1944 in poetry

• June 1 & June 5 – The first and (modified) second lines respectively of Paul Verlaine's 1866 poem Chanson d'automne (Les sanglots longs des violons de l'automne / Bercent mon cœur d'une langueur monotone.) are broadcast by the Allies over BBC Radio Londres among coded messages to the French Resistance to prepare for the D-Day landings (second broadcast at 22:15 local time).^[1][2] In the ensuing Invasion of Normandy English soldier-poet Keith Douglas is killed; Vernon Scannell (as John Bain) experiences the incident that gives rise to the poem "Walking Wounded" (1965) and is wounded; and, during lulls in the fighting, Dennis B. Wilson is writing the poem that will be published as Elegy of a Common Soldier in 2012.^[3]
• October 2 – Dylan Thomas is best man at the wedding of his friend and fellow Welsh poet Vernon Watkins in London - but fails to turn up.

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

 

• E. K. Brown, On Canadian Poetry, revised edition (scholarship), Canada^[4]
• Ralph Gustafson, editor, Canadian Accent, anthology^[5]
• A. M. Klein:
  • The Hitleriad^[5]
  • Poems^[5]
• Dorothy Livesay, Day and Night. Toronto: Ryerson.^[6] Governor General's Award 1944.
• E. J. Pratt, Collected Poems of E. J. Pratt, Toronto: Macmillan.^[7]
• Ronald Hambleton, editor Unit of five: Louis Dudek, Ronald Hambleton, P. K. Page, Raymond Souster, James Wreford, anthology, Toronto: Ryerson Press, Canada^[8]

• Harindranath Chattopadhyay:
  • Blood of Stones ( Poetry in English ), including "On the Pavement of Calcutta", a realistic description of suffering in the Bengal famine of 1943;^[9] Bombay: Padma Publications^[10]
  • Lyrics ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Padma Publications^[10]
• Nolini Kanta Gupta, To the Height ( Poetry in English ),^[11]
• Humayun Kabir, Mahatma and Other Poems( Poetry in English ); except for the title poem "Mahatama", inspired by the Quit India Movement, and "Rabindranath Tagore", the other poems are reprinted from the author's Poems 1932^[9]
• Fredoon Kabraji, A Minor Georgian's Swan Song ( Poetry in English ), Publisher: Basil Blackwell, Indian poet published in the United Kingdom^[12]
• P. R. Kaikini, Look On Undaunted ( Poetry in English ), Bombay^[13]
• H. D. Sethna, Struggling Heights ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House^[13]
• Subho Tagore:
  • Flames of Passion ( Poetry in English ), love poems in verse and in the form of prose poems; Calcutta: Susil Gupta Ltd.^[13]
  • Rubble, translated by Nilima Devi into English from the original Bengali; Calcutta: The Futurist Publishing House^[13]

• Drummond Allison, The Yellow Night: Poems 1940-41-42-43, posthumous
• W. H. Auden, For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, English poet living and publishing in the United States
• George Barker, Eros in Dogma^[14]
• Laurence Binyon, The Burning of the Leaves, and Other Poems^[14]
• John Betjeman, New Bats in Old Belfries
• Laurence Binyon, The Burning of the Leaves, and Other Poems^[14]
• Edmund Blunden, Shells by a Stream^[14]
• Alex Comfort, Elegies^[14]
• Crown and Sickle poetry anthology in Britain, featuring poets in the New Apocalyptics movement
• Walter De la Mare, Collected Rhymes and Verses
• Patric Dickinson, The Seven Days of Jericho^[14]
• T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, contains "Burnt Norton" (first published 1936 and again 1941), "East Coker" (1940), "The Dry Salvages" (1941), "Little Gidding" (1942)^[14]
• Roy Fuller, A Lost Season^[14]
• W. S. Graham, The Seven Journeys^[14]
• Robert Greacen, Northern Harvest and One Recent Evening, Northern Ireland poet
• J. F. Hendry, and Henry Treece, editors, The Crown and Sickle, anthology^[14]
• Laurie Lee, The Sun My Monument^[14]
• John Lehmann, The Sphere of Glass, and Other Poems^[14]
• Louis MacNeice, Springboard^[14]
• R. P. L. Mogg, For This Alone, and Other Poems
• Mervyn Peake, Rhymes Without Reason^[14]
• John Pudney, Almanack of Hope^[14]
• Herbert Read, A World Within a War^[14]
• Lynette Roberts, Poems
• E. J. Scovell, Shadows of Chrysanthemums, and Other Poems^[14]
• William Soutar, The Expectant Silence^[14]
• A. P. Wavell (comp.), Other Men's Flowers, anthology
• Charles Williams, The Region of the Summer Stars^[14]

• Franklin P. Adams, Nods and Becks^[15]
• Conrad Aiken, The Soldier^[15]
• W. H. Auden, For the Time Being^[15]
• E. E. Cummings, 1 X 1^[15]
• Babette Deutsch, Take Them, Stranger^[15]
• Hilda Doolittle, writing under the pen name "H.D.", The Walls Do Not Fall,^[15] first part of Trilogy (1944–46) on the blitz in war-time London
• Stanley J. Kunitz, Passport to the War^[15]
• Robert Lowell, Land of Unlikeness, Cummington, Massachusetts: Cummington Press^[16]
• William Meredith, Love Letter from an Impossible Land^[15]
• Marianne Moore, Nevertheless^[15]
• Kenneth Rexroth, The Phoenix and the Tortoise^[15]
• Muriel Rukeyser, Beast in View
• Karl Shapiro, V-Letter and Other Poems^[15]
• Jesse Stuart, Album of Destiny^[15]
• Mark Van Doren, Seven Sleepers^[15]
• Louise Varèse, translator, Eloges and Other Poems, translated from the original French of Saint-John Perse; introduction by Archibald MacLeish, New York: Norton^[17]
• Robert Penn Warren, Selected Poems, 1923—1943^[15]
• William Carlos Williams:
  • Collected Later Poems^[18]
  • The Wedge

• James K. Baxter, Beyond the Palisade, his first volume of poetry, New Zealand
• Seaforth Mackenzie, The Moonlit Doorway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson; Australia
• Kenneth Slessor, One Hundred Poems, 1919-1939, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, Australia

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

• Jean Cassou, Trente-trois sonnets composes au secret^[19]
• Robert Desnos, Contrée^[20]
• Paul Éluard, Au Rendez-vous allemand^[20]
• Pierre Jean Jouve, Pour les Ombres Lausanne, Switzerland: Cahiers de Poésie French poet published in Switzerland^[21]
• Alphonse Métérié, Les Cantiques du Frère Michel^[19]
• Saint-John Perse, French poet published in his native language while in exile in Argentina:
  • Pluies, Buenos Aires: Les Editions Lettres Françaises (republished in Exil, suivi de Poème à l'étrangère; Pluies; Neiges Paris: Gallimard 1945)^[17]
  • Quatre poèmes, 1941-1944, Buenos Aires: Les Editions Lettres Françaises (republished as Exil, suivi de Poème à l'étrangère; Pluies; Neiges Paris: Gallimard 1945)^[17]

Including all of the British colonies that later became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Listed alphabetically by first name, regardless of surname:

• Badarayan, Kedi^[22]
• Umashankar Joshi, Prachina, a "dialogue-poem"^[22]

• Anchala Rameshvar Shukla, Lal Cunar, lyrics celebrating love, youth and revolt^[9]
• Girija Kumar Mathur, Manjir, many of these poems have themes of nature and intense love^[9]
• Rangeya Raghav, Ajeya Khandhar, pragativadi-movement poetry about the battle of Stalingrad, depicted to illustrate the human struggle for freedom^[9]
• Shyam Narayan Pandey, Jauhar, depicting the self-sacrifice of Padmini, queen of Chittor, written in a folk style^[9]

• A. N. Krishna Rao, Pragati Sila Sahitya, 15 essays in Kannada on the Pragatisila Caluvali (progressive movement) in Indian literature^[9]
• Bhimaraj Bhambiru, also known as "Mangal"; Mumgha Moti, written in doha form, the poems are addressed to an individual Mangala; Rajasthani-language^[9]
• Joseph Mundasseri, written in Malayalam-language:
  • Manadandam, criticism about Indian classical literature, particularly Kalidasa^[9]
  • Mattoli, a comparison of three major works of poetry: Kumaran Asan's Karuna, Vallathol's Magdalana Mariyam and Ulloor's Pingala^[9]
• K. V. Puttappa, also known as "Kuvempu", Kogile Mattu Soviet Russia, verses with a focus on the common man, which was pioneering for Kannada poetry of the time; a recurring theme in the poems is rejection of institutionalized religion^[9]
• Kshama Rao, Miralahari, Khanda Kavya poetry on Meera, the medieval Indian saint-poet; Sanskrit-language^[9]
• Mahjoor, Kalam-e-Mahjoor "No. 8", Kashmiri-language ghazals and vatsan's^[9]
• Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Tazkirah-yi Sha'irat-i Urdu, literary criticism of Urdu-language women poets, with biographical information and selections from their poems^[9]
• Mohammad Mujib, Insha, adab aur adib, Urdu essays in literary criticism^[9]
• Prabhjot Kaur, Palkan Ohle, love poems; Punjabi-language^[9]
• Shrikrishna Powale, Agniparag; Marathi-language^[9]
• Va. Ramaswamy Ayyangar, Makakavi Paratiyar, Tamil biography of the Tamil poet Bharati^[9]

• Delmira Agustini, Poesías, posthumously published (died 1914), prologue by Luisa Luisi (Montevideo, Claudio García & Co., Uruguay^[23]
• Vicente Aleixandre, Sombra del paraíso ("Shadows of Paradise"); Spain^[24]
• César Moro, pen name of César Quíspez Asín, Lettre d'amour, Peru^[25]
• Stella Sierra, Canciones de mar y luna ("Songs of Sea and Moon"), Panama

