callings of the archive

Poet Biographies

Every archived life recorded as poet, ordered by their place in the ledger.

Medieval era

Petrarch

July 19, 1304 – July 18, 1374

Italian scholar and poet (1304-1374)

Medieval era

Giovanni Boccaccio

June 16, 1313 – September 21, 1375

Italian author and poet (1313–1375)

Early Modern era

Miguel de Cervantes

September 29, 1547 – April 22, 1616

Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (1547-1616)

Early Modern era

William Shakespeare

1564 – April 23, 1616

English playwright and poet, the most performed dramatist in history

Early Modern era

Christopher Marlowe

February 6, 1564 – May 30, 1593

English dramatist, poet and translator (1564–1593)

Early Modern era

John Donne

1572 – March 31, 1631

English poet and cleric (1572–1631)

Early Modern era

John Milton

December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674

English poet and civil servant (1608–1674)

Early Modern era

Moliere

January 15, 1622 – February 17, 1673

French playwright and actor (1622–1673)

Early Modern era

Voltaire

November 21, 1694 – May 30, 1778

French Enlightenment writer and fighter for reason and tolerance

Early Modern era

Friedrich Schiller

November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805

German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian (1759–1805)

Modern era

Soren Kierkegaard

May 5, 1813 – November 11, 1855

Danish theologian, philosopher, poet and social critic (1813–1855)

Modern era

Friedrich Nietzsche

October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900

German philosopher (1844-1900)

Modern era

Ralph Waldo Emerson

May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882

American philosopher (1803–1882)

Modern era

Henry David Thoreau

July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862

American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)

Early Modern era

William Blake

November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827

English poet and artist (1757–1827)

Early Modern era

Robert Burns

January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796

Scottish poet and lyricist (1759–1796)

Early Modern era

William Wordsworth

April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850

English Romantic poet (1770–1850)

Early Modern era

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834

English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1772–1834)

Early Modern era

Lord Byron

January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824

English Romantic poet and lyricist (1788–1824)

Early Modern era

Percy Bysshe Shelley

August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822

British Romantic poet (1792–1822)

Early Modern era

John Keats

October 31, 1795 – February 23, 1821

English Romantic poet (1795–1821)

Early Modern era

Walter Scott

August 15, 1771 – September 21, 1832

Scottish novelist, poet and playwright (1771–1832)

Modern era

Hans Christian Andersen

April 2, 1805 – August 4, 1875

Danish writer and poet (1805–1875)

Modern era

Charles Baudelaire

April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867

French poet and critic (1821–1867)

Early Modern era

Alexander Pushkin

May 26, 1799 – January 29, 1837

Russian poet, playwright, and novelist (1799–1837)

Modern era

Fyodor Dostoevsky

November 11, 1821 – January 28, 1881

Russian novelist (1821–1881)

Modern era

Charlotte Bronte

April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855

British novelist and poet (1816-1855)

Modern era

Emily Bronte

July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848

English novelist and poet (1818–1848)

Modern era

Thomas Hardy

June 2, 1840 – January 11, 1928

English novelist and poet (1840–1928)

Modern era

Oscar Wilde

October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900

Irish poet, playwright, and aesthete (1854-1900)

Modern era

Lewis Carroll

January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898

British author and scholar (1832–1898)

Modern era

Robert Louis Stevenson

November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894

Scottish novelist and poet (1850–1894)

Modern era

Rudyard Kipling

December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936

English writer and poet (1865–1936)

Modern era

Jules Verne

February 8, 1828 – March 24, 1905

French writer (1828–1905)

Modern era

Edgar Allan Poe

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

American writer and literary critic (1809–1849)

Modern era

Herman Melville

August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891

American writer and poet (1819–1891)

Modern era

Emily Dickinson

December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886

American poet (1830-1886)

Modern era

Louisa May Alcott

November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888

American novelist (1832–1888)

Modern era

Harriet Beecher Stowe

June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896

American abolitionist and author (1811–1896)

Modern era

Rabindranath Tagore

May 7, 1861 – August 7, 1941

Bengali poet, philosopher and polymath (1861–1941)

Modern era

Khalil Gibran

January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931

Lebanese-American writer, poet, and painter (1883–1931)

Modern era

W. B. Yeats

June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939

Irish poet and playwright (1865–1939)

Modern era

T. S. Eliot

September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965

US-British poet (1888–1965)

Modern era

Robert Frost

March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963

American poet (1874–1963)

Modern era

James Joyce

February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941

Irish novelist and poet (1882–1941)

Modern era

Hermann Hesse

July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962

Nobel Prize winning German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter (1877–1962)

Modern era

Rainer Maria Rilke

December 4, 1875 – December 29, 1926

Austrian poet and writer (1875–1926)

Modern era

George Orwell

June 25, 1903 – January 21, 1950

British writer and journalist (1903–1950)

Modern era

Aldous Huxley

July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963

English writer and philosopher (1894–1963)

Modern era

J. R. R. Tolkien

January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973

English writer and philologist (1892–1973)

Modern era

C. S. Lewis

November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963

British writer, lay theologian, and scholar (1898–1963)

Modern era

Roald Dahl

September 13, 1916 – November 23, 1990

British writer and poet (1916–1990)

Modern era

Dr. Seuss

March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991

American children's author and cartoonist (1904–1991)

Modern era

William Faulkner

September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962

American writer (1897-1962)

Modern era

Tennessee Williams

March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983

American playwright (1911–1983)

Modern era

Vladimir Nabokov

April 10, 1899 – July 2, 1977

Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor (1899–1977)

Modern era

James Baldwin

August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987

American writer (1924–1987)

Modern era

Langston Hughes

February 1, 1902 – May 22, 1967

American writer and social activist (1901–1967)

Modern era

Sylvia Plath

October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963

American poet and writer (1932–1963)

Modern era

Ray Bradbury

August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012

American author and screenwriter (1920–2012)