1787 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- April 17 - The Edinburgh edition of Scottish poet Robert Burns' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is published by William Creech including a portrait of Burns by Alexander Nasmyth. Burns has great social success in the city's literary circles; 16-year-old Walter Scott meets him at the house of Adam Ferguson. On December 4 he meets Agnes Maclehose at a party given by Miss Erskine Nimmo.
Works published
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Robert Burns:
- * Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
- * see also Richard Glover's The Scots Musical Museum, below
- Anne Francis, Charlotte to Werter
- Richard Glover, The Atheniad
- James Johnson, editor, The Scots Musical Museum, an anthology with 177 of the 600 songs written by Robert Burns, who had collected many of the others; published in six volumes from this year to 1803; Volumes 2-5 edited by Burns
- George Keate, The Distressed Poet
- Sophia Lee, A Hermit's Tale, published anonymously
- Robert Merry, Paulina; or, The Russian Daughter
- John Ogilvie, The Fame of the Druids, published anonymously
- Henry James Pye, Poems on Various Subjects, including "Aerophorion", possibly the first poem about an aviator
- Edward Rushton, West-Indian Eclogues, published anonymously
- John Thelwall, Poems on Various Subjects
- John Wolcot, writing under the pen name "Peter Pindar", Ode Upon Ode; or, A Peep at St. James
- Ann Yearsley, ''Poems, on Various Subjects''
United States">American poetry">United States
- Joel Barlow, The Vision of Columbus, nine books; describes America as prosperous and improving, seeks to promote "the love of national liberty" in Americans
- James Beattie, Poems on Several Occasions
- Peter Markoe, ''Miscellaneous Poems''
Other
- Jean-François Marmontel, Éléments de littérature, including rewritten parts of Poétique française, French criticism
- Évariste-Désiré Parny, Chansons madécasses, prose poems ; France
Births
Death years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- May 14 - Alexander Laing, Scottish poet
- November 15 - Richard Henry Dana Sr., American poet, critic and lawyer
- November 21 - Bryan Procter, English poet
- December 16 - Mary Russell Mitford, English novelist, poet and dramatist
- Margaret Miller Davidson Sr., American novelist, mother of poets Lucretia Maria Davidson, Margaret Miller Davidson and Levi P. Davidson
- Susanna Hawkins, Scottish poet
Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- February 13 - Ruđer Bošković, Ragusan polymath and poet
- September 1 - Agatha Lovisa de la Myle, Baltic-German and Latvian poet
- September - Moses Browne, English poet and clergyman
- November 3 - Robert Lowth, English Anglican Bishop, poet, professor of poetry at the University of Oxford, grammarian who wrote one of the most influential textbooks on English grammar
- December 18 - Soame Jenyns, English writer and poet