Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: History's 20 most influential poets

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

History's 20 most influential poets

This free event includes open mic, which means participants can also recite.

Poetry is like a pulse running through history, shaping revolutions, kindling love, and exposing the rawest human truths. Some poets whispered change; others roared it. These poets and their verses outlived empires as their voices refused to fade. Find out the minds behind the world’s most enduring poetry.

Homer

Homer (Dan Castellaneta/Matt Groening)

Few figures loom as large as Homer. His epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, laid the foundation of Western literature. These [epic] war stories, fate, and heroism influenced countless works, from Shakespeare to Hollywood. Though his life remains a mystery, his words have echoed for nearly three millennia....

ODYSSEY

The Goddess Athena, Greece

Then the goddess, flashing-eyed Athena, answered him: “Therefore of a truth will I frankly tell thee all. [180] I declare that I am Mentes, the son of wise Anchialus, and I am lord over the oar-loving Taphians. And now have I put in here, as thou seest, with ship and crew, while sailing over the wine-dark sea to men of strange speech, on my way to Temese for copper; and I bear with me shining iron. [185] My ship lies yonder beside the fields away from the city, in the harbor of Rheithron, under woody Neion. Friends of one another do we declare ourselves to be, even as our fathers were, friends from of old. Nay, if thou wilt, go and ask the old warrior Laertes, who, they say, [190] comes no more to the city, but afar in the fields suffers woes attended by an aged woman as his handmaid...” Homer, Odyssey, Book 1, Line 178

Rumi

Eight centuries later, Rumi’s words still enchant hearts worldwide. A mystic, poet, and philosopher, his poems—especially "Masnavi"—explore love in its divine and human forms. His poetry, full of longing and ecstasy, speaks across cultures and religions. He is also one of the most widely read poets today....

MASNAVI

Can translations capture Rumi?

At the hour of the morning-drink a beloved said to her lover by way of trial, “O such-and-such son of such-and-such, I wonder, do you love me or yourself more? Tell the truth, O man of sorrows.”

He replied, “I have become so naughted in thee that I am full of thee from head to foot. Of my existence there is nothing (left) in me but the name: in my being there is naught but thee, O thou whose wishes are gratified. By that means I have become thus naughted, like vinegar, in thee (who are) an ocean of honey.”

Filled with sunniness?

As the stone that is entirely turned into pure ruby: it is filled with the qualities of the sun. That stony nature does not remain in it: back and front, it is filled with sunniness

Afterwards, if it love itself, that (self-love) is love of the sun, O youth; And if it love the sun with (all) its soul, ‘tis undoubtedly love of itself. Whether the pure ruby loves itself or whether it loves the sun, There is really no difference in these two loves: both sides (aspects) are naught but the radiance of the sunrise. Until it (the stone) has become a ruby, it is an enemy to itself, because... Masnavi of Rumi

Shakespeare (The Bard)

Shakespeare’s mastery of language reshaped literature forever. His sonnets brim with passion, despair, wit, and unrelenting curiosity left a lasting mark. As the most quoted writer in history, his influence extends beyond poetry—his storytelling also shaped modern drama. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” and others have immortalized his name. More

SONNET 130

Willy, I'm not that hot.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

FREE TO RSVP

Poetry in the Afternoon (Third Thursdays) at the SPARC Centre Gallery, featuring South Pasadena Poet Laureate and popular YA (young adult) author Ron Koertge as well as Peace Activist Mandy Kahn (prs org). There is also an OPEN MIC for participants to sign up to perform. Subject matter is open but will cover the sensitive subject of sex. Free. Refreshments served, part of the Fremont Playhouse, rear gallery. RSVP: