Poet Laureates

The title of Poet laureate was first granted in England in the 17th century for poetic excellence. The post has become free of specific poetic duties, but its holder remains a salaried member of the British royal household. The office’s title traces its roots to an ancient Greek and Roman tradition of honouring achievement with a crown of laurel, a tree sacred to the god Apollo, who was patron of poets. The tradition of a poet acting in service to a British sovereign is a long one, but the origins of the modern post can be traced to Ben Jonson, who was granted a pension by James I in 1616. After 1668 the laureateship was recognized as an established royal office to be filled automatically when vacant. Until 1999 the position was a lifetime appointment; Andrew Motion was the first laureate to serve a fixed 10-year term. This list orders the laureates chronologically, from the first to the most recent. (See alsolist of poets laureate of the United States.)

John Dryden (1668–89)

Thomas Shadwell (1689–92)

Nahum Tate (1692–1715)

Nicholas Rowe (1715–18)

Laurence Eusden (1718–30)

Colley Cibber (1730–57)

William Whitehead (1757–85)

Thomas Warton (1785–90)

Henry James Pye (1790–1813)

Robert Southey (1813–43)

William Wordsworth (1843–50)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1850–92)

Alfred Austin (1896–1913)

Robert Bridges (1913–30)

John Masefield (1930–67)

Cecil Day-Lewis (1968–72)

Sir John Betjeman (1972–84)

Ted Hughes (1984–98)

Andrew Motion (1999–2009)

Carol Ann Duffy (2009– )