1751 in poetry

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,

Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile

The short and simple annals of the poor.

— Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard, published this year

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

Events[]

• Christopher Smart wins the Seatonian Prize for the second year in a row. He will also win the prize in 1753 and 1755.

Works published[]

Portrait of Thomas Gray by Benjamin Wilson, date unknown, with image of the church at Stoke Poges where Gray composed An Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard and where Gray is buried

United Kingdom[]

• Richard Owen Cambridge, The Scribleriad, in six books, first published separately from January through March^[1]
• Thomas Cooke, An Ode on the Powers of Poetry, published anonymously^[1]
• Nathaniel Cotton, Visions in Verse, published anonymously, a verse version for children of Gay's Fables 1727^[1]
• Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard, published anonymously, a literary sensation published February 15 by Robert Dodsley in a quarto pamphlet with a preface by Horace Walpole (reprinted in Designes by Mr. R. Bentley 1753 and in Gray's Poems 1768);^[1] an important work of the Graveyard poets movement
• Mary Leapor, Poems Upon several Occasions, edited by Samuel Richardson and , published posthumously (see also Poems upon Several Occasions 1748^[1]
• Moses Mendes, The Seasons^[1]
• Alexander Pope, The Works of Alexander Pope, edited by William Warburton, published posthumously^[1]

Switzerland, German language[]

• Johann Jakob Bodmer:
  • Die Sundflutz, an epic
  • Noah, an epic
• Solomon Gessner, Lied eines Schweizers an sein bewaffnetes Madchen, German-language work published in Switzerland

Other[]

• Christoph Martin Wieland, Nature of Things, alexandrine verse, in six books; Germany^[2]

Births[]

Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• January 22 – David Richards (Dafydd Ionawr) (died 1827), Welsh poet
• February 20 – Johann Heinrich Voss (died 1826), German poet
• October 15 – David Samwell (Dafydd Ddu Feddyg) (died 1798), Welsh naval surgeon and poet
• October 30 – Richard Brinsley Sheridan (died 1816), Irish playwright, poet, speechwriter and Whig politician
• Probable date – Mary Scott (died 1793), English poet
• Approximate date – Henrietta Battier (died 1813), Irish poet, satirist and actress

Deaths[]

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• April 19 – John Bancks (Banks) (born 1709), English poet and author
• May 24 – William Hamilton (born 1665?), Scottish comic poet
• October 26 – Philip Doddridge (born 1702), English Nonconformist preacher and writer

See also[]

• Poetry
• List of years in poetry

Notes[]