1944 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.
Events
- June 1 & June 5 - The first and second lines respectively of Paul Verlaine's 1866 poem Chanson d'automne are broadcast by the Allies over BBC Radio Londres among coded messages to the French Resistance to prepare for the D-Day landings. In the ensuing Invasion of Normandy English soldier-poet Keith Douglas is killed; Vernon Scannell experiences the incident that gives rise to the poem "Walking Wounded" and is wounded; and, during lulls in the fighting, Dennis B. Wilson is writing the poem that will be published as Elegy of a Common Soldier in 2012.
- October 2 - Dylan Thomas is best man at the wedding of his friend and fellow Welsh poet Vernon Watkins in London - but fails to turn up.
Works published in English
in 1944
Canada">Canadian poetry">Canada
- E. K. Brown, On Canadian Poetry, revised edition, Canada
- Ralph Gustafson, editor, Canadian Accent, anthology
- A. M. Klein:
- * The Hitleriad
- * Poems
- Dorothy Livesay, Day and Night. Toronto: Ryerson. Governor General's Award 1944.
- E. J. Pratt, Collected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Toronto: Macmillan.
- Ronald Hambleton, editor Unit of five: Louis Dudek, Ronald Hambleton, P. K. Page, Raymond Souster, James Wreford, anthology, Toronto: Ryerson Press, Canada
India">Indian poetry">India, in English">Indian poetry in English">in English
- Harindranath Chattopadhyay:
- * Blood of Stones, including "On the Pavement of Calcutta", a realistic description of suffering in the Bengal famine of 1943; Bombay: Padma Publications
- * Lyrics, Bombay: Padma Publications
- Nolini Kanta Gupta, To the Height,
- Humayun Kabir, Mahatma and Other Poems; except for the title poem "Mahatama", inspired by the Quit India Movement, and "Rabindranath Tagore", the other poems are reprinted from the author's Poems 1932
- Fredoon Kabraji, A Minor Georgian's Swan Song, Publisher: Basil Blackwell, Indian poet published in the United Kingdom
- P. R. Kaikini, Look On Undaunted, Bombay
- H. D. Sethna, Struggling Heights, Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House
- Subho Tagore:
- * Flames of Passion, love poems in verse and in the form of prose poems; Calcutta: Susil Gupta Ltd.
- * Rubble, translated by Nilima Devi into English from the original Bengali; Calcutta: The Futurist Publishing House
United Kingdom">English poetry">United Kingdom
- Drummond Allison, The Yellow Night: Poems 1940-41-42-43, posthumous
- W. H. Auden, For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, English poet living and publishing in the United States
- George Barker, Eros in Dogma
- Laurence Binyon, The Burning of the Leaves, and Other Poems
- John Betjeman, New Bats in Old Belfries
- Laurence Binyon, The Burning of the Leaves, and Other Poems
- Edmund Blunden, Shells by a Stream
- Alex Comfort, Elegies
- Crown and Sickle poetry anthology in Britain, featuring poets in the New Apocalyptics movement
- Walter De la Mare, Collected Rhymes and Verses
- Patric Dickinson, The Seven Days of Jericho
- T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, contains "Burnt Norton", "East Coker", "The Dry Salvages", "Little Gidding"
- Roy Fuller, A Lost Season
- W. S. Graham, The Seven Journeys
- Robert Greacen, Northern Harvest and One Recent Evening, Northern Ireland poet
- J. F. Hendry, and Henry Treece, editors, The Crown and Sickle, anthology
- Laurie Lee, The Sun My Monument
- John Lehmann, The Sphere of Glass, and Other Poems
- Louis MacNeice, Springboard
- R. P. L. Mogg, For This Alone, and Other Poems
- Mervyn Peake, Rhymes Without Reason
- John Pudney, Almanack of Hope
- Herbert Read, A World Within a War
- Lynette Roberts, Poems
- E. J. Scovell, Shadows of Chrysanthemums, and Other Poems
- William Soutar, The Expectant Silence
- A. P. Wavell, Other Men's Flowers, anthology
- Charles Williams, The Region of the Summer Stars
United States">American poetry">United States
- Franklin P. Adams, Nods and Becks
- Conrad Aiken, The Soldier
- W. H. Auden, For the Time Being
- E. E. Cummings, 1 X 1
- Babette Deutsch, Take Them, Stranger
- Hilda Doolittle, writing under the pen name "H.D.", The Walls Do Not Fall, first part of Trilogy on the blitz in war-time London
