1840 in poetry

• The Percy Society is established in Britain to publish scholarly editions of early ballads, poems and other works in English.{{Cite book|first=P. J. A.|last=Levine|title=The Amateur and the Professional: Antiquarians, Historians and Archaeologists in Victorian England 1838–1886|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Yv2zB-HVIC&pg=PA179|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-53050-7|page=179}}

• Thomas Aird, Orthuriel, and Other Poems{{cite book|editor=Cox, Michael|title=The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-19-860634-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conciseoxfordchr00coxm}}
• Matthew Arnold, Alaric at Rome
• Robert Browning, Sordello
• Caroline Clive, under the pen name "V", IX Poems by 'V'
• Thomas De Quincey, Recollections of the Lake Poets, final two essays on the Lake Poets published in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine (first essay published in 1836; see also Recollections 1835, 1839):
• "Westmoreland and the Dalesmen," January
• "Society of the Lakes, I, II, and III," January, March, and June
• Frederick William Faber, The Cherwell Water-Lily, and Other Poems
• Monckton Milnes, Poetry for the People
• Thomas Moore, The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, in 10 volumes, published starting this year and ending in 1841; Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
• Robert Owen, The Social Bible
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (died 1822), edited by Mary Shelley, Essays, Letters from Abroad, Translations and Fragments, including the essay "Defence of Poetry"
• William Wordsworth, The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, six volumes (see also reprint of 1842 with a seventh volume of additional poems; Miscellaneous Poems 1820; Poetical Works 1827; Poetical Works 1836; Poems 1845; Poetical Works 1857; Poetical Works, Centenary Edition, 1870)

• Philip Pendleton Cooke, "Florence Vane", a popular ballad, often anthologized, written for the author's cousin; first published in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine at Edgar Allan Poe's request; United StatesBurt, Daniel S., [https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ0fgo5v6e0C The Chronology of American Literature: : America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times], Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-618-16821-7}}, retrieved via Google Books
• Thomas Moore, The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, in 10 volumes, published starting this year and ending in 1841; Irish poet published in the United Kingdom
• Frances Sargent Osgood, The Casket of Fate, United StatesLudwig, Richard M., and Clifford A. Nault, Jr., Annals of American Literature: 1602–1983, 1986, New York: Oxford University Press
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Wreck of the Hesperus", in New World, January 10, United States

• Hans Christian Andersen, Jeg er en Skandinav ("I am a Scandinavian"), Denmark{{cite web|work=Hans Christian Andersen and Music|url=http://www.kb.dk/elib/noder/hcamusik/skandinav/index_en.htm|title=I am a Scandinavian|accessdate=2007-01-12}}
• José de Espronceda, Poesías, including complete version of El estudiante de Salamanca, Spain
• Abraham Emanuel Fröhlich, Ulrich Zwingli, Switzerland
• Victor Hugo, Les Rayons et les Ombres ("Beams and shadows"), France{{cite book|last=Rees|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YAepXCkCPkIC&q=i%3DHknbSoGmBKKKygTcqZHADg|title=The Penguin book of French poetry: 1820-1950|publisher=Penguin|year=1992|isbn=978-0-14-042385-3}}
• Mikhail Lermontov, Mtsyri ("The Novice"), Russia
• Taras Shevchenko, Kobzar ("The Bard"), Russia
• Henrik Wergeland, Jan van Huysums Blomsterstykke ("Flower-piece by Jan van Huysum"), Norway

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

• January 13 – Nicholas Flood Davin (died 1901), Irish-born Canadian lawyer, journalist, politician and poet
• January 18 – Henry Austin Dobson (died 1921), English poet and essayist
• February 2 – Griffith Williams (Gutyn Peris) (died 1838), Welsh poet
• March 5 – Constance Fenimore Woolson (died 1894), American novelist, short-story writer and poet; a grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper
• March 18 – William Cosmo Monkhouse (died 1901), English poet and critic
• June 2 – Thomas Hardy (died 1928), English novelist and poet
• August 17 – Wilfred Scawen Blunt (died 1922), English poet and writer
• September 20 – Ellen Mary Clerke (died 1906), Irish author, journalist, poet and science writer
• October 5 – John Addington Symonds (died 1893), English poet and literary critic

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

• June 7 – Népomucène Lemercier (born 1771), French poet and playwright
• June 12 – Gerald Griffin (born 1803), Irish novelist, poet and playwright
• July – Goronwy Owen (born 1723), Welsh poet
• July 7 – Nikolai Stankevich (born 1813), Russian philosopher and poet

{{portal|Poetry}}

• 19th century in poetry
• 19th century in literature
• List of years in poetry
• List of years in literature
• Victorian literature
• French literature of the 19th century
• Biedermeier era of German literature
• List of years in poetry
• Golden Age of Russian Poetry (1800–1850)
• Young Germany (Junges Deutschland) a loose group of German writers from about 1830 to 1850
• List of poets
• Poetry
• List of poetry awards

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{{Poetry of different cultures and languages}}

{{Lists of poets}}

Category:19th-century poetry

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