Don Quixote
Spain  Lope de Vega 1562 1635 Fuente Ovejuna
Spain  Federico García Lorca 1898 1936 Impresiones y Paisajes (Impressions and Landscapes 1918)
Sweden  Carl Michael Bellman 1740 1795 Fredman's epistles
Sweden  Gustaf Fröding 1860 1911 poet and writer
Switzerland Gottfried Keller 1819 1890 Green Henry
Switzerland Carl Spitteler 1845 1924 Olympian Spring
Turkey Mehmet Akif Ersoy 1873 1936 Safahat
Ukraine Taras Shevchenko 1814 1861 Kobzar
Wales  Dylan Thomas 1914 1953 Under Milk Wood
Wales  Dafydd ap Gwilym 1320 1370 Trafferth mewn Tafarn

North America

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Canada Pauline Johnson 1861 1913 The White Wampum Canadian Born Flint and Feather
Quebec  Émile Nelligan 1879 1941 The Complete Poems of Émile Nelligan
Quebec  Gaston Miron 1928 1996 La Marche à l'amour
Quebec  Octave Crémazie 1827 1879 Le Vieux Soldat Canadien (1855) Le Drapeau de Carillon (1858)
Quebec  Gilles Vigneault 1928 Present Les Gens de mon Pays
Quebec  Félix Leclerc 1914 1988 Moi, mes Souliers Le P'tit Bonheur Le Tour de l'île
Cuba  José Martí 1853 1895 Guantanamera (patriotic song of Cuba) Versos Sencillos
Dominican Republic  Pedro Mir 1913 2000 Hay un País en el Mundo (There is a Country in the World) Countersong to Walt Whitman (Song of Ourselves)
Guatemala Miguel Ángel Asturias 1899 1974 El Señor Presidente Men of Maize Leyendas de Guatemala (Legends of Guatemala)
Haiti  Jacques Roumain 1907 1944 Gouverneurs de la Rosée (Masters of the Dew) Bois D'ébène (Ebony Wood) A propos de la campagne anti-superstitieuse
Mexico  Ramón López Velarde 1888 1921 La Sangre Devota Zozobra (Sinking) La Suave Patria
Mexico  Octavio Paz 1914 1998 Entre la Piedra y la Flor (Between the Stone and the Flower) Piedra de sol (Sunstone) Renga: A Chain of Poems with Jacques Roubaud, Edoardo Sanguineti and Charles Tomlinson
Nicaragua  Rubén Darío 1867 1916 Una lágrima El Jesuita,
Panama  Ricardo Miró 1883 1940 Native Land Patria (Homeland) The Last Seagull (1905)
Saint Lucia  Derek Walcott 1930 Homeric epic poem Omeros (1990) Midsummer
Dream on Monkey Mountain
Miltonic
United States  Walt Whitman 1819 1892 Leaves of Grass
Democratic Vistas
Beat! Beat! Drums! Song of Myself
United States  Emily Dickinson 1830 1886 The Poems of Emily Dickinson
United States Robert Frost 1874 1963 A Boy's Will North of Boston
United States  Carl Sandburg 1878 1967 Chicago Poems The People Yes
Rootabaga Stories and Rootabaga Pigeons
United States  Maya Angelou 1928 2014 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) On the Pulse of Morning All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes

Oceania

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Australia Henry Lawson 1867 1922 A Song of the Republic The Wreck of the Derry Castle Golden Gully
Australia  Adam Lindsay Gordon, 1833 1870 Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes The Swimmer A Song of Autumn
Australia Dorothea Mackellar 1885 1968 My Country
Fancy Dress (1926)
The Witch Maid, and Other Verses (1914) Dreamharbour (1923)
Australia A B "Banjo" Paterson 1864 1941 Waltzing Matilda The Man from Snowy River Clancy of the Overflow
New Zealand  Katherine Mansfield 1888 1923 How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped Rhythm The Woman at the Store
New Zealand Nene Janet Paterson Clutha (Janet Frame) 1924 2004 An Angel at My Table The Pocket Mirror The Goose Bath

South America

Country National Poets Born Died
Major Works
Argentina  José Hernández 1834 1886 Martín Fierro
Argentina  Jorge Luis Borges 1899 1986 Ficciones (Fictions) El Aleph (The Aleph)
Argentina  Leopoldo Lugones 1899.  1986 Isidoro Acevedo Hymn to the Sea
Brazil  Gonçalves Dias 1823 1864 Canção do Exílio I-Juca-Pirama Os Timbiras
Brazil  Olavo Bilac 1865 1918 Poesias Brazilian Flag Anthem
Brazil  Carlos Drummond de Andrade 1902 1987 A Máquina do Mundo (The World's Machine) Alguma Poesia (Some Poesy) A Rosa do Povo (The People's Rose)
Brazil Machado de Assis 1839 1908 Crisálidas (Chrysalids, poetry) Falenas (Phalaenae, poetry) Americanas (poetry)
Chile  Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (Pablo Neruda) 1904 1973 Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair The Hands of the Day World's End
Chile  Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga (Gabriela Mistral) 1889 1957 Ensoñaciones (Dreams)
Sonetos de la Muerte (Sonnets of Death)
Carta Íntima (Intimate Letter) Junto al Mar (By the Sea)
Colombia  Rafael Pombo 1833 1912 En El Niágara Michín, Juan Chunguero, Pastorcita
Ecuador  José Joaquín de Olmedo 1780 1847 La victoria de Junin
Ecuador  Jorge Enrique Adoum 1926 2009 Entre Marx y Una Mujer Desnuda (1976) Carta para Alejandra
Peru  César Vallejo
Uruguay Juan Zorrilla de San Martín 1855 1931 Tabaré La Leyenda Patria (The Patriot Legend)
Venezuela  Rómulo Gallegos 1884 1969 Doña Bárbara Cantaclaro (1934) and Canaima (1935) La Doncella
Venezuela Andrés Eloy Blanco 1897 1955 Canto a España (A Song to Spain)

© 2016 KryssTal


Books From Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com


External Links

These links will open in a separate window