- Stanley J. Kunitz, Passport to the War
- Robert Lowell, Land of Unlikeness, Cummington, Massachusetts: Cummington Press
- William Meredith, Love Letter from an Impossible Land
- Marianne Moore, Nevertheless
- Kenneth Rexroth, The Phoenix and the Tortoise
- Muriel Rukeyser, Beast in View
- Karl Shapiro, V-Letter and Other Poems
- Jesse Stuart, Album of Destiny
- Mark Van Doren, Seven Sleepers
- Louise Varèse, translator, Eloges and Other Poems, translated from the original French of Saint-John Perse; introduction by Archibald MacLeish, New York: Norton
- Robert Penn Warren, Selected Poems, 1923—1943
- William Carlos Williams:
- * Collected Later Poems
- * The Wedge
Other in English
- James K. Baxter, Beyond the Palisade, his first volume of poetry, New Zealand
- Seaforth Mackenzie, The Moonlit Doorway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson; Australia
- Kenneth Slessor, One Hundred Poems, 1919-1939, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, Australia
Works published in other languages
France">French poetry">France
- Jean Cassou, Trente-trois sonnets composes au secret
- Robert Desnos, Contrée
- Paul Éluard, Au Rendez-vous allemand
- Pierre Jean Jouve, Pour les Ombres Lausanne, Switzerland: Cahiers de Poésie French poet published in Switzerland
- Alphonse Métérié, Les Cantiques du Frère Michel
- Saint-John Perse, French poet published in his native language while in exile in Argentina:
- * Pluies, Buenos Aires: Les Editions Lettres Françaises
- * Quatre poèmes, 1941-1944, Buenos Aires: Les Editions Lettres Françaises
Indian">Indian poetry">Indian subcontinent
Gujarati">Gujarati poetry">Gujarati
- Badarayan, Kedi
- Umashankar Joshi, Prachina, a "dialogue-poem"
Hindi">Hindi poetry">Hindi
- Anchala Rameshvar Shukla, Lal Cunar, lyrics celebrating love, youth and revolt
- Girija Kumar Mathur, Manjir, many of these poems have themes of nature and intense love
- Rangeya Raghav, Ajeya Khandhar, pragativadi-movement poetry about the battle of Stalingrad, depicted to illustrate the human struggle for freedom
- Shyam Narayan Pandey, Jauhar, depicting the self-sacrifice of Padmini, queen of Chittor, written in a folk style
Other Indian languages
- A. N. Krishna Rao, Pragati Sila Sahitya, 15 essays in Kannada on the Pragatisila Caluvali in Indian literature
- Bhimaraj Bhambiru, also known as "Mangal"; Mumgha Moti, written in doha form, the poems are addressed to an individual Mangala; Rajasthani-language
- Joseph Mundasseri, written in Malayalam-language:
- * Manadandam, criticism about Indian classical literature, particularly Kalidasa
- * Mattoli, a comparison of three major works of poetry: Kumaran Asan's Karuna, Vallathol's Magdalana Mariyam and Ulloor's Pingala
- K. V. Puttappa, also known as "Kuvempu", Kogile Mattu Soviet Russia, verses with a focus on the common man, which was pioneering for Kannada poetry of the time; a recurring theme in the poems is rejection of institutionalized religion
- Kshama Rao, Miralahari, Khanda Kavya poetry on Meera, the medieval Indian saint-poet; Sanskrit-language
- Mahjoor, Kalam-e-Mahjoor "No. 8", Kashmiri-language ghazals and vatsan's
- Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Tazkirah-yi Sha'irat-i Urdu, literary criticism of Urdu-language women poets, with biographical information and selections from their poems
- Mohammad Mujib, Insha, adab aur adib, Urdu essays in literary criticism
- Prabhjot Kaur, Palkan Ohle, love poems; Punjabi-language
- Shrikrishna Powale, Agniparag; Marathi-language
- Va. Ramaswamy Ayyangar, Makakavi Paratiyar, Tamil biography of the Tamil poet Bharati
Spanish language
- Delmira Agustini, Poesías, posthumously published, prologue by Luisa Luisi ; Spain
- César Moro, pen name of César Quíspez Asín, Lettre d'amour, Peru
- Stella Sierra, Canciones de mar y luna, Panama
Other languages
- Nathan Alterman, Plague Poems, Israel
- Nizar Qabbani, The Brunette Told Me, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
- Giorgos Seferis, Ημερολόγιο Καταστρώματος ΙΙ, Greece
Awards and honors
- Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress : Robert Penn Warren appointed this year. He would serve until 1945.
- Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Day and Night, Dorothy Livesay
Births
- February 3 - Sandra Alcosser, American
- February 9 - Alice Walker, African-American novelist, poet, writer and feminist
- March 9 - Ndoc Gjetja, Albanian poet and magazine editor
- March 21 - Pedro Pietri, Puerto Rican and Nuyorican poet and playwright, co-founder of Nuyorican Poets Cafe
- April 18 - Kathy Acker, American postmodernist experimental novelist and punk poet
- July 24 - Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, American rap poet and musician
- August 22 - Tom Leonard, Scottish
- August 25
- * Margaret Gibson, African-American
- * Sherley Anne Williams, African-American
- August 31 - Lorenzo Thomas, American
- September 24 - Eavan Boland, Irish
- September 25 - bpNichol, Canadian
- October 10 - Linda Rogers, Canadian poet and children's writer
- October 12 - Lewis MacAdams, American poet, journalist and activist, founder of Friends of The Los Angeles River in 1985
- October 16 - Paul Durcan, Irish
- November 24 - Jules Deelder, Dutch
- November 25 - Kathryn Stripling Byer, American poet, teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2005–2009
- December 3 - Craig Raine, English poet and critic
- December 10 - Carol Rumens, English poet, writer, literary editor and academic
- December 18 - Michael Davidson, American
- Also:
- *
- * David Constantine, English poet, translator, editor and academic
- * Susan Ioannou, Canadian
- * Penn Kemp, Canadian poet, novelist, playwright and sound poet
- * Mary Kinzie, American
- * Patrick O'Connell, Canadian
- * Jergen Theobaldy, German
Deaths
- January 7 - Napoleon Lapathiotis, Greek poet
- January 19 - Frederick George Scott, Canadian poet
- February 12 - Olive Custance, British poet
- February 23 - Augusta Peaux, Dutch poet
- March 5 - Alun Lewis, Anglo-Welsh school poet and war poet killed in Burma
- March 28 - Stephen Leacock, Canadian writer and economist
- April 4 - John Peale Bishop, American poet and man of letters
- May 22 - William Ellery Leonard, American poet and academic
- June 5 - Capel Boake, Australian writer
- June 9 - Keith Douglas, English war poet died in World War II in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, killed by enemy mortar fire while his regiment is advancing from Bayeux and buried at the war cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seuilles
- June - Joseph Campbell, Irish poet and lyricist
- July 3 - A. H. Reginald Buller, British/Canadian mycologist mainly known as a researcher of fungi and wheat rust who also wrote limericks, some of which were published in Punch
- July 18 - Thomas Sturge Moore, English poet, author and artist
- September 26 - Eunice Tietjens, American poet, novelist, journalist, children's author, lecturer and editor
- September 30 - Baroness Gertrud von Puttkamer, writing as Marie-Madeleine, German homoerotic poet, dies in a Nazi sanatorium
- October 2 or 3 - Benjamin Fondane, Romanian-French Symbolist poet, critic and existentialist philosopher, gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp
- November 22 - Sadakichi Hartmann, American art critic and poet
- November 24 - Jun Tsuji 辻 潤, Japanese author, poet, essayist, translator, musician and bohemian
- December 17 - Robert Nichols, English war poet and dramatist
- Also:
- * Olivia Ward Bush-Banks, African and Native American poet and journalist
- * K. V. Simon, Indian, Malayalam-language poet
- * David Vogel, Hebrew poet, gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp