1816 in poetry
Encyclopedia
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish
or France
).
United Kingdom
Irish poetry
The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages, one in Irish and the other in English. The complex interplay between these two traditions, and between both of them and other poetries in English, has produced a body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to...
or France
French poetry
French poetry is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France.-French prosody and poetics:...
).
Events
- This year was known as the "Year Without a SummerYear Without a SummerThe Year Without a Summer was 1816, in which severe summer climate abnormalities caused average global temperatures to decrease by about 0.4–0.7 °C , resulting in major food shortages across the Northern Hemisphere...
" after Mount TamboraMount TamboraMount Tambora is an active stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia. Sumbawa is flanked both to the north and south by oceanic crust, and Tambora was formed by the active subduction zone beneath it. This raised Mount Tambora as high as , making it...
had erupted in the Dutch East IndiesDutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
the previous year and cast enough ash in to the atmosphere to block out the sun and cause abnormal weather across much of Northeastern United States and Northern Europe. This pall of darkness inspired Byron to write his poem, "DarknessDarkness (poem)Darkness is a poem written by Lord Byron in July 1816. That year was known as the Year Without a Summer - this is because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies the previous year, casting enough ash in to the atmosphere to block out the sun and cause abnormal weather across much of...
" in July. - Lord Byron separates from his wife then leaves England to tour Europe, settling in the summer in SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, at the Villa Diodati by Lake GenevaLake GenevaLake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
; in late May he meets, and soon becomes friends with, the poet Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, and Shelley's wife-to-be Mary GodwinMary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
. Regular conversation with Byron has an invigorating effect on Shelley's poetry. While on a boating tour the two took together, Shelley was inspired to write his Hymn to Intellectual Beauty. Shelley, in turn, influenced Byron's poetry. This new influence showed itself in the third part of Childe Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks...
, which Byron was working on, as well as in ManfredManfredManfred is a dramatic poem written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Romantic closet drama...
, which he wrote in the autumn of this year. - In late August Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin return to England from Switzerland, taking with them some of Byron's manuscripts for his publisher. - ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
is introduced to John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
in HampsteadHampsteadHampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
towards the end of the year by their mutual friend, Leigh Hunt, who was to transfer his enthusiasm from Keats to Shelley. - December 30 — ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
marries Mary Wollstonecraft GodwinMary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
after Shelley's first wife, Harriet, drowns herself (her body was found December 10).
Works published
United KingdomEnglish poetryThe history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is...
- Eaton Stannard BarrettEaton Stannard BarrettEaton Stannard Barrett was an Irish poet and author.-Career:Born in County Cork, Barrett studied law at Middle Temple, London. He is best known for his satirical poems about British political figures. The lines on the headstone of Thomas Moore’s daughter, usually ascribed to Joseph Atkinson, are...
, The Talents Run Mad; or, Eighteen Hundred and Sixteen
- Mary Matilda BethamMary Matilda BethamMary Matilda Betham was an English poet, woman of letters, and miniature painter.She was the daughter of William Betham. In London, Betham gave public Shakespeare readings and exhibited her portraits at the Royal Academy. She published A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age...
, The Lay of Marie - Thomas BrownThomas BrownThomas Brown may refer to:*Thomas Brunce , also known as Thomas Brown, English Bishop of Rochester & of Norwich*Thomas Brown , American husbandman, businessman, and land speculator...
, The Wanderer in Norway - Lord Byron (listed in chronological order of publication):
- ParisinaParisinaParisina is a poem written by Byron. It was published on 13 February 1816 and probably written between 1812 and 1815.It is based on a story related by Edward Gibbon in his Miscellaneous Works about Niccolò III d'Este, one of the dukes of Ferrara who lived in the fifteenth century...
published together with The Siege of Corinth - April 14: A Sketch from Private Life, about the separation from his wife, Augusta; printed for private circulation; unauthorized publication in The Champion on April 14 of this year
- April 14: "Fare Thee WellFare Thee Well (poem)Fare Thee Well is an 1816 poem by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron.-Background:Lord Byron married and fathered a child with Annabella Milbanke in 1815, but they separated in 1816...
" like A Sketch, about the separation from his wife, also published without authorization in The Champion - September 16: Monody on the Death of the Right Honorouble R. B. Sheriden, written at the request of Douglas KinnairdDouglas KinnairdThe Honourable Douglas James William Kinnaird was an English amateur cricketer who made 19 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1808 to 1822....
; spoken at Drury Lane TheatreTheatre Royal, Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
by Mrs. Maria Davison on this date - November 18: Childe Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks...
, Part III; the publisher is able to sell 7,000 copies of both this work and The Prisoner of ChillonThe Prisoner of ChillonThe Prisoner of Chillon is a 392-line narrative poem by Lord Byron. Written in 1816, it chronicles the imprisonment of a Genevois monk, François Bonivard, from 1532 to 1536.- Writing and publication :...
