Actual Tortured Poets | Graphic by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
In the spirit of National Poetry Month, here are seven poets from history who overcame great adversity to become the iconic names we know and love today.
1. Maya Angelou
Most know Maya Angelou as the strong memoirist, poet and civil right activist she was. Her art spanned across genres, from plays to essays, garnering dozens of deserved awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She created poetry even in the face of sexual assault, racism and discrimination.
A famous quote by Angelou states “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
2. Langston Hughes
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly,” Hughes said.
Langston Hughes was a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist. Even though Hughes passed away in the late 1960s, his work still prevails as a light of his time. Best known for poetry collection “The Weary Blues,” Hughes was also a leader of the Harlem Renaissance and innovator of jazz poetry.
3. Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson, one of the most recognizable names on this list, is regarded as one of the important figures in American poetic history. While only 10 of Dickinson’s poems were published in her lifetime, she wrote over 900 poems in the Civil War period alone. A theme throughout her poems is death, perhaps because of her theorized chronic illness.
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul” is one of her most commonly quoted lines.
4. Sylvia Plath
While Sylvia Plath is best known for her poetry, such as the collection “The Bell Jar,” she was also a short story writer and novelist.
“I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my eyes and all is born again,” a quote from “The Bell Jar” reads.
Despite being an innovator of confessional poetry during her time, literary fame only reached Plath after her death. Plagued by depression all her life, Plath succumbed to suicide at just 30-years-old, leaving a legacy as one of the most famous American poets.
5. Rumi
An ancient poet, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, more commonly known as Rumi, was a Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian and Sufi mystic from Iran. Rumi wrote in a variety of languages, but most commonly wrote in Persian. Rumi is considered the best-selling poet in the United States, but his art is still appreciated across the globe.
A quote from the scholar states “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”
