Is there a 'greatest' poet?

[Ecurb]

I vote for the anonymous bard who wrote the immortal lines, "Finders keepers, losers weepers ."

[Nick Capozzoli]

Shakespeare... or Dante...? OK. Let's flip a coin... Shakespeare. Done. Let's move on.

The "greatest" poet?...perhaps a meaningless and unanswerable question. Assessing a poet as "great" might be more doable. The fact that poets use different languages makes comparison more difficult than it would be if all spoke the same language. And there are many forms of poetry, ranging from very short lyrics to vast epics. Most folks would agree that Shakespeare is a great poet. If you want to call him the "greatest," I won't argue with you.

[Vladimir777]

Perhaps a dumb question...if Shakespeare had only written the sonnets and his other "poems," and had not written any of his great plays, would he still be considered to be one of the top 5 poets of all time? I'm just curious what people think.

[JCamilo]

Then he would not be Shakespeare and probally much less famous or admired.

[Adolescent09]

By the OP asking this question, he/she is just begging for trolls to duke it out over the internet.

[cafolini]

We might need an electoral college to decide this. LOL. A majority of mongers not allowed.

[cacian]

I would say there no greater poet just greater words.

[Jassy Melson]

There are abot twenty "greatest poets."

[Adolescent09]

Since non-scientific literature is subjective and can never be objective (that is reserved only for statistical statements), we can never state the 'greatest' poet(s), but only our 'favorite' poet(s).

Ex. of subjective opinion: 'William Shakespeare is totally the coolest thing to ever happen to literature, dude' - (paraphrased from the vast majority of high school students reading the SparkNotes for 'Julius Caesar')

Ex. of statistically based fact: I am the only son my mother has had for 20 years and counting. (This can only be negated if my mother has been knocked up by someone without my knowledge, which I beg the SWEET LORD hasn't happened.)

I would say there no greater poet just greater words.

I see this thread has been blessed with Cacian's stroke of genius.

[stlukesguild]

Perhaps a dumb question...if Shakespeare had only written the sonnets and his other "poems," and had not written any of his great plays, would he still be considered to be one of the top 5 poets of all time? I'm just curious what people think.

What would people think if Dante hadn't written the Comedia, Milton hadn't composed Paradise Lost, Chaucer hadn't penned the Canterbury Tales... ?

[mortalterror]

Perhaps a dumb question...if Shakespeare had only written the sonnets and his other "poems," and had not written any of his great plays, would he still be considered to be one of the top 5 poets of all time? I'm just curious what people think.

What would people think if Dante hadn't written the Comedia, Milton hadn't composed Paradise Lost, Chaucer hadn't penned the Canterbury Tales... ?

They'd still have Dante's New Life to judge him by, which is about as good as Shakespeare's sonnets and poems. Milton would look better than either of them since he'd still have Comus, Samson Agonistes, Paradise Regained, Lycidas, and other poems. If you take away Shakespeare's plays you take away 95% of his work but if you take away Milton's Paradise Lost you're only taking like 25% of his output. Troilus and Criseyde is enough to put Chaucer in the conversation, then he's still got the Book of the Duchess and the House of Fame. You take away their key achievements and none of them are the greatest poet anymore, but they are still great poets.

As for the original question, "Is there a greatest poet?" That's sort of like asking if there is a greatest football player. Which position? And if you compare two quarterbacks do you give the prize to the one with more touchdowns, more championship rings, more completed passes, or more overall yardage? There are anywhere from six to a dozen different guys who've in my estimation maxed out the human potential for writing poetry but their strengths aren't all in the same areas. Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, Firdawsi, Valmiki, Vyasa, Milton, Virgil, Tasso, Aeschylus, Ovid, Rumi are probably as good as you are going to get. None of them are running too far ahead of the rest in the pack.

[Adolescent09]

Geoffrey Chaucer is the father of forced rhymes, IMO. Reading The Canterbury Tales was similar to hearing a broken record with a continued monotony of ever so slightly varied static noises.

(Brilliant satire )

[JCamilo]

They'd still have Dante's New Life to judge him by, which is about as good as Shakespeare's sonnets and poems. Milton would look better than either of them since he'd still have Comus, Samson Agonistes, Paradise Regained, Lycidas, and other poems. If you take away Shakespeare's plays you take away 95% of his work but if you take away Milton's Paradise Lost you're only taking like 25% of his output. Troilus and Criseyde is enough to put Chaucer in the conversation, then he's still got the Book of the Duchess and the House of Fame. You take away their key achievements and none of them are the greatest poet anymore, but they are still great poets.

Specially considering what makes Shakespeare impressive is not that he reached a peak that no other writer ever reached, but the number of times he did it. Even if we remove all and leave only Hamlet, much of his impact would be diminished, just like his sonnets are just one of the best but not only one collection of lyrical poetry in english or another language. Shakespeare needs his many plays to be Shakespeare.

[tonywalt]

Is there any room for modern poetry?-though, I know we have an affinity for the past on Litnet

[cafolini]

There are abot twenty "greatest poets."

ROFLMAO!

I wonder who was the 21st.