, and Other Poems to booksellers at a dinner in December. - December 5: The Prisoner of ChillonThe Prisoner of ChillonThe Prisoner of Chillon is a 392-line narrative poem by Lord Byron. Written in 1816, it chronicles the imprisonment of a Genevois monk, François Bonivard, from 1532 to 1536.- Writing and publication :...
, and Other Poems - Poems
- "The Dream"
- "Prometheus"
- DarknessDarkness (poem)Darkness is a poem written by Lord Byron in July 1816. That year was known as the Year Without a Summer - this is because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East Indies the previous year, casting enough ash in to the atmosphere to block out the sun and cause abnormal weather across much of...
(inspired by the darkness of this year, see above) - ManfredManfredManfred is a dramatic poem written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Romantic closet drama...
- Parisina
- Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
, Christabel; Kubla Khan: A Vision; The Pains of Sleep, including "Christabel" and "Kubla KhanKubla KhanKubla Khan is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, completed in 1797 and published in Christabel, Kubla Khan, and the Pains of Sleep in 1816...
" - James HoggJames HoggJames Hogg was a Scottish poet and novelist who wrote in both Scots and English.-Early life:James Hogg was born in a small farm near Ettrick, Scotland in 1770 and was baptized there on 9 December, his actual date of birth having never been recorded...
:- Mador of the Moor
- The Poetic Mirror; or, The Living Bards of Britain, published anonymously; has parodies of William WordsworthWilliam WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, S. T. Coleridge and Robert SoutheyRobert SoutheyRobert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
- Leigh Hunt, Story of Rimini
- Hannah MoreHannah MoreHannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
, Poems - Edward QuillinanEdward QuillinanEdward Quillinan was an English poet who was a son-in-law and defender of William Wordsworth and a translator of Portuguese poetry.-Early life:...
, The Sacrifice of Isabel - J. H. Reynolds, The Naiad, with Other Poems, published anonymously
- Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude; and Other Poems (including "Alastor, or The Spirit of SolitudeAlastor, or The Spirit of SolitudeAlastor, or The Spirit of Solitude is a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written from September 10 to December 14 in 1815 in Bishopsgate, London and first published in 1816. The poem was without a title when Shelley passed it along to his contemporary and friend, Thomas Love Peacock. The poem is 720...
"), published in March - John KeatsJohn KeatsJohn Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" - Robert SoutheyRobert SoutheyRobert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
:- The Lay of the Laureate: Carmen nuptiale, written for the marriage of Princess Charlotte; a privately printed edition with the title Carmen Nuptiale was also published this year
- The Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo
- John WilsonJohn Wilson (Scottish writer)John Wilson of Ellerey FRSE was a Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine....
, The City of the Plague, and Other Poems - William WordsworthWilliam WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, Thanksgiving Ode, January 18, 1816
United States
- Joseph Rodman DrakeJoseph Rodman DrakeJoseph Rodman Drake was an early American poet.- Biography :Born in New York City, he was orphaned when young and entered a mercantile house. While still a child, he showed a talent for writing poems. He was educated at Columbia. In 1813 he began studying in a physician's office...
, "The Culprit Fay", a 600-line poem about a fairy who falls in love with a mortal maiden in the Hudson Valley; republished in 18351835 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Robert Browning, Paracelsus * John Clare, The Rural Muse...
in The Culprit Fay and Other Poems - John NealJohn Neal-External links:* * * -Selected Works Available online:* * * * * and * and * * *...
, The Portico. Volume III, Baltimore: Neale Wills & Cole - John PierpontJohn PierpontJohn Pierpont was an American poet, who was also successively a teacher, lawyer, merchant, and Unitarian minister. His most famous poem is The Airs of Palestine.-Overview:...
, The Airs of PalestineThe Airs of PalestineThe poem entitled The Airs of Palestine was first published by John Pierpont in 1816 . It is probably the most famous of his poems, and provided the title for his book Airs of Palestine and Other Poems ....
, a popular long poem which quickly went through three editions; traces the influence of music on Jewish history and praises sacred music; written while the author was a Baltimore shopkeeper, the popular poem gains him a reputation as one of the best American poets of his time - Lydia SigourneyLydia SigourneyLydia Huntley Sigourney , née Lydia Howard Huntley, was a popular American poet during the early and mid 19th century. She was commonly known as the "Sweet Singer of Hartford". Most of her works were published with just her married name Mrs. Sigourney.-Early life:Mrs...
, using the pen namePen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
"Lydia Huntley", Moral pieces, in Prose and Verse, Hartford, Connecticut: Sheldon & Goodwin - Alexander WilsonAlexander WilsonAlexander Wilson was a Scottish-American poet, ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator.Wilson was born in Paisley, Scotland, the son of an illiterate distiller. In 1779 he was apprenticed as a weaver. His main interest at this time was in writing poetry...
, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, poems and a biographical essay on the author's life, posthumously published
Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- April 21 – Charlotte BrontëCharlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
(died 18551855 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Charles Heavysege:**The revolt of Tartarus, a poem in six parts ** Sonnets Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or...
) - April 22 – Philip James BaileyPhilip James BaileyPhilip James Bailey , English poet, author of Festus, was born at Nottingham.- Life :His father, who himself published both prose and verse, owned and edited from 1845 to 1852 the Nottingham Mercury, one of the chief journals in his native town...
- April 23 – Douglas Smith HuyghueDouglas Smith HuyghueDouglas Smith Huyghue was a Canadian and Australian poet, fiction writer, essayist, and artist.-Biography:Born April 23, 1816, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to an impoverished British lieutenant, it is believed Douglas Smith Huyghue was educated at the Saint John Grammar School...
(died 18911891 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .- Events :* The Rhymers Club gathered at the Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street, London, 1891–93, including John Davidson, Ernest Dowson, W.B...
), CanadianCanadian poetry- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
and Australian poet, fiction writer, essayist, and artist - May 2 – Charles HeavysegeCharles HeavysegeCharles Heavysege was a Canadian poet and dramatist. "He was one of the first serious poets to emerge in Canada, and his play Saul was hailed on its appearance as the greatest verse drama in English since the time of Shakespeare." -Life and Writing:Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England,...
(died 18761876 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-United Kingdom:* Robert Bridges, The Growth of Love...
), English and Canadian poet - October 26 – Philip Pendleton CookePhilip Pendleton CookePhilip Pendleton Cooke was an American lawyer and minor poet from Virginia. He was the brother of John Esten Cooke.-Biography:...
(died 18501850 in poetry— From Cantos 27 and 56, In Memoriam A.H.H., by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published this yearNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:...
), American lawyer and poet - Date not known:
- Shirley BrooksShirley BrooksCharles William Shirley Brooks , journalist and novelist, born in London, began life in a solicitor's office. He early, however, took to literature, and contributed to various periodicals. In 1851 he joined the staff of Punch, to which he contributed "Essence of Parliament," and on the death of...
, EnglishEnglish poetryThe history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is... - Frances Brown (Browne)
- Josiah D. Canning, American
- Charles HeavysegeCharles HeavysegeCharles Heavysege was a Canadian poet and dramatist. "He was one of the first serious poets to emerge in Canada, and his play Saul was hailed on its appearance as the greatest verse drama in English since the time of Shakespeare." -Life and Writing:Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England,...
, CanadianCanadian poetry- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
- Shirley Brooks
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- June 16 – Hugh Henry BrackenridgeHugh Henry BrackenridgeHugh Henry Brackenridge was an American writer, lawyer, judge, and justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.A frontier citizen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he founded both the Pittsburgh Academy, now the University of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Gazette, still operating today as the...
, (born 17481748 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Works published:-United Kingdom:* Mark Akenside, An Ode to the Earl of Huntingdon...
), American writer, poet, lawyer, judge, and Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice - July 7 – Richard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley SheridanRichard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
, 64, IrishEnglish poetryThe history of English poetry stretches from the middle of the 7th century to the present day. Over this period, English poets have written some of the most enduring poems in Western culture, and the language and its poetry have spread around the globe. Consequently, the term English poetry is...
playwright, Whig statesman, writer and poet - October 27 – Santō KyōdenSanto Kyodenwas a Japanese poet, writer and artist in the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He is the brother of Santō Kyōzan.- Life :...
山東京伝, pen namePen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Samuru Iwase 岩瀬醒, also known popularly as "Kyōya Denzō" 京屋伝蔵 (born 17611761 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Charles Churchill terrorises the London stage:...
), JapaneseJapanese poetryJapanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
Edo periodEdo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
poet, writer and artist; brother of Santō Kyōzan
See also
- PoetryPoetryPoetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
- List of years in poetry
- List of years in literature
- 19th century in literature19th century in literatureSee also: 19th century in poetry, 18th century in literature, other events of the 19th century, 20th century in literature, list of years in literature....
- 19th century in poetry19th century in poetry-Decades and years:...
- Romantic poetryRomantic poetryRomanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
- Golden Age of Russian PoetryGolden Age of Russian PoetryGolden Age of Russian Poetry is the name traditionally applied by Russian philologists to the first half of the 19th century. It is also called the Age of Pushkin, after its most significant poet...
(1800–1850) - Weimar ClassicismWeimar ClassicismWeimar Classicism is a cultural and literary movement of Europe. Followers attempted to establish a new humanism by synthesizing Romantic, classical and Enlightenment ideas...
period in Germany, commonly considered to have begun in 1788 and to have ended either in 1805, with the death of Friedrich SchillerFriedrich SchillerJohann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, or 1832, with the death of Goethe - List of poets