• Nathan Alterman, Plague Poems, Israel
• Nizar Qabbani, The Brunette Told Me, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
• Giorgos Seferis, Ημερολόγιο Καταστρώματος ΙΙ ("Deck Diary II"), Greece

• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Robert Penn Warren appointed this year. He would serve until 1945.
• Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: Day and Night, Dorothy Livesay (Canada) ^[26]

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

• February 3 – Sandra Alcosser, American
• February 9 – Alice Walker, African-American novelist, poet, writer and feminist
• March 9 – Ndoc Gjetja (died 2010), Albanian poet and magazine editor^[27]
• March 21 – Pedro Pietri (died 2004), Puerto Rican and Nuyorican poet and playwright, co-founder of Nuyorican Poets Cafe
• March 25 – Jack Mapanje, Malawian poet and writer
• April 18 – Kathy Acker (died 1997), American postmodernist experimental novelist and punk poet
• July 18 – Wayne Brown (died 2009), Caribbean (Trinidadian-born)
• July 24 – Jalal Mansur Nuriddin (died 2018), American rap poet and musician
• August 4 – Penn Kemp, Canadian poet, novelist, playwright and sound poet
• August 22 – Tom Leonard (died 2018), Scottish
• August 24 - Paulo Leminski (died 1989), Brazilian poet and translator
• August 25
  • Margaret Gibson (died 1999), African-American
  • Sherley Anne Williams, African-American
• August 31 – Lorenzo Thomas, American
• September 24 – Eavan Boland (died 2020), Irish
• September 25 – bpNichol, Canadian
• October 10 – Linda Rogers, Canadian poet and children's writer
• October 12 – Lewis MacAdams, American poet, journalist and activist, founder of Friends of The Los Angeles River (FoLAR) in 1985
• October 16 – Paul Durcan, Irish
• November 24 – Jules Deelder (died 2019), Dutch
• November 25 – Kathryn Stripling Byer (died 2017), American poet, teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2005–2009
• December 3 – Craig Raine, English poet and critic
• December 10 – Carol Rumens, English poet, writer, literary editor and academic
• December 18 – Michael Davidson, American
• Also:
  • David Constantine, English poet, translator, editor and academic
  • Susan Ioannou, Canadian
  • Mary Kinzie, American
  • Patrick O'Connell (died 2005), Canadian
  • Jergen Theobaldy, German^[28]
  • Tim Thorne (died 2021), Tasmanian

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

• January 7 – Napoleon Lapathiotis (born 1888), Greek poet
• January 19 – Frederick George Scott (born 1861), Canadian poet
• February 9 – Agnes Mary Frances Duclaux (born 1857), English-born poet and biographer
• February 12 – Olive Custance, Lady Alfred Douglas (born 1874), English poet
• February 23 – Augusta Peaux (born 1859), Dutch poet
• March 5 – Alun Lewis (born 1915), Anglo-Welsh school poet and war poet, died on active service in Burma
• March 28 – Stephen Leacock (born 1869), Canadian writer and economist
• April 4 – John Peale Bishop (born 1892), American poet and man of letters
• May 22 – William Ellery Leonard (born 1876), American poet and academic
• June 5 – (Doris) Capel Boake (born 1889), Australian writer
• June 9 – Keith Douglas (born 1920), English war poet died in World War II in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, killed by enemy mortar fire while his regiment is advancing from Bayeux and buried at the war cemetery at Tilly-sur-Seuilles
• June – Joseph Campbell (born 1879), Irish poet and lyricist
• July 3 – A. H. Reginald Buller (born 1874), British/Canadian mycologist mainly known as a researcher of fungi and wheat rust who also wrote limericks, some of which were published in Punch
• July 18 – Thomas Sturge Moore (born 1870), English poet, author and artist
• August 25 – Musa Cälil (born 1905), Soviet Tatar poet and resistance fighter, executed in a Nazi German prison
• September 26 – Eunice Tietjens (born 1884), American poet, novelist, journalist, children's author, lecturer and editor
• September 30 – Baroness Gertrud von Puttkamer, writing as Marie-Madeleine (born 1881), German homoerotic poet, dies in a Nazi sanatorium
• October 2 or 3 – Benjamin Fondane (born 1898), Romanian-French Symbolist poet, critic and existentialist philosopher, gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp
• November 22 – Sadakichi Hartmann (born 1867), American art critic and poet
• November 24 – Jun Tsuji 辻 潤 (born 1884), Japanese author, poet, essayist, translator, musician and bohemian
• December 17 – Robert Nichols (born 1893), English war poet and dramatist
• Also:
  • Olivia Ward Bush-Banks (born 1869), African and Native American poet and journalist
  • K. V. Simon (born 1883), Indian, Malayalam-language poet^[29]
  • David Vogel (born 1891), Hebrew poet, gassed in Auschwitz concentration camp

• Poetry
• List of poetry awards
• List of years in poetry