Happy World Poetry Day: Quotes, Wishes, Messages, Images, Date, and More

Poetry is a way of expressing our thoughts and feelings on a piece of paper. It enables us to analyze and find the meaning of the things that we do in our daily lives. It can also be a source of entertainment and might also change our perspective towards the things we see in our lives. 

Introduction of World Poetry Day

World Poetry is celebrated annually on 21st March. It was declared by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) in the year of 1999. It aims to support the linguistic varieties in the world by expression through poetry and also by saving the endangered languages so that the world can hear them. It also appreciates and honours all the poets across the world. 

History of World Poetry Day

In the 30th General Conference Meeting of the UNESCO, in Paris, in the year 1999, an announcement was made that 21st March will be celebrated as World Poetry Day. It would be celebrated every year throughout the world. All the world leaders agreed to celebrate the distinctive characteristic of poetry to express the creativity possessed by the human mind. Therefore, a day dedicated to poetry should be observed globally. This was done to encourage the youth to read and take an interest in poetry and make the future generations understand the importance and need of poetry.

World Poetry Day 2023 Date

• When is World Poetry Day 2023?

World Poetry Day for the year 2023 is celebrated/observed on Tuesday, 21 March.

• World Poetry Day dates for the years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027

World Poetry Day Quotes

• The greater gift of universal wisdom and beauty that we have strived to honour through our work includes the legacies of world artistic and spiritual traditions.
• Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes. – Joseph Roux
• You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart. – Carol Anne Duffy
• Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness. – Alice Walker
• A poet’s work is to name the unameable, to point out frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep – Salman Rushdie (technically not a poet, but we’ll allow it)
• am two fo”I ols, I know, For loving, and for saying so in whining poetry. — John Donne
• Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.— Sylvia Plath
• Poetry is something best words in the best order
• Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. — Maya Angelou
• All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us that we are all more alike than we are unalike. – Maya Angelou
• There is no Frigate like a book to take us lands away nor any courses like a page of prancing Poetry. — Emily Dickenson
• Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry. – Muriel Rukeyser
• Poetry isn’t a profession, it’s a way of life. It’s an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that. – Mary Oliver
• Most people ignore poetry because most poetry ignores most people. -Adrian Mitchell
• If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. – Emily Dickinson
• Poetry: the best words in the best order. – Samuel Coleridge
• A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness. – Robert Frost
• Poetry is the music of being human. – Carol Anne Duffy
• Poetry is the universal language which the heart holds with nature and itself. – William Hazlitt
• Write poetry for God’s sake, it’s the only thing that matters. – E. E. Cummings
• Poetry is the revolution and the raising of consciousness
• Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origins from emotion recollected in tranquillity. — William Wordsworth
• A poet must never make a statement simply because it sounds poetically exciting; he must also believe it to be true. – W. H. Auden
• An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose. — Langston Hughes

Significance of World Poetry Day

The significance of World Poetry Day is to celebrate the existence and the role of poetry in our lives. Poetry is the oldest form of understandable and readable text that has kept innumerable languages alive, along with its charm. Poetry is the only source that has helped in the preservation of ancient languages that are on the verge of extinction. It is through poetry that we can compare the development of the world and how it has progressed throughout the years. It also paints a vivid picture of the war heroes, the Renaissance, and every important historical event. Freedom fighters and soldiers were also motivated through poetry, and it also raised a feeling of patriotism and loyalty towards the nation through these poems. Poems are a part of the country’s culture, and it is a great source to learn about the history and the way of living in the ancient times. Poetry is a great way of expressing our feelings and are easy to learn and memorize; and therefore, on World Poetry Day, we should understand the importance of poetry and appreciate every poet around us. It also honours the accomplishments of humanity.

Ways of Celebration of World Poetry Day 

In spite of being celebrated all over the world, World Poetry Day is not celebrated as a national holiday in any country. This day celebrates the linguistic diversity of human civilization. It reminds us that no matter what country we live in or what language we speak, everyone has the same feelings, expressions, opinions or questions. It honours all the famous poets across the world, revives the tradition of oral poetry recitation. On this day, reading, writing, teaching, analyzing and understanding poetry is encouraged. Other forms of art like dance, drama, music and paintings also stress on the flexible storytelling of poetry. 

The United Kingdom celebrated World Poetry Day on 7th October 2021. They used the hashtag #NationalPoetryDay to engage the public on this occasion, and they could use the hashtag to let everyone how they celebrated this day. 

How Can We Celebrate World Poetry Day?

1. We can take this opportunity to read a poem and discover new poets and their amazing works of art. It can also provide entertainment and lighten our stress, and we can also read and discover new stories and which add to and enrich our knowledge.
2. Apart from celebrating the works of others, we can also take this opportunity to write a poem ourselves. This can bring out the talent of writing in us and discover the hidden poets in us. 
3. Since we are reading a lot of great poems, we can also share our favourite ones with our family and friends. Some of them might also get inspired or start reading poems and take an interest in them if they were not already.
4. We can also participate in a poetry competition or any event dedicated to listening or recitation of poetry.
5. We can also visit local bookstores or libraries on this occasion, and read books on poetry and might as well discover some lesser-known poets and their amazing works of art.
6. We can also celebrate this day in our workplace or by holding poetry recitation programs or reading out our favourite poems during break times.
7. We can hold poetry recitation contests or poetry writing contests in schools. In this way, the students would understand and analyze poetry and start taking more interest in them.

On the occasion of World Poetry Day, let us know a little more about some of the famous poets of the world:

• Christina Rossetti- She was the daughter of an Italian poet and was one greatest poets living in the Victorian Era. Some of her famous works are Death’s Chill Between and The Goblin Market. She was often compared to Elizabeth Barren Browning due to her feminist style of writing. 
• Emily Dickinson- writer of around one thousand and eight hundred poems, Emily Dickinson, is one of the most famous writers of America. The themes of her poems mostly consisted of love, death and Christianity. 
• William Wordsworth- William Wordsworth is one of the most influential poets in the world. He was the one who initiated the Romantic Era in English Literature. The Prelude is one of his most known works of art. The themes of his poems consist of mortality, humanity, religion, nature etc.
• Rabindranath Tagore- Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, social reformer and painter and his poems helped in the freedom struggle of India. He won the Noble Prize for his novel Geetanjali, which was a beautiful, sensitive and fresh piece of work. He expressed Indian culture and art to the rest of the world to read and understand. 

When Is World Poetry Day Celebrated?

World Poetry Day is celebrated globally on 21st March every year. UNESCO started celebrating this day dedicated to poetry and poets since 1999. 

Some Interesting Facts About Poetry

• The word poetry comes from the Greek word poiesis, which means ‘making.’
• The style of writing short poems is known as Haiku, and it originates from Japan. In this kind of poem, there are only three lines containing five, seven and again five syllables. 
• The Mahabharata is the longest poem ever written in the world and has around a hundred thousand lines.
• Writing epics is the oldest form of writing poetry.
• The oldest poem ever written is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which originated from Babylon. 
• The paragraph of poetry usually consists of twelve lines.
• Learning, reading or writing helps us to improve our language and vocabulary. 
• The word Metrophobia refers to the fear of poetry. 
• The best-selling poets of the world are Khalil Gibran, Lao Tzu and William Shakespeare.

Poetry is the best way to celebrate our culture and preserve our culture. It enables us to appreciate the marvellous works of art that the poets have created. It uses aesthetics and symbolism to depict the various aspects of life in a beautiful manner. On the occasion of World Poetry Day, we can pledge to give poetry its deserved respect and support the poets in their hard work and art.