1788 in poetry

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

Events

 * December – Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne.

United Kingdom
This year three works of poetry, all written by women (the Falconars, More and Yearsley), condemn slavery; while Samuel Pratt is an early advocate of animal rights:
 * Henry Cary, Sonnets and Odes, the author turns 16 years old this year
 * William Collins, Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland
 * William Crowe, Lewesdon Hill, published anonymously
 * Maria Falconar and Harriet Falconar:
 * Poems
 * Poems on Slavery
 * James Hurdis, The Village Curate
 * Robert Merry, writing under the pen name "Della Crusca", Diversity
 * Hannah More, Slavery: A Poem
 * "Peter Pindar", see John Wolcot, below
 * Samuel Jackson Pratt, Sympathy
 * William Whitehead, Poems by William Whitehead, published posthumously, edited by William Mason (see also Plays and Poems 1774)
 * John Wolcot, writing under the pen name "Peter Pindar", Tales and Fables
 * Ann Yearsley, A Poem on the Inhumanity of the Slave Trade

United States

 * Timothy Dwight, published anonymously, "The Triumph of Infidelity: A Poem", satire in heroic couplets; supports Calvinism and attacks Voltaire, David Hume, Joseph Priestley and their followers
 * Philip Freneau, Miscellaneous Works of Mr. Philip Freneau, Containing His Essays and Additional Poems
 * Francis Hopkinson:
 * An Ode, in honor of the Adoption of the U.S. Constitution
 * Seven Songs, for the Harpsichord or Forte-Piano
 * Peter Markoe:
 * "The Times", satire on prominent Philadelphia society people
 * "The Storm", attributed to Markoe
 * William Roscoe, The Wrongs of Africa: A Poem
 * Susanna Rowson:
 * Poems on Various Subjects
 * A Trip to Parnassus

Works published in other languages

 * Basilio da Gama, Relação abreviada da República e Lenitivo da saudade; Brazil
 * Joseph Quesnel, Colas et Colinette, a comedy in verse, French language, published in Quebec, Canada

Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * January 22 – Lord Byron (died 1824), English poet and leading figure in Romanticism
 * March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff (died 1857), German poet and novelist
 * May 16 – Friedrich Rückert (died 1866), German poet, translator and professor of Oriental languages
 * June (day unknown) – Eliza Townsend (died 1854), American poet who published anonymously
 * c. October 14 – Robert Millhouse (died 1839), English weaver poet
 * October 24 – Sarah Josepha Hale (died 1879), American writer, influential editor, author of nursery rhymes, including "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
 * December 6 – Richard H. Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby") (died 1845), English poet, humorist and priest

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * March 29 – Charles Wesley (born 1707), English Methodist clergyman and hymn writer
 * June 12 – Johann Andreas Cramer (born 1723), German poet, writer and theologian
 * July 5 – Mather Byles, (born 1707), English Colonial American clergyman and poet
 * July 31 – Thomas Russell (born 1762), English poet whose Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems are posthumously published in 1789
 * October 13 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent (born 1709), Irish poet and politician
 * October 28 – William Julius Mickle (born 1734), Scottish-born poet
 * Giulio Variboba (born 1725), Arbëresh poet