Poet Laureate
53011
226129883
2008-07-16T23:12:59Z
SamuelTheGhost
5414875
undo old vandalism by Romero Frost
{{for|the US Poet Laureate|Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress}}
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}}
A '''Poet Laureate''' is a [[poet]] officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for State occasions and other government events. The [[plural]] form is '''poets laureate'''.
In [[England]], the term has for centuries been the title of the official poet of the [[monarch]], appointed for life since the time of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]]. Poets laureate are appointed by many countries. In Britain there is also a [[Children's Laureate]].
== Origin of the term ==
In ancient Greece the [[bay laurel|laurel]] was sacred to the god [[Apollo]], and was used to form a crown or [[laurel wreath|wreath]] of honour for poets and heroes. This custom has since become widespread, both in fact and as a metaphor. The word ''laureate'' or ''laureated'' thus came in English to signify eminence or association with glory. ''Laureate letters'' were once the despatches announcing a victory. The term ''laureate'' became associated with degrees awarded by European universities (the term ''[[baccalaureate]]'' for the degree of bachelor reflects this idea). As a royal degree in [[rhetoric]], ''poet laureate'' was awarded at European universities in the Middle Ages. The term might also refer to the holder of such a degree, which recognised skill in rhetoric, grammar and language.
According to the historian [[Edward Gibbon]], [[Petrarch]] (Francesco Petrarca, 1304–74) of Rome, perhaps best known for his sonnets to the fair-haired, blue-eyed Laura, took the title of "poet laureate" in [[1341]] for the poem "Africa".
== History ==
From the more general use of the term "poet laureate" arose its restriction in England to an official office of Poet Laureate, attached to the royal household. [[James I of England|James I]] essentially created the position as it is known today for [[Ben Jonson]] in 1617, although Jonson's appointment does not seem to have been formally made. The office was a development from the practice of earlier times when minstrels and versifiers formed part of the King's retinue. [[Richard I of England|Richard Coeur de Lion]] had a ''[[versificator Regis]]'' ([[King's Poet]]), Gulielmus Peregrinus, and [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] had a versificator named (Master Henry). In the 15th century, John Kay, also a "versifier", described himself as [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]'s "humble poet laureate".
No single authentic definitive record exists of the office of Poet Laureate of [[England]]. According to Wharton, [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] paid 10 shillings a year to a Versificator Regis. [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] 1340–1400 was called Poet Laureate, being granted in 1389 an annual allowance of wine. W. Hamilton classes [[Chaucer]], Gower, Kay, Andrew Bernard, [[John Skelton|Skelton]], Robert Whittington, Richard Edwards, Spenser and Samuel Daniel, as "volunteer Laureates".
[[John Skelton]] studied at [[Oxford University]] in the early 1480s, and was advanced to the degree of "poet laureate" in 1488. The title of laureate was also conferred on him by the [[Catholic University of Leuven|University of Louvain]] in 1492, and by [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in 1492–3. He soon became famous for rhetoric, satire and translations. In 1488 Skelton joined the court of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], tutored [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] and was the official royal poet for most of the next 40 years. He was held in high esteem: "But I pray mayster John Skelton, late created poete laureate in the unyversite of Oxenforde, to oversee and correct this sayd booke" — Caxton in the preface to ''The Boke of Eneydos compyled by Vargyle'' 1490.
The title of Poet Laureate, as a royal office, was first conferred by letters patent on [[John Dryden]] in 1670, two years after Davenant's death. The post then became a regular institution. Dryden's successor Shadwell originated annual birthday and New Year odes. The poet laureate became responsible for writing and presenting official verses to commemorate both personal occasions, such as the monarch's birthday or royal births and marriages, and public occasions, such as coronations and military victories. His activity in this respect has varied according to circumstances, and the custom ceased to be obligatory after Pye's death. The office fell into some contempt before Southey, but took on a new lustre from his personal distinction and that of [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]] and [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Tennyson]]. Wordsworth stipulated, before accepting the honour, that no formal effusions from him should be considered a necessity; but Tennyson was generally happy in his numerous poems of this class.
On Tennyson's death there was a considerable feeling that no possible successor was acceptable, [[William Morris]] and [[Algernon Swinburne|Swinburne]] being hardly suitable as court poets. Eventually, however, the undesirability of breaking with tradition for temporary reasons, and thus severing the one official link between literature and the state, prevailed over the protests against allowing anyone of inferior genius to follow Tennyson. It may be noted that abolition had been similarly advocated when Warton and Wordsworth died. [[Edward Gibbon]] had condemned the position's artificial approach to poetry:
{{quote|From Augustus to Louis, the muse has too often been false and venal: but I much doubt whether any age or court can produce a similar establishment of a stipendiary poet, who in every reign, and at all events, is bound to furnish twice a year a measure of praise and verse, such as may be sung in the chapel, and, I believe, in the presence, of the sovereign. I speak the more freely, as the best time for abolishing this ridiculous custom is while the prince is a man of virtue and the poet a man of genius. | Gibbon: ''[[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]:'' Chapter LXX (footnote)}}
The salary has varied, but traditionally includes some alcohol. [[Ben Jonson]] first received a pension of 100 marks, and later an annual "terse of Canary wine". Dryden had a pension of £300 and a butt of Canary wine. Pye received £27 instead of the wine. [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Tennyson]] drew £72 a year from the [[Lord Chamberlain|Lord Chamberlain's]] department, and £27 from the Lord Steward's "in lieu of the [[butt of sack]]".
