1685 in poetry

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

Colonial America

 * Cotton Mather, An Elegy [...] on Nathanael Collins, English Colonial America (Massachusetts)

Germany

 * Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German:
 * Kuhlwasser in grosser Hitze des Creutzes, hymns; published in Rudolstadt
 * Tägliches Morgen- Mittags- und Abendopfer, hymns; published in Rudolstadt

Great Britain

 * Henry Bold, translator, Latine Songs, with their English: and Poems, includes "Chevy Chase", a ballad, and Sir John Suckling's poem "Why so pale and wan fond lover?"
 * John Cutts, (later Baron Cutts), La Muse de Cavalier; or, An Apology for such gentleman as make poetry their diversion, not their business in a letter by a scholar of Mars to one of Apollo, published anonymously
 * Sir William Davenant, The Seventh and Last Canto of the Third Book of Gondibert, published posthumously (see Gondibert 1651)
 * John Dryden and Jacob Tonson, Sylvae; or, The Second Part of Poetical Miscellanies, the second in a series of miscellanies published by Tonson; has translations from Virgil, Lucretius, Theocritus and Horace, mostly by Dryden (see also Miscellany Poems 1684, Examen Poeticum 1693, Annual Miscellany 1694, Poetical Miscellanies: Fifth Part 1704, Sixth Part 1709)
 * Nahum Tate, Poems by Several Hands, and on Several Occasions
 * Edmund Waller, Divine Poems
 * Samuel Wesley, Maggots; or, Poems on Several Subjects, Never Before Handled, published anonymously
 * John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, Poems on Several Occasions. Written by a late Person of Honour, London: Printed for A. Thorncome, posthumously published

English verses on the death of Charles II and coronation of James II
Charles II of England died on February 6; James II of England was crowned on April 23:
 * Edmund Arwaker:
 * The Vision
 * The Second Part of The Vision, a Pindarick Ode, on the coronation of James II
 * Aphra Behn:
 * A Pindarick on the Death of Our Late Sovereign
 * A Pindarick Poem on the Happy Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty James II
 * John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis, on the death of Charles II
 * Thomas Otway, Windsor Castle, on the death of Charles II; Otway died in April

Gujarat

 * Premanand Bhatt, Nalākhyān, Gujarati

Norway

 * Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Taare-Offer, Norwegian

Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * February 10 – Aaron Hill (died 1750), English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer
 * June 30 – John Gay (died 1732), English poet and dramatist
 * December 17 – Thomas Tickell (died 1740), English poet and man of letters
 * Mary Barber (died 1755), English poet and member of Jonathan Swift's circle
 * Jane Brereton (died 1740), English poet notable as a correspondent to The Gentleman's Magazine
 * William Diaper (died 1717), English poet of the Augustan era
 * William Harrison (died 1713), English poet and diplomat

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * January 18 – Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon (born 1633), Anglo-Irish poet
 * June 16 – Anne Killigrew (born 1660), English poet and painter
 * July 1 – Nalan Xingde (born 1655), Chinese Qing dynasty poet most famous for his ci poetry
 * October 12 – Gerard Brandt (born 1626), Dutch preacher, playwright, poet, church historian, biographer and naval historian
 * Francesc Fontanella (born 1622), Catalan poet, dramatist and priest