{"id":7954,"date":"2019-04-09T11:08:18","date_gmt":"2019-04-09T10:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7954"},"modified":"2020-04-14T09:19:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T08:19:27","slug":"worlds-most-famous-poets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/worlds-most-famous-poets\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are The World\u2019s Most Famous Poets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you are studying for the Edexcel English Literature A Level<\/a>, you need to be fully briefed on the world’s most famous poets.\u00a0 Who are they?\u00a0 Well, it is open to debate, but here we take you through the top poets across time and space and why they are considered so great.<\/p>\n

The best of the Irish Poets<\/h2>\n

William Butler Yeats characterises the lyrical beauty of the best of the Irish poets and is thought to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th<\/sup> Century no matter where in the world you look.\u00a0 The Lake Isle of Innisfree<\/em> is characteristic of his style, but also a symbol of his love of his homeland.\u00a0 Innisfree is a small island in a lake in Sligo County.\u00a0 It is a place Yeats visited every year, taking a boat trip to the island.\u00a0 This poem seems a profoundly personal reflection by the poet; however, as with the greats he touched on the universal love of nature and the need for a sense of belonging.<\/p>\n

The best of the Welsh Poets<\/h2>\n

Dylan Thomas is about as Welsh as daffodils and sheep.\u00a0 His poem Do not go gently into that good night<\/em> is probably one of the greatest works in his short 39 years on the planet.\u00a0 However, his play Under Milk Wood<\/em>, written in verse, is a masterful and much-loved text too.\u00a0 Unfortunately for the world at large, Thomas developed a love of alcohol that far exceeded a human body\u2019s ability to process.\u00a0\u00a0 However, Dylan Thomas himself declared that all the best poets never make it to 40.<\/p>\n

The best of the British Poets<\/h2>\n

Percy Shelley was married to Mary Shelley and had a close personal friendship with Lord Byron.\u00a0 This is a trio of literary greatness; it would have been good to accompany.\u00a0 Shelley, the man, is best known for anthology words such as Ode to the West Wind and The Masque of Anarchy.<\/p>\n

Although not an obvious choice amongst some literary giants, such as Shakespeare, Tennyson and Wordsworth, there is some more emotional and more universal in the works of Shelley, which spans the centuries with more passion.<\/p>\n

The best of the Italian Poets<\/h2>\n

Dante di Alighiero degli Alighieri is more commonly known just as Dante.\u00a0 All the best people are only ever known by one name, look at Beyonce.\u00a0 Even though he lived between the years 1265 \u2013 1321, Dante is still one of a handful of poets who defy time and are known from Italy.<\/p>\n

He is best known for his work Divine Comedy, <\/em>which was conceived during his exile, forced by the Catholic Church.\u00a0 In this poem, Virgil travels through the realms of hell to make it to heaven.\u00a0 It is interesting that Dante himself felt that the most celebrated poets would spend eternity in Limbo as a restless soul.\u00a0 The line “his spirit, which had left us, remains” is adorned on the empty tomb where he should have been laid to rest.\u00a0 This may not be a suggestion that the man remains in a physical form, but instead, his work continues as a reflection of his spirit.\u00a0 It, of course, depends upon your beliefs when interpreting this line of poetry.<\/p>\n

The best of the rest of the world<\/h2>\n

Maya Angelou has to be one of the greatest poets of all time. As there has been a distinctly male theme to the poets so far, it is also important to recognise the voice of a woman.<\/p>\n

Maya Angelou rose to fame with her autobiography I know why the caged bird sings<\/em>.\u00a0 This recounts her life as a young black woman in America, with some reflection on her roots in a population that was not long freed from slavery.<\/p>\n

However, it is the poem Still I rise<\/em> that has made her iconic in the lives of those who love poetry.\u00a0 The affirmation of survival over struggle has become something of an anthem to many.\u00a0 Even Lewis Hamilton has the words Still I Rise<\/em> tattooed across his back.<\/p>\n

It is never so simple<\/h2>\n

To declare some poetic great is easy enough.\u00a0 However, to proclaim a poet the best in a category is always open to debate and to challenge.\u00a0 As with all art, poetry is a matter of taste, emotion, as well as an exercise in taste.\u00a0 If you do not like the choices here, learn more about literature and develop your expertise on what it means to be the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you are studying for the Edexcel English Literature A Level, you need to be fully briefed on the world’s most famous poets.\u00a0 Who are they?\u00a0 Well, it is open to debate, but here we take you through the top poets across time and space and why they are considered so great. The best of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/statue-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Nick Cooper","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/author\/nccnickcooper\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7954"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8182,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7954\/revisions\/8182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ncchomelearning.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}