Always be a poet, even in prose. ~ Charles Baudelaire

As controversial and heralded today as he was in the 19th Century, poet Charles Baudelaire’s influence over poets, writers, and even musicians is a testament both to his talent and the cult of personality that has grown as much out of his lifestyle as is poetry.

Charles Baudelaire was born in Paris in 1821. He began his career as a writer in Paris’ famed Latin Quarter, accumulating as much debt as poetry.

In 1841, his mother and stepfather put him on a ship to India in hopes of derailing his bohemian existence. The trip was a short one; in 1842, Baudelaire returned to Paris and came into a hefty inheritance that financed his career – and his other hobbies, which included art galleries, opium, hash, and women. In 1844, in …

Poet Wystan Hugh Auden, better known as W.H. Auden, imbued his poetry with a style and sensibility that elevated him to the status of one of the 20th century’s best-known and most-respected poets. Auden’s poems deal with universal themes such as love, political and social concerns, religion and personal morals, often set against the backdrop of man’s relation to the natural world.

Born in England in 1907, Auden later settled in the United States, but only after spending years in locales all over the world. He first left Britain in 1928 to spend almost a year in Weimar-Era Berlin. The political climate of post-World War 1 Germany influenced much of his poetry.

Auden’s first book of poetry was released in 1930. Auden remained in residence in Britain, visiting Iceland, a trip which would inspire his later work, until he left …

The poet now known as Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. However, her name is the least of what has changed in the years since her birth. Maya Angelou overcame poverty, racism, and sexual abuse to become not only an accomplished poet and author of songs, plays, and autobiographical books, but also a performer and producer on both the stage and screen.

Angelou is most famous for the books and poetry she produced during the mid-1960′s through the late 1970′s, including:
Gather Together in My Name (1974)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969, nominated for the National Book Award)
Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well (poetry, 1975)
Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie (1971, nominated for the Pulitzer prize)

These volumes, like most of her work, are largely autobiographical …

Known as il Sommo Poeta, or “the Supreme Poet” in his native Italy, called “the Father of the Italian Language,” Dante Alighieri is the author of one of the best known epic poems of all time, poems that have continued to fascinate readers for centuries.

Born around 1265, Durante degli Alighieri’s was a prominent Florentine family – his father especially – who were tied to the Guelphs, a political alliance supporting the Papacy. It is important to note that the Guelphs were opposed to the Roman-backed Ghibellines.

Alighieri’s family ties heavily influenced much of his poetry. The division of the Guelphs into two warring factions, the White and Black Guelphs, was the central event in the poet’s life, as he found himself fighting on the side of the deposed White Guelphs. His opposition to the Black Guelphs resulted …

~ Erik Erikson

~ Kalidasa

There is nothing more valuable to the human soul than hope. As Kalidasa, the classical Sanskrit poet pointed out, dreams and visions are nothing more than visions of hope – and without hope, there can be no dreams, visions, or thoughts of tomorrow.

Hope springs eternal in poetry; hope poems appear in poetry of all languages, a universal concept.

John Keats (1785-1821) saw hope has a constant companion, capable of brightening any mood, as he outlined in “To Hope:”

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) literally found hope in a companion, rather than in the figural form Keats found, and gives thanks in “Since Thou Hast Given Me This Good Hope, O God:”

Hope can come in both human and ethereal forms, but regardless, as long as there is life, there will be …