Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
June 1 & June 5 – The first and second lines respectively of Paul Verlaine's 1866 poem Chanson d'automne (Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne / Blessent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone.) are broadcast by the Allies over BBC Radio Londres as a coded message to the French Resistance to prepare for the D-Day landings (second broadcast at 22:15 local time). In the ensuing Invasion of Normandy English soldier-poet Keith Douglas is killed; Vernon Scannell (as John Bain) experiences the incident that gives rise to the poem "Walking Wounded" (1965) 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.
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
E. K. Brown, On Canadian Poetry, revised edition (scholarship), 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
Harindranath Chattopadhyay:
Blood of Stones ( Poetry in English ), including "On the Pavement of Calcutta", a realistic description of suffering in the Bengal famine of 1943; Bombay: Padma Publications
Lyrics ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Padma Publications
Nolini Kanta Gupta, To the Height ( Poetry in English ),
Humayun Kabir, Mahatma and Other Poems( Poetry in English ); 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 ( Poetry in English ), Publisher: Basil Blackwell, Indian poet published in the United Kingdom
P. R. Kaikini, Look On Undaunted ( Poetry in English ), Bombay
H. D. Sethna, Struggling Heights ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House
Subho Tagore:
Flames of Passion ( Poetry in English ), 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
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" (first published 1936 and again 1941), "East Coker" (1940), "The Dry Salvages" (1941), "Little Gidding" (1942)
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
E. J. Scovell, Shadows of Chrysanthemums, and Other Poems
William Soutar, The Expectant Silence
A. P. Wavell (comp.), Other Men's Flowers, anthology
Charles Williams, The Region of the Summer Stars
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 (1944–46) 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
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
Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:
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 (republished in Exil, suivi de Poème à l'étrangère; Pluies; Neiges Paris: Gallimard 1945)
Quatre poèmes, 1941-1944, Buenos Aires: Les Editions Lettres Françaises (republished as Exil, suivi de Poème à l'étrangère; Pluies; Neiges Paris: Gallimard 1945)
Including all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:
Badarayan, Kedi
Prahlad Parekh Bari Bahar
Umashankar Joshi, Prachina, a "dialogue-poem"
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
A. N. Krishna Rao, Pragati Sila Sahitya, 15 essays in Kannada on the Pragatisila Caluvali (progressive movement) 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
Delmira Agustini, Poesías, posthumously published (died 1914), prologue by Luisa Luisi (Motevideo, Claudio García & Co., Uruguay
Vicente Aleixandre, Sombra del paraíso ("Shadows of Paradise"); Spain
César Moro, pen name of César Quíspez Asín, Lettre d'amour, Peru
Stella Sierra, Canciones de mar y luna ("Songs of Sea and Moon"), Panama
Nathan Alterman, Plague Poems, Israel
Nizar Qabbani, The Brunette Told Me, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
Giorgos Seferis, Ημερολόγιο Καταστρώματος ΙΙ ("Deck Diary II"), Greece
Awards and honors
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate 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 (Canada)
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
February 3 – Sandra Alcosser, American
February 9 – Alice Walker, African-American novelist, poet, writer and feminist
March 9 – Ndoc Gjetja (died 2010), Albanian poet and magazine editor
March 21 – Pedro Pietri (died 2004), Puerto Rican and Nuyorican poet and playwright, co-founder of Nuyorican Poets Cafe
August 25
Margaret Gibson (died 1999), 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 (FoLAR) in 1985
October 16 – Paul Durcan, Irish
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:
Kathryn Stripling Byer, American poet, teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2005–2009
David Constantine, British poet, translator, editor and academic
Susan Ioannou, Canadian
Penn Kemp, Canadian poet, novelist, playwright and sound poet
Mary Kinzie, American
Robert C. Morgan, American art critic, art historian, curator, poet and artist
Patrick O'Connell (died 2005), Canadian
Jergen Theobaldy, German
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
January 7 – Napoleon Lapathiotis (born 1888), Greek
January 19 – Frederick George Scott (born 1861), Canadian poet
February 12 – Olive Custance (born 1874), British poet
March 5 – Alun Lewis (born 1915), 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 (born 1876), American poet and academic
June 5 – (Doris) Capel Boake (born 1889), Australian writer
June 9 – Keith Douglas, war poet died in World War II in the D-Day invasion of Normandy; he was killed by enemy mortar fire while his regiment was advancing from Bayeux and is buried at the war cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seuilles.
June – Joseph Campbell (born 1879), Irish poet and lyricist
July 3 – A. H. Reginald Buller, a 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 (born 1870), English poet, author and artist
September 26 – Eunice Tietjens (born 1884), American poet, novelist, journalist, children's author, lecturer, and editor
October 2 or 3 – Benjamin Fondane (born 1898), Romanian-French Symbolist poet, critic and existentialist philosopher gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp
November 22 – Sadakichi Hartmann (born 1867), American
November 24 – Jun Tsuji 辻 潤 (born 1884), Japanese author, poet, essayist, translator, musician and bohemian
December 17 – Robert Nichols (born 1893), poet and dramatist
Also:
Olivia Bush (born 1869), poet and journalist