== List of Poets Laureate of England==
===Mediæval===
* [[Gulielmus Peregrinus]] employed by [[Richard I of England|Richard Coeur de Lion]]
* [[Master Henry]] was Versificator Regis, or King's Poet employed by [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] (according to [[Thomas Warton]])
* [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] (c. [[1343]]–[[1400]])
* [[John Kay (poet)|John Kay]] in the reign of [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]], [[1461]]–[[1483|83]]
===Under the Tudors===
* [[Bernard André of Toulouse]] (1450–1522), author of ''Vita regis Henrici Septimi'' called himself Poet Laureate under [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]
* [[John Skelton]] was the Poet Laureate under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]
* [[Edmund Spenser]] died in [[1599]]
===From 1599 to the Present===
* 1599: [[Samuel Daniel]]
* 1619: [[Ben Jonson]]
* 1637: [[William Davenant|Sir William Davenant]] (a godson of [[William Shakespeare]])
* 1668: [[John Dryden]]
* [[1688 in poetry|1688]]: [[Thomas Shadwell]]
* [[1692 in poetry|1692]]: [[Nahum Tate]]
* [[1715 in poetry|1715]]: [[Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)|Nicholas Rowe]]
* [[1718 in poetry|1718]]: [[Laurence Eusden|Reverend Laurence Eusden]]
* [[1730 in poetry|1730]]: [[Colley Cibber]]
* [[1757 in poetry|1757]]: [[William Whitehead]], on the refusal of [[Thomas Gray]]
* [[1785 in poetry|1785]]: [[Thomas Warton|Reverend Thomas Warton]], on the refusal of [[William Mason (poet)|William Mason]]
* [[1790 in poetry|1790]]: [[Henry James Pye]]
* [[1813 in poetry|1813]]: [[Robert Southey]], on the refusal of [[Walter Scott|Sir Walter Scott]]
* [[1843 in poetry|1843]]: [[William Wordsworth]]
* [[1850 in poetry|1850]]: [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]], on the refusal of Samuel Russell[[Image:P1266JBdoorway.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Betjeman's [[City of London|City home]]]]
* [[1896 in poetry|1896]]: [[Alfred Austin]], on the refusal of [[William Morris]]
* [[1913 in poetry|1913]]: [[Robert Bridges]]
* [[1930 in poetry|1930]]: [[John Masefield]], [[Order of Merit (Commonwealth)|OM]]
* [[1967 in poetry|1967]]: [[Cecil Day-Lewis]], [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]
* [[1972 in poetry|1972]]: [[John Betjeman|Sir John Betjeman]], [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]
* [[1984 in poetry|1984]]: [[Ted Hughes]], [[Order of Merit (Commonwealth)|OM]], on the refusal of [[Philip Larkin]]
* [[1999 in poetry|1999]]: [[Andrew Motion]] (for a ten year period)
*
==Poets Laureate in other countries==
Other countries have established similar official posts.
===Canada===
The [[Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate]] is appointed as an officer of the [[Library of Parliament]]. Candidates must be able to write in both English and French, must have a substantial publication history (including poetry) displaying literary excellence and must have written work reflecting Canada, among other criteria.
The first ever Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate was awarded to George Bowering in 2002. In 2004, the title was transferred to Pauline Michel and in 2006 to John Steffler. His term ends on December 3, 2008.
===Scotland===
The ''Scots [[Makar]]'' is the unpaid equivalent of a poet laureate to represent and promote poetry in [[Scotland]]. On [[16 February]], [[2004]], Professor [[Edwin Morgan]] was named to the post.
===U.S.A.===
The [[Library of Congress|United States Library of Congress]] has since 1937 appointed an official Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. An Act of Congress changed the name of the position in 1985 to ''[[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]]''.
[[As of 2007]], the U.S. Poet Laureate is [[Charles Simic]]. Previous U.S. Poets Laureate have included [[Rita Dove]], [[Elizabeth Bishop]], [[Robert Frost]], [[Karl Shapiro]], [[Robert Penn Warren]], [[Joseph Brodsky]], [[Stanley Kunitz]], [[Robert Hass]], [[Donald Hall]], [[Robert Pinsky]], [[Billy Collins]], and [[Ted Kooser]], among others. On June 17, 2008, the Library of Congress will announce that [[Kay Ryan]] will become the country's sixteenth Poet Laureate. The incumbent receives a stipend ($35,000), oversees an ongoing series of poetry readings and lectures at the library, and is given the vague mandate of promoting poetry, but has no other specific duties and they are not necessarily expected to compose works for recitation at government events or in praise of government officials.
Many [[U.S. state]]s also have [[Poets laureate of U.S. states|official Poets Laureate]]. The fashion has also spread to some cities. Most holders of the title reach eminence by public competition; some have also inspired controversy by what they do in office and, as in the case of [[Amiri Baraka]], have sometimes been removed.
===Wales===
Wales has had a long tradition of poets and bards under royal patronage, with extant writing from [[Medieval Welsh literature|mediæval royal poets]] and earlier. An office of [[National Poet for Wales]] was established in April 2005. The first holder, [[Gwyneth Lewis]], was followed by [[Gwyn Thomas (poet)|Gwyn Thomas]].
===Others===
[[Kannadasan]] was the poet laureate of [[Tamil Nadu]] at the time of his death.
[[William Auld]] is sometimes considered the poet laureate of [[Esperantujo]].
[[Hanns Johst]] was poet leaureate of [[Nazi Germany]] from [[1935]] to [[1945]].
==External links==
*[http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/poet/index.asp?lang=e Poet Laureate of Canada]
*[http://www.unitedpoets.org/un_po_laureate.htm Poet Laureate of the United Nations]
*[http://www.und.ac.za/und/carts/pa2001bios10.html#Mazisi%20Kunene%20(SA) Poets Laureate of South Africa]
* [http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate.html List of U.S. Poets Laureate]
*[http://www.sfbayview.com/052902/laureatedevorahmajor052902.html Poet Laureate for San Francisco (official site, Library of Congress)]
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