Sappho, an ancient Greek poet, is one of the earliest known poets in history. Here are the 15 Black women poets you should know. On July 11, 1761, she was brought to Boston, Massachusetts on a slave ship called The Phillis. Part of a new generation of poets who primarily use the social media, Rupi Kaur is perhaps the most famous contemporary poet. This page was last edited on 13 February 2021, at 19:12 (UTC). What would I give for a heart of flesh to warm me through, H. D. was once described by Glenn Hughes as ‘the perfect Imagist’, and ‘The Pool’ shows why. See a list of the best Top all time Most famous English poets and writers 10. Here’s a list of Black British poets that will get you ‘Mmm Hmm’ing’ and clicking your fingers. A prolific poet, she was the great-grandniece of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the great niece of Sara Coleridge. She probably wrote around 10,000 lines of poetry but only around 650 of those survive today. Sylvia Plath, ‘Poppies in October’. Even H. D. doesn’t appear to know – hence the use of question marks. It was only after her death that her nearly 1800 poems came to light. In short my Dearee, kiss me, and be quiet. — Or a bird; Sappho was an ancient Greek poet. Phillis Wheatley started writing poetry by the age of 13 and, from the age of 14, her poems appeared in certain newspapers and periodicals in U.S. and Britain. The French title of this poem, ‘A Quoi Bon Dire’, translates as ‘what good is there to say’. This list is about the most famous female poets, not the greatest female poets. OpenLink Faceted Browser; OpenLink Structured Data Editor Little is known about her and it is not even certain who her parents were. Her father wanted her to become a mathematician or scientist but she was more interested in poetry. Dickinson wrote some of the best short poems of the nineteenth century, and this one is just eight lines. Montagu reduces the advice of Lord Lyttleton (in a poem instructing a ‘Belinda’ how to behave), and many other men opining on women’s correct conduct, to just two pithy lines, in order to poke fun at it: Be plain in Dress and sober in your Diet; Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Maya Angelou was one of the most renowned figures of the 20th century. She was the first female poet and the second ever after Robert Frost to be so honored. Her fifth collection, American Primitive, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984. The author of Wuthering Heights also wrote some of the finest short poems of the Victorian era. Her second collection, Dart, which won her the T.S. Forgive me if I’ve shunned so long On Being Brought From Africa to America (1773), To His Excellency General Washington (1775). Holly Williams takes a look at the female poets revolutionising the art form. Read and Enjoy Poetry by English Women Poets. Once her father realized her great talent in poetry, he encouraged her to become a poet. So begins this wonderfully touching poem about a lost lover. Elizabeth married another renowned English writer Robert Browning. This summer evening, hushed and lone; Instead of this heart of stone ice-cold whatever I do! Eliot prize in 2012, is a collection I continually revisit; it’s an epic, book-length poem about the West Country waterway and the people living on its margins. Nandini Sahu is an acclaimed Indian poet, writer and critic. Aphra Behn (1640–1689), dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672), New England 's first published poet Sophia Elisabet Brenner (1659–1730), Swedish writer, poet, feminist and salon hostess Listen to the videos, sit back, relax, and let the flows, rhymes and rhythm take your mind on a literary journey: 1.Deanna Rodger. Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted. Like many of Stevie Smith’s poems, this one is a little unusual, and all the better for it. Due to themes in her poetry, Sappho has also become a model for the sexually autonomous woman and the word lesbian comes from Lesbos, the place of her residence. Sylvia Plath is regarded as a pioneer in the genre of Confessional poetry, a term used to define poems which focus on the individual; her experience, her psyche, her trauma and the like. Born in Punjab, India, Rupi Kaur immigrated to Canada with her parents when she was four. Montagu (1689-1762) was not just a leading female poet of the Augustan era in English poetry (which is most famously typified by the work of Alexander Pope): she also helped to introduce a process of inoculation against smallpox, decades before Edward Jenner’s more successful breakthrough with vaccination. She went on to win several other awards including the National Book Award for her 1992 collection New and Selected Poems. She wrote quite personally of her experiences. Sarojini Naidu is renowned as the ‘Nightingale of India’ due to her lyrical poems, which are rich in imagery and have a timeless beauty. She has written curriculum for Seeds for Peace, and currently conducts a workshop called Writing Towards Peace. Her second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers, was published in 2017, and within a week, it ranked second on Amazon’s best-seller list. O merry friends, go your own way, I have never a word to say. From William Shakespeare's sonnets and Seamus Heaney's poetry on rural life to Christina Rossetti's feminist poems, TOM PAULIN on his top ten favourite British … Throughout history, there have been many British women poets who have made significant contribution to the field. Emily Dickinson lived an introverted life and most of her friendships were formed through correspondence. With something of an olden tone. Image (top): Lady Mary Wortley Montagu by Sir Godfrey Kneller, via Wikimedia Commons. Some of the greatest and best known British poets have their roots well laid in the 19th century. It presents these poems in modern-spelling, clear-text versions for classroom use, and for ready comparison to mainstream editions of male poets' work. Toggle navigation. Subcategories. Her first poetry collection was published in September, 1773 in London making her the first published African-American woman. She first published her work in 1848 when she was 18. She began writing poems for her friends on their birthdays. Sylvia Plath is considered among the leading writers of the 20th century and she remains one of the most popular female poets in the English language. She was renowned in antiquity and was referred to as “The Poetess” just as Homer was referred to as “The Poet”. Yet the faint wind comes soothingly Any list of the best sonnets by English women poets that strives for comprehensive historical coverage should begin here, with the largely forgotten figure of Anne Locke (c. 1530-c. 1590). Today she is most known for her unusual use of form and syntax; and for being “the poet of paradox”. You put Rupi Kaur in league with Emily Dickinson and Sarojini Naidu and she is ranked higher than Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Thanks, Anirudh. She also wrote patriotic poems. A child prodigy, Sarojini Naidu topped the matriculation examination at Madras University at the age of just 12. The 19th century saw the emergence of several prominent female poets who laid the groundwork for the rise of women in the field of poetry in the next century. Wheatley was ultimately freed from slavery. H. D., ‘The Pool’. That is blasphemous. Thank you – and Happy Thanksgiving to you too! During her life she was known as an eccentric and few people knew of her immense talent. Kaur then began writing poetry on the social media and, with time, she became a sensation. But sorrow withers even the strong, Were you bitten by a rabid dog? Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. Be it Emily Bronte or Elizabeth Browning, Emily Dickinson or Amy Lowell, British women of the period showed the world how well a woman could perform when given a chance. first named writer in world history was a woman, Enheduanna, the poet coming face-to-face with her own reflection, the best English sonnets by women writers, The Secret Library: A Book-Lovers’ Journey Through Curiosities of History, The Great War, The Waste Land and the Modernist Long Poem, 10 Very Short English Poems by Female Poets | O LADO ESCURO DA LUA. Rossetti (1830-94) is often a master of rhyme, and this nine-line poem is a wonderful example of how she used rhyme to generate a powerful emotional response in the reader (especially in the internal rhymes of the poem’s final line). :), Pingback: 10 Very Short English Poems by Female Poets | O LADO ESCURO DA LUA. However, she was a prolific poet. Women writers who inspired me: Enid Blyton, Richmal Crompton, PL Travers, Margaret Storey, Ursula LeGuin, Baroness Orczy, Diana Wynne Jones — Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) April 5, 2016 The couple moved to Italy in 1846, where Elizabeth lived for the rest of her life. Rupi Kaur is perhaps the most famous contemporary female poet. They were published after her death as part of her renowned poetry collection Ariel. Another unusual marriage of spoken word and artistic form is her 2014 storytelling spoken word play, Wombs Cry. But I …. Phillis adopted her master’s last name as was the custom for slaves. Sylvia Plath is considered among the leading writers of the 20th century and she remains one of the most popular female poets in the English language. Sappho is best known for her lyric poetry, written to be accompanied by music. Shareefa is an innovative British Asian female spoken word poet in other ways. Female poets Female poets also contributed to the Romantic movement, but their strategies tended to be more subtle and less controversial. During the Romantic period, women such as Joanna Baillie, Anna Letitia Barbauld, Felicia Hemans, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Mary Robinson, Anna … Though Barrett Browning may be a better poet, more people in today’s world would be knowing about Kaur. Many of Sylvia Plath’s most famous poems are longer than 14 lines, but ‘Poppies in October’ comes in under this upper limit. The list includes many familiar and great British female poets such as Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Emily Brontë, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Anne Bradstreet. A List of Famous English Poets includes Poems and Biographical information of the most Famous English Poets. She was introduced at a young age to 19th-century female Somali poet Dada Masiti and is now a fellow at The Complete Works II, a poetry development programme whose patron is … Her first poetry collection The Colossus and Other Poems was published in 1960. If poetry makes you think of stuffy classrooms and impenetrable verse, think again. The speaker is an old man remembering his wedding night during the Blitz, when he married ‘a girl with t.b.’