World Poetry Day 2023: Date, History, Quotes about poetry

“How can I adore you? Let me enumerate the methods” — Elizabeth Barrett Browning dedicated this famous sonnet to her spouse Robert Browning, but it could also be interpreted as a declaration of love for poetry itself. We can all do this on March 21, World Poetry Day. On this day in 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded. Poetry employs rhythms and imagery to evoke emotion and the reader’s imagination. Poetry can utilize what are known as meters of long and brief syllables to rhyme. Some poetry, known as “free verse,” is composed without rhyme or meter. Poems are divided into stanzas, which are similar to paragraphs and can be as lengthy as 12 lines. We believe the first known poem appeared in Babylon four thousand years ago. There are now countless varieties of poetry to appreciate, including haikus, limericks, sonnets, and ballads.

The background of World Poetry Day

Poetry is an exquisite mode of communication. Poetry’s abstraction produces a greater variety of sentiments and emotions than any other literary form. It is believed that the earliest poetry appeared with the “Gilgamesh Epic” around 2000 B.C., but it is likely that poetry existed prior to the spread of literacy. Different styles of poetry have been popular at various times and have undergone transformations. From sonnets to rap lyrics, poetry continues to investigate the human condition and evoke emotion through the use of language. Poetry resonates with the existential dilemmas of humanity and exhumes ideas from the depths of one’s mind.

World Poetry Day is observed annually on March 21, honoring a linguistic expression with which individuals from all cultures can identify. Every nation’s history contains poetry, which unites us under shared values and a common humanity. Even the simplest compositions have the ability to spark conversation.

On the occasion of its 30th General Conference, convened in Paris in 1999, UNESCO proposed and adopted the day to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements.” Through this day, the organization intended to encourage the worldwide celebration of poetry, the preservation of endangered languages, and the promotion of poetic expression. Poets, both past and present, are honored, and oral poetry recitation traditions are revived. Reading, composing, and teaching poetry are encouraged, and are combined with other forms of artistic expression such as music, dance, and painting.

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5 FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT POETRY

“A poet’s job is to name the unnameable, expose frauds, take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and prevent it from sleeping.”

“Poetry is a mixture of happiness, sorrow, and awe, with a dash of the dictionary”

“Be a poet always, even in prose.”

“Poets have no shame in exploiting their own experiences.”

Poetry is the spontaneous outpouring of strong emotions; it derives from emotion recalled in tranquility.

WORLD POETRY DAY DATES

Year	Date	Day
2023	March 21	Tuesday
2024	March 21	Thursday
2025	March 21	Friday
2026	March 21	Saturday
2027	March 21	Sunday