1685 in poetry explained

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

Works published

Cotton Mather, An Elegy [...] on Nathanael Collins, English Colonial America (Massachusetts)^[1]

Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German:
- Kuhlwasser in grosser Hitze des Creutzes, hymns; published in Rudolstadt
- Tägliches Morgen- Mittags- und Abendopfer, hymns; published in Rudolstadt

Henry Bold, translator, Latine Songs, with their English: and Poems, includes "Chevy Chase", a ballad, and Sir John Suckling's poem "Why so pale and wan fond lover?"
John Cutts, (later Baron Cutts), La Muse de Cavalier; or, An Apology for such gentleman as make poetry their diversion, not their business in a letter by a scholar of Mars to one of Apollo,^[2] published anonymously
Sir William Davenant, The Seventh and Last Canto of the Third Book of Gondibert, published posthumously (see Gondibert 1651)
John Dryden and Jacob Tonson, Sylvae; or, The Second Part of Poetical Miscellanies, the second in a series of miscellanies published by Tonson; has translations from Virgil, Lucretius, Theocritus and Horace, mostly by Dryden (see also Miscellany Poems 1684, Examen Poeticum 1693, Annual Miscellany 1694, Poetical Miscellanies: Fifth Part 1704, Sixth Part 1709)
Nahum Tate, Poems by Several Hands, and on Several Occasions
Edmund Waller, Divine Poems
Samuel Wesley, Maggots; or, Poems on Several Subjects, Never Before Handled, published anonymously
John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, Poems on Several Occasions. Written by a late Person of Honour, London: Printed for A. Thorncome, posthumously published^[3]

Charles II of England died on February 6; James II of England was crowned on April 23:

Edmund Arwaker:
- The Vision^[4]
- The Second Part of The Vision, a Pindarick Ode, on the coronation of James II^[4]
Aphra Behn:
- A Pindarick on the Death of Our Late Sovereign^[4]
- A Pindarick Poem on the Happy Coronation of His Most Sacred Majesty James II^[4]
John Dryden, Threnodia Augustalis, on the death of Charles II^[4]
Thomas Otway, Windsor Castle, on the death of Charles II; Otway died in April^[4]

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

February 10 - Aaron Hill (died 1750), English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer
June 30 - John Gay (died 1732), English poet and dramatist
December 17 - Thomas Tickell (died 1740), English poet and man of letters
Mary Barber (died 1755), English poet and member of Jonathan Swift's circle
Jane Brereton (died 1740), English poet notable as a correspondent to The Gentleman's Magazine
William Diaper (died 1717), English poet of the Augustan era
William Harrison (died 1713), English poet and diplomat

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

January 18 - Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon (born 1633), Anglo-Irish poet
June 16 - Anne Killigrew (born 1660), English poet and painter
July 1 - Nalan Xingde (born 1655), Chinese Qing dynasty poet most famous for his ci poetry
October 12 - Gerard Brandt (born 1626), Dutch preacher, playwright, poet, church historian, biographer and naval historian
Francesc Fontanella (born 1622), Catalan poet, dramatist and priest

Ludwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., Annals of American Literature: 1602 - 1983, 1986, New York: Oxford University Press
Clark, Alexander Frederick Bruce, Boileau and the French Classical Critics in England (1660–1830), p 4, Franklin, Burt, 1971,, retrieved via Google Books on February 13, 2010
Web page titled "John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647 - 1680)" at the Poetry Foundation website, retrieved April 11, 2009. 2009-05-02.
Cox, Michael, editor, The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature, Oxford University Press, 2004,