1909 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- February - Founding of the Poetry Recital Society, later the Poetry Society, in London.
- July 1 - English poets F. M. Cornford and Frances Darwin marry.
- T. E. Hulme leaves the Poets' Club, and starts meeting with F. S. Flint and other poets in a new group which Hulme refers to as the 'Secession Club'; they meet at the Eiffel Tower restaurant in London's Soho district to discuss plans to reform contemporary poetry through the introduction of free verse, tanka and haiku, and the removal of all unnecessary verbiage from poems. In April, Ezra Pound is introduced to the group and joins it.
Works published in English
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- May Austin Low, Confession, and Other Verses.
- Tom MacInnes, Lonesome Bar and Other Poems
- Robert W. Service, Ballads of a Cheechako
- E. W. Thomson, ''The Many-Mansioned House and Other Poems''
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Laurence Binyon, England, and Other Poems
- A. C. Bradley, Oxford Lectures on Poetry, criticism
- Joseph Campbell, The Mountainy Singer
- Roby Datta, Echoes from the East and West to which are added stray notes of Mine Own, edited by Roby Datta, Cambridge: Galloway and Porter, Indian poet, writing in English, published in the United Kingdom
- John Davidson, Fleet Street, and Other Poems
- Lord Alfred Douglas, Sonnets
- Darrell Figgis, A Vision of Life, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- Thomas Hardy, Time's Laughingstocks, and Other Verses
- Frederic Manning, Scenes and Portraits, a historical novel set in the Renaissance
- George Meredith, Last Poems
- Alfred Noyes, The Enchanted Island, and Other Poems
- Ezra Pound, American poet published in the United Kingdom:
- * Personae
- * Exultations
- The Poets' Club publishes two anthologies: For Christmas MDCCCCVIII and The Book of the Poets' Club including the first examples of Imagist poetry
- James Stephens, Insurrections, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- John Millington Synge, Poems and Translations, preface by W. B. Yeats, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
United States">American poetry">United States
- Ambrose Bierce, Collected Works, including poetry, published in 12 volumes from this year to 1912
- Florence Earle Coates, Lyrics of Life
- Francis M. Finch, The Blue and the Gray and other verses, published posthumously, with an introduction by Andrew Dickson White, "and a portrait of the author"; New York: Henry Holt and Company
- Louise Imogen Guiney, Happy Ending
- James Oppenheim, Monday Morning
- Ezra Pound, American poet published in the United Kingdom:
- * Personae
- * Exultations
- Lizette Woodworth Reese, A Wayside Lute
- Robert Service, Ballads of a Cheechako
- George Sterling, A Wine of Wizardry
- William Carlos Williams, ''Poems''
Other in English
- James Stephens, Insurrections, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
- John Millington Synge, Poems and Translations, preface by W. B. Yeats, Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
Works published in other languages
India">Indian poetry">India
- Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran, ' 'Deiva Yogam' ', a short narrative poem, India, Malayalam-language
Telugu">Telugu poetry">Telugu language
- Chellapilla Venkata Sastry and Divakarla Tirupati Sastry:
- *Panigrihita
- *Sravananandam
- Chilakamarti Lakshminarasimham, Gayopakhyanam, verse drama about the mythological Gaya, devotee of Lord Krishna
- Rayaprolu Subba Rao, ''Lalitha''
Other
- Jean Cocteau, La Lampe d'Aladin, published when the author was 20 years old; France
- Ernst Enno, Uued luuletused, Estonia
- René Maran, La Maison du Bonheur, Guyanese poet writing in French
- Yone Noguchi, The Pilgrimage, Japan
Births
Death years link to the corresponding " in poetry" article:- January 28 - Beatrice Deloitte Davis, Australian book editor and poet
- February 6 - Seán Rafferty, born John Rafferty, Scottish-born poet
- February 14 - A. M. Klein Ukrainian-born Canadian poet, essayist and author of short stories
- February 28 - Stephen Spender, English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle
- March 6 - Vagaland, pen name of Thomas Alexander Robertson, Shetland Scottish poet
- March 9 - Elder Olson, American poet, teacher and literary critic
- April 24 - Robert Farren, Irish poet
- May 1 - Yannis Ritsos, Greek poet
- May 9 - Robert Garioch, Scots-language poet, translator, and key member in the literary revival of the language in the mid-20th century
- May 28 - Randall Swingler, English poet, librettist, publisher and flautist
- May 30 - Edappally Raghavan Pillai, Indian, Malayalam-language poet
- July 4 - Lynette Roberts, Argentine-born Welsh poet
- July 18 - Bishnu Dey, Bengali poet, prose writer and movie critic
- July 19 - Balamani Amma, Indian, Malayalam-language poet, a woman
- July 27 - Charles Brasch, New Zealand poet, literary editor, arts patron and founding editor of the literary journal Landfall
- August 1 - W. R. Rodgers, Irish poet, essayist, book reviewer, radio broadcaster, script writer, lecturer, teacher and Presbyterian minister
- September 10 - Irakli Abashidze, Georgian poet, literary scholar and politician
- October 4 - P. Kunhiraman Nair, Indian, Malayalam-language poet
- October 12 - Dorothy Livesay, Canadian poet
- November 16 - Michio Mado, Japanese poet who worked for the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan
- December 15 - John Glassco Canadian poet, memoirist, novelist and pornographer
Deaths
- January 22 - Nabinchandra Sen, Bengali poet and writer
- March 23 - John Davidson, Scottish-born poet and playwright, suicide by drowning
- March 24 - John Millington Synge, Irish playwright, poet, prose writer and collector of folklore, Hodgkin's-related cancer
- April 10 - Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet
- May 4 - Helen Marr Hurd, American poet and teacher
- May 18 - George Meredith, English novelist and poet
- June 24 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American novelist, short story writer and poet
- July 26 - William Reed Huntington, American Episcopal priest, author and poet
- August 21 - George Cabot Lodge, American
- October 16 - Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Sorbian poet, writer, playwright and translator
- November 10 - George Essex Evans, Australian
- November 18 - Renée Vivien, English-born French-language Symbolist poet, lung congestion with complications
- November 19
- * Richard Watson Gilder, American poet and editor
- * John B. Tabb, American poet, Catholic priest and scholar
- November 28 - W. T. Goodge, Australian
- November 30 - Romesh Chundar Dutt, writer of Indian poetry in English; cousin of Toru Dutt
Awards and honors
- Newdigate Prize - Frank Ashton-Gwatkin, "Michelangelo"