What is English poetry?
The history of '''English poetry''' stretches from the middle of the [[7th century]] to today.<ref>This refers to poetry written in [[Anglo-Saxon]], the direct [[wikt:predecessor|predecessor]] of modern English.</ref> Over this period, English [[poet]]s have written some of the longest-surviving [[poem]]s in [[Western culture]]. The [[English language|language]] and its [[poetry]] have spread around the world. The earliest surviving poetry from the area now called [[England]] was probably [[Oral tradition|transmitted orally]] (or passed from person to person by mouth, without being written down). It was then written down in versions that do not now survive. Because of this, it is difficult to say which poems were the earliest. There is a lot of [[controversy]] over this issue. A number of major national poetries have developed. These include [[United States|American]], [[Australian literature|Australian]], [[New Zealand]], [[Canada|Canadian]] and [[India]]n poetry. It may be controversial to describe Irish literature as English or British, even though it is in the English language. ==Related pages== *[[Beowulf]] *[[Blank verse]] == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Poetry]] [[Category:English literature]]