. The poetry of Plath is known for featuring intense coupling of violent or disturbed imagery with playful use of alliteration and rhyme. Our ranking criteria, which takes into account various factors to calculate the present popularity of a poet, puts Rupi Kaur at the current rank. It’s also a touching poem, marked by that quiet desperation of something lost or unattainable, a quality which characterises much of Duffy’s greatest work. You can continue to explore the world of female poets with our pick of the best English sonnets by women writers. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Lifespan: October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963. Alexander has degrees from Yale University and Boston University and completed her Ph.D. in English at the University of Pennsylvania. A butterfly flits across, Where , to me, is the loss I couldn’t find an anthology featuring all of these poets. The 20th century saw great contribution of women in the field of poetry. Not smiles but scalding tears, Faceted Browser ; Sparql Endpoint ; Browse using . .in_content2 { margin-top: -10px; } Do you even know anything about poetry in the first place. ‘No Newspapers’ is a very short lyric. And everybody thinks that you are dead, The best short poems by women writers – selected by Dr Oliver Tearle. What would I give for tears! This anthology brings together extensive selections of poetry by the five most prolific and prominent women poets of the English Civil War period: Anne Bradstreet, Hester Pulter, Margaret Cavendish, Katherine Philips and Lucy Hutchinson. Also known by her pen names, Madhavidas and Kamala Das, Kamala Suryya wrote majorly in English and is known for her hard-hitting and powerful treatment of female sexuality. Poet Olena Kalytiak Davis writes about love and love lost, sexual violence and sexual apathy, and what it’s like to grow older as a woman in a world that often renders older woman … Phillis Wheatley, an African slave sold in the United States, became a renowned poet in the 18th century. Emily Brontë, ‘I know not how it falls on me’. ‘A Quoi Bon Dire’ was published in Charlotte Mew’s 1916 volume The Farmer’s Bride. In British Women Poets of the Romantic Era, Paula R. Feldman introduces modern readers to the range and diversity of women's poetic expression, making available more texts by more women poets of the Romantic era than have ever been collected in a single book in the twentieth century. I know not how it falls on me, See also: Poets by Nationality | Contemporary English Poets | English Women Poets English Poets Born: Before 1400 | 1501-1600 | 1601-1700 | 1701-1800 | 1801-1900 | 1901-1950 | After 1951 To wash the stain ingrain, and to make me clean again. The author of this article, Dr Oliver Tearle, is a literary critic and lecturer in English at Loughborough University. Apart from being a poet, she was also an activist who followed Mahatma Gandhi and fought for India’s independence. Her poetry had a major influence on prominent writers of the day, including the American poets Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson. Last edited on 13 February 2021, at 19:12 . Anne Askew (1521-1546) may be the first female English language poet we know by name; she was also the first English woman to demand a divorce! — I heard the leaf of the poppy fall. Among the leading 19th century female poets were Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson and Christina Rossetti. We’ve interpreted ‘short’ here to mean very short: only one is as long as 14 lines, and many of the others are no longer than ten lines, which we feel is pretty short for a poem. Great post — thank you. Elizabeth Barrett began writing poetry from around the age of six. Though most of her works were lost with time, her reputation as a brilliant poet has remained intact through the years. She began her career as a singer and dancer; worked as a civil rights activist and journalist; wrote seven acclaimed autobiographies; taught at Wake Forest University; and received many honors including the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom. The poetry of Mary Oliver is inspired by nature and it describes the sense of wonder it instills in her. He regarded one of the best historians of the Victorian era. Because I Could Not Stop For Death (1890). Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, ‘A Summary of Lord Lyttleton’s “Advice to a Lady”’. Interest in Dickinson’s poetry became widespread by the early 20th century and critics realized that the irregularities in her poems were consciously artistic. Angelou was a prolific poet who explored numerous themes in her poems including that of women, love, loss, music, struggle, discrimination and racism. She has several English books and poems to her name, and is also Associate Professor of English at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. She has thus been described as an “indefatigable guide to the natural world, particularly to its lesser-known aspects.” Due to her affinity for solitude and inner monologues, she has also been compared to Emily Dickinson. 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