World Poetry Day: Famous poets from across history who have lived in Sussex

By Frankie Elliott

Published 21st Mar 2023, 15:59 GMT

Today marks World Poetry Day (March 21) and SussexWorld is shining an spotlight on all of the famous poets to come from the county.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) founded this day in 1999, with the aim of supporting poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard.

The day offers the opportunities to promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry and honour famous poets from across history.

Poetry is simply defined literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning, sound, and rhythm.

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It has been apart of human life for most, if not all, of human history and shapes much of understanding of the world around us/

Many famous poets and writers were born or lived in Sussex.

Here are some of the most famous to come from this southern county….

Percy Shelley is one of the most famous poets to come out of Sussex.

. JPSWNews-21-03-23-Sussex poets-SSX13.jpg

Percy Shelley is one of the most famous poets to come out of Sussex. Photo: JPI

Belloc was a Franco-English writer, poet historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc's writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children.
Despite being born in France, Belloc spent much of his childhood in Slindon and bought Kingsland windmill in the village of Shipley in his later years.

. Joseph Pierre Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)

Belloc was a Franco-English writer, poet historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc's writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. Despite being born in France, Belloc spent much of his childhood in Slindon and bought Kingsland windmill in the village of Shipley in his later years. Photo: George C. Beresford

Percy Shelley is one of the most famous poets to come out of Sussex.

1. JPSWNews-21-03-23-Sussex poets-SSX13.jpg

Percy Shelley is one of the most famous poets to come out of Sussex. Photo: JPI

Belloc was a Franco-English writer, poet historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc's writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children.
Despite being born in France, Belloc spent much of his childhood in Slindon and bought Kingsland windmill in the village of Shipley in his later years.

2. Joseph Pierre Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)

Belloc was a Franco-English writer, poet historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc's writings encompassed religious poetry and comic verse for children. Despite being born in France, Belloc spent much of his childhood in Slindon and bought Kingsland windmill in the village of Shipley in his later years. Photo: George C. Beresford

"Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910) are some of the most famous poems of all time. Kipling seen as an innovator in the art of the short story.
Kipling lived in Burwash, East Sussex from 1902 until he died in 1936.

3. Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

"Mandalay" (1890), "Gunga Din" (1890), "The Gods of the Copybook Headings" (1919), "The White Man's Burden" (1899), and "If—" (1910) are some of the most famous poems of all time. Kipling seen as an innovator in the art of the short story. Kipling lived in Burwash, East Sussex from 1902 until he died in 1936. Photo: Topical Press Agency

Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age, regarded by later critics and readers for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical undercurrents within his work.
Blake lived in Felpham and was tried for sedition in Chichester for the trivial offence of knocking the hat off an solider - of which he was found innocent.

4. William Blake (1757 - 1827)

Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age, regarded by later critics and readers for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical undercurrents within his work. Blake lived in Felpham and was tried for sedition in Chichester for the trivial offence of knocking the hat off an solider - of which he was found innocent. Photo: Hulton Archive

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