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Discussion » Questions » Books and Literature » Does your country have a “national poet” and if so, are his or her poems studied in public schools?

Does your country have a “national poet” and if so, are his or her poems studied in public schools?

Besides Shakespeare (who is of course better known as a playwright) two of England‘s most important and famous poets are William Wordsworth and John Milton, but I do not remember studying or learning their poetry in school. The emphasis at the time was on 20th Century poets, perhaps because they were seen as more accessible. I would be interestEd to learn what other people’s experiences were.

Posted - May 22, 2022

Responses


  • 10451
    We do and Canada's finest is Leonard Cohen. Cheers! 
      May 22, 2022 12:53 PM MDT
    4

  • 17364
    Yes and it is supposedly a one-year term but the last one that I know of and could find was appointed in 2019, Joy Harjo.  I find no explanation for this but I assume a political one.  Sad, isn't it.....
      May 22, 2022 1:08 PM MDT
    5

  • 52903

     

      Couldn’t it merely be Covid-related instead?
    ~

      August 25, 2022 5:39 PM MDT
    1

  • 16197
    Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson is probably our best known poet,  he authored our best known folk song and unofficial anthem, Waltzing Matilda, and The Man From Snowy River,  among others. He's not considered to be the "national" poet, though. Other notables include Henry Lawson, Dorothea Mackellar, CJ Dennis, Father John O'Brien (yes, he was a Catholic priest) and indigenous poet "Kath Walker" (Oodgeroo Noonuccal).
    In my senior year in school I was required to study the poetry of John Foulcher, a close friend of my English teacher but that didn't improve his poetry which I still consider to be sadomasochistic pseudo-intellectual masturbation.
      May 22, 2022 5:05 PM MDT
    3

  • The writers who would be considered "national poets" from my country are José Hernández, Jorge Luis Borges and Leopoldo Lugones. I studied their poetry and some of their other writings in school. I remember that I was assigned to write reports about Jorge Luis Borges's work when I was in high school. He was the writer that we studied the most because he was the most contemporary writer. I remember staying up late and being sleepy from writing those reports.
      May 22, 2022 7:02 PM MDT
    3

  • 52903

     

      It’s most likely the person named Poet Laureate once a year, but I know absolutely nothing about poetry, I am not a patron of it. That’s despite the fact that my mother is a lifelong poet, so I grew up surrounded by it. 

      I was originally going to stop there, but my natural curiosity, combined with my aching desire for accuracy, got the best of me. I had to look up exactly what is entailed in this laureate jazz, so here’s a very condensed version of what I found out:America stole the idea from the British in 1937, the name of the honor was changed in 1985, and there is a separate awarding of it for children’s poetry.
    ~

      July 30, 2022 5:56 PM MDT
    3

  • 2217
    In Scotland it's Rabbie Burns. In my day it was studied in schools. Don't know about nowadays. The Old Scots vernacular is probably too much like hard work.  
      August 25, 2022 11:53 AM MDT
    2

  • 16197
    The wine can kiss the crystal glass
    The lad can kiss the bonnie lass
    The morning sun can kiss the grass
    But you, my friend ...
    (Rabbie Burns)
      August 25, 2022 3:42 PM MDT
    1

  • 13251
    Here's your lecture on Milton:
      August 25, 2022 6:19 PM MDT
    0