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Felicia Dorothea Hemans, born on September 25, 1793, in Liverpool, was an English poet from the Romantic era. She is the author of many collections, including The Domestic Affections and Other Poems (T. Cadwell and W. Davies, 1812), Hymns on the Works of Nature, for the Use of Children (Hilliard, Gray, Little and Wilkins, 1827), and Records of Woman: With Other Poems (Blackwood, 1828). She died on May 16, 1835.
William Wordsworth, who rallied for “common speech” within poems and argued against the poetic biases of the period, wrote some of the most influential poetry in Western literature, including his most famous work, The Prelude, which is often considered to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism.
William Butler Yeats, widely considered one of the greatest poets of the English language, received the 1923 Nobel Prize for Literature. His work was greatly influenced by the heritage and politics of Ireland.
Born in 1809, Edgar Allan Poe had a profound impact on American and international literature as an editor, poet, and critic.
William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. Two of his six siblings died in infancy. From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions—at four he saw God "put his head to the window"; around age nine, while walking through the countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels.