1785 in poetry explained

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

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.^[1]

Works published in English

United Kingdom

• Samuel Egerton Brydges, Sonnets and other Poems, published anonymously^[2]
• 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^[2]
• 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^[2]
• William Hayley, A Philosophical, Historical and Moral Essay on Old Maids^[2]
• Samuel Johnson, The Works of Samuel Johnson, poetry and prose in 11 volumes (another two volumes published in 1787 and another in 1788)^[2]
• Hannah More, Sensibility: A Poetical Epistle, United Kingdom^[3]
• Edward Lovibond, Poems on Several Occasions^[2]
• 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)^[2]
  • Lyric Odes, for the Year 1785^[2]
• Ann Yearsley, Poems, on Several Occasions^[2]

Works published in other languages

• János Bacsanyi, The Valour of the Magyars, Hungary
• Jens Baggesen, Comic Tales, written in imitation of Voltaire; Denmark^[4]
• 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^[5]
• 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^[6]
  • Gopala Krishna Pattanayak (died 1862), Indian, Oriya-language poet^[7]

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

See also

• Poetry

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Paton, Elizabeth. The Burns Encyclopedia. 2014-01-28.
2. Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004,
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, 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 "American Poetry Full-Text Database / Bibliography" at University of Chicago Library website, retrieved March 4, 2009
6. Mohan, Sarala Jag, Chapter 4: "Twentieth-Century Gujarati Literature" (Google books link), in Natarajan, Nalini, and Emanuel Sampath Nelson, editors, Handbook of Twentieth-century Literatures of India, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996,, retrieved December 10, 2008
7. Das, Sisir Kumar, "A Chronology of Literary Events / 1911 - 1956", in Das, Sisir Kumar and various, History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956: struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy, Volume 2, 1995, published by Sahitya Akademi,, retrieved via Google Books on December 23, 2008