1612 in poetry

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

• George Chapman, translator, Petrarchs Seven Penitentiall Psalms, Paraphrastically Translated^[1]
• William Corkine, Second Booke of Ayres, some to sing and play to the Basse-Violl alone: others to be sung to the Lute and Bass Viollin, including "Break of Day" by John Donne^[2]
• John Davies, The Muses Sacrifice^[1]
• John Donne, The First Anniversarie, An Anatomie of the World [...] The Second Anniversarie. Of the Progres of the Soule, anonymously published together, although The Second Anniversarie has a separate, dated, title page (and was originally published as An Anatomy of the World 1611)^[1]
• John Dowland, A Pilgrimes Solace, verse and music^[1]
• Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, Part I, a topographical poem describing England and Wales;^[1] with notes by John Selden (Part 2 published 1622^[1])
• Orlando Gibbons, First Set of Madrigals and Mottets
• Richard Johnson, A Crowne-Garland of Goulden Roses, Gathered Out of Englands Royal Garden^[1]
• The Passionate Pilgrim, expanded edition, anthology
• Henry Peacham, the younger, Minerva Britannia; or, A Garden of Heroical Devises^[1]
• Samuel Rowlands:
  • The Knave of Cubbes, published anonymously; the first edition (for which no copy is extant), titled A Merry Meeting, published 1600 but was ordered burned^[1]
  • The Knave of Harts, published anonymously^[1]
• "W.S." (but probably by John Ford), A Funeral Elegy for Master William Peter
• John Taylor, The Sculler^[1]

See also 1613 in poetry

The November 6 death of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, at age 18, occasioned these poems:

• Sir William Alexander, An Elegie on the Death of Prince Henrie, on the death of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales^[1]
• Joshua Sylvester, Lachrimae Lachrimarum; or, The Distillation of Teares Shede for the Untimely Death of the Incomparable Prince Panaretus, also includes poems in English, French, Latin and Italian by Walter Quin^[1] (A third edition was published in 1613.^[2])
• George Wither, Prince Henries Obsequies; or, Mournefull Elegies Upon his Death ^[1]

• Luis de Góngora - Fábula de Polifemo y Galatea (Fable of Polyphemus and Galatea) Spain
• Jean Vauquelin de La Fresnaye, Les Œuvres ("Works"), published posthumously in Caen, France

• February 8 – Samuel Butler (died 1680), English
• March – Sir Thomas Salusbury, 2nd Baronet (died 1643), Welsh politician and poet
• March 4 (bapt.) – Jan Vos (died 1667), Dutch playwright and poet
• March 20 – Anne Bradstreet, née Dudley (died 1672), "the chief poetess of Colonial America", English-born Puritan poet^[3]
• October 15 – Isaac de Benserade (died 1691), French playwright and court poet, a member of the Académie française in 1674
• October 25 – James Graham (died 1650), 5th Earl and 1st Marquis of Montrose (Scottish) soldier and poet
• Also:
  • Edward King (drowned 1637), Irish poet who wrote in Latin in England; a friend of John Milton
  • Zhou Lianggong (died 1672), Chinese poet, essayist and art historian
  • Łukasz Opaliński (died 1666), Polish nobleman, poet, writer and political activist

• May 20 (bur.) – William Fowler (born c. 1560), Scottish-born poet, writer, courtier and translator
• July 24 – John Salusbury (born 1567), Welsh knight, politician and poet
• October – Juan de la Cueva (born 1543), Spanish dramatist and poet
• October 7 – Giovanni Battista Guarini (born 1538), Italian poet, dramatist and diplomat
• November 20 – Sir John Harington (born 1560), English courtier, author, poet and inventor of a flush toilet
• Also – Ercole Bottrigari (born 1531), Italian scholar, mathematician, poet, music theorist, architect and composer