Editing Poet laureate (section)

== Background ==
In [[ancient Greece]], the [[bay laurel|laurel]] was used to form a crown or [[wreath]] of honour for poets and heroes. The custom derives from the ancient myth of [[Daphne|Daphne and Apollo]] (Daphne signifying "laurel" in Greek), and was revived in [[Padua]] for [[Albertino Mussato]],<ref>Robert Weiss, The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity (Oxford, 1973) 20.</ref> followed by [[Petrarch]]'s own crowning ceremony in the audience hall of the medieval senatorial palazzo on the [[Campidoglio]] on April 8, 1341.<ref>Ernest Hatch Wilkins, ''The Making of the Canzoniere and Other Petrarchan Studies'' 1951:9-69, noted in Weiss 1973:32.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hamilton |first=Walter |date=1880 |title=The Origin of the Office of Poet Laureate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3677823 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |volume=8 |pages=20–35 |doi=10.2307/3677823 |issn=0080-4401|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Because the Renaissance figures who were attempting to revive the Classical tradition lacked detailed knowledge of the Roman precedent they were attempting to emulate, these ceremonies took on the character of doctoral candidatures.<ref>Weiss 1973.</ref> In [[History of Iran|Persia]], the poet laureate (''amīr-'' or ''malek-al-šoʿarāʾ'') carried artistic authority and were provided sources of income.<ref>{{Cite web |title=COURTS AND COURTIERS x. Court poetry |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/courts-and-courtiers-x |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=iranicaonline.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

Since the office of poet laureate has become widely adopted, the term "laureate" has come to signify recognition for preeminence or superlative achievement ([[cf.]] [[Nobel laureate]]). A royal degree in [[rhetoric]], ''poet laureate'' was awarded at European universities in the [[Middle Ages]]. The term therefore may refer to the holder of such a degree, which recognized skill in rhetoric, grammar, and language. During [[England]]'s seventeenth century, the poet laureate served as the "court poet" of royalty, and was often called upon to celebrate state occasions until that role was abolished during the early 1800s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Poet Laureate |url=https://poetlaureate.illinois.gov/about.html |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=poetlaureate.illinois.gov |language=en}}</ref> The ''[[skald]]'' in ancient [[Scandinavia]] often spent their careers too serving as the court poets of [[Norway]]'s kings.<ref>{{Citation |last=Magerøy |first=Hallvard |title=skaldedikting |date=2024-08-16 |work=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/skaldedikting |access-date=2024-10-26 |language=no}}</ref> Just like the first English poets laureate, ministers during [[China]]'s feudal era presented "commanded poems" at royal events and were beholden to the ruling class.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1UjAAAAMAAJ&q=%E5%AE%AB%E5%BB%B7%E8%AF%97%E4%BA%BA%E6%88%96%E6%A1%82%E5%86%A0%E8%AF%97%E4%BA%BA |title=外国文学研究 |date=1984 |publisher=外国文学交流杂志社 |language=zh}}</ref> In [[Japan]], the poet laureate (''keikanshijin'') was also imperially appointed and were often called upon to read at the annual [[Utakai Hajime]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JrKdRQQKeS4C&q=%E3%82%B1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B7%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3 |title=大辭典 |date=1934 |publisher=平凡社 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTPcvP_3w2kC&q=%E3%82%B1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B7%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3 |title=大辭典: クナーコサン |date=1953 |publisher=平凡社 |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=中西進 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5_9Yb7_F9MC |title=英文版 『美しい日本語の風景』他所収: Reflections on Quintessential Words |date=2019-08-21 |publisher=Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture |isbn=978-4-86658-068-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=多ケ谷 |first=有子 |date=March 2012 |title=朗詠としての「歌会始」 : 詩歌と朗詠の伝統 : 桂冠詩人と「歌会始」 |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1050282812787968768?lang=en |journal=関東学院大学文学部紀要 |language=ja |volume=124 |pages=61–103}}</ref> Comparatively, in [[Africa]], kingdoms such as the [[Kuba Kingdom|Kuba]] in the [[Belgian Congo]] (modern day [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]) appointed [[bard]]s that served as both the royal historian and poet laureate.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brandel |first=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kHrCAAAQBAJ |title=The Music of Central Africa: An Ethnomusicological Study: Former French Equatorial Africa the Former Belgian Congo, Ruanda-Urundi Uganda, Tanganyika |date=2013-11-11 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-015-7396-2 |language=en}}</ref> In addition to being known as poets laureate, bards were also referred to as "praise-poets" due to their special function of venerating the chief.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGdkAAAAMAAJ |title=Journal of African Languages |date=1967 |publisher=Macmillan. |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Xhosa language]], ''[[Imbongi]] YeSizwethe'' can be translated to mean either "poet laureate" or "[[national poet]]".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NqxkAAAAMAAJ |title=Contemporary African Literature |date=1983 |publisher=Three Continents Press |isbn=978-0-89410-369-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=J. J. R. JOLOBE |url=https://pzacad.pitzer.edu/nam/newafrre/writers/jolobe/jolobeS.htm |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=pzacad.pitzer.edu}}</ref> Similar to what is expressed in the [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] term, some poets have been dually noted as "poet laureate" and "national poet" depending upon the source: [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]] ([[Bangladesh]]),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chandan |first=MD Shahnawaz Khan |date=2013-08-30 |title=The Life of a Rebel |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/the-life-of-a-rebel |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> [[Rabindranath Tagore]] ([[India]]),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6hVAAAAYAAJ |title=The Theosophist |date=1918 |publisher=Theosophical Publishing House |language=en}}</ref> [[José Craveirinha]] ([[Mozambique]]),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIMqAQAAIAAJ |title=Literatura: revista do escritor brasileiro |date=2005 |publisher=Gráfica Scortecci |language=pt-BR}}</ref> [[Mahmoud Darwish]] ([[Palestine]]),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Eóin |title=Obligations of Love, Obligations of Politics {{!}} Poetry Ireland |url=https://www.poetryireland.ie/writers/articles/obligations-of-love-obligations-of-politics |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=www.poetryireland.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=MIFTAH - In Memoriam: Palestine's Poet Laureate Mahmoud Darwish |url=http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=17570&CategoryId=32 |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=MIFTAH}}</ref> [[Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame 'Hadrawi']] ([[Somalia]]),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stille |first=Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rwSqgWLNjI0C |title=The Future of the Past |date=2003-04-01 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-1-4668-1709-8 |language=en}}</ref> [[Edwin Thumboo]] ([[Singapore]])<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quayum |first=Mohammad A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vECbRry3LEgC |title=Peninsular Muse: Interviews with Modern Malaysian and Singaporean Poets, Novelists and Dramatists |date=2007 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-03911-061-2 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Taras Shevchenko]] ([[Ukraine]]).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PB_9lzBYxrQC |title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress |date=1963 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en}}</ref> This contrasts with other figures such as [[Shamsur Rahman (poet)|Shamsur Rahman]] ([[Bangladesh]]),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Mark |date=2020-10-23 |title=Bangladesh: 91st birthday of poet Shamsur Rahman |url=https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/2020/10/23/bangladesh-91st-birthday-of-poet-shamsur-rahman/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=The New Publishing Standard |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Thomas Moore]] ([[Bermuda]]),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4aNAAQAAIAAJ&q=%22unofficial+poet+laureate%22+bermuda |title=South and West |date=1964 |publisher=South and west |language=en}}</ref> [[Leung Ping-kwan]] ([[Hong Kong]]),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - End Games: Leung Ping-kwan's City at the End of the Time |url=https://www.asiancha.com/content/view/1427/115/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=www.asiancha.com}}</ref> [[Francisco Borja da Costa]] ([[East Timor|Timor–Leste]])<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Loney |first1=Hannah |url=https://www.academia.edu/44194298 |title=Timor-Leste 1999: 20 Years On tlsa Timor-Leste Studies Association Understanding Hatene kona ba Compreender Timor-Leste 2019 Volume II |last2=Mendes |first2=Nuno Canas}}</ref> and [[Haji Gora Haji]] ([[Zanzibar]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=Between Worlds |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/147597/between-worlds |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=The Poetry Foundation}}</ref>—who are conferred an "unofficial poet laureate" status due to their poetical works.

As of modern times, over a dozen national governments continue the poet laureate tradition.