1888 in poetry

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

Canada

 * William Wilfred Campbell, Snowflakes and sunbeams. St. Stephen, NB: St. Croix Courier Press. Published at author's expense.
 * Archibald Lampman, Among the Millet. His first book of poems, including "Heat". Published at author's expense.
 * Frederick George Scott, The Soul's Quest, and Other Poems.

United Kingdom

 * William Allingham, Flower Pieces, and Other Poems, illustrated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
 * Sir Edwin Arnold, translator from the Persian by Sa'di, With Sa'di in the Garden; or, The Book of Love
 * Matthew Arnold, Essays in Criticism, Second Series (see also Essays in Criticism 1865, 1910)
 * W.E. Henley, A Book of Verses
 * Andrew Lang, Grass of Parnassus
 * George Meredith, A Reading of Earth
 * William Wordsworth, The Recluse, printed from the original manuscript; Wordsworth's plan was to write a long autobiographical poem of three parts and a prelude (see also The Excursion 1814 and The Prelude 1850) posthumously published

United States

 * Oliver Wendell Holmes, Before the Curfew and Other Poems
 * James Russell Lowell:
 * The English Poets; Lessing, Rousseau, nonfiction
 * Heartsease and Rue
 * Herman Melville, John Marr and Other Sailors
 * Thomas Nelson Page and A. C. Gordon, Befo' de War
 * James Whitcomb Riley:
 * Pipes o' Pan at Zekesbury
 * Old-Fashioned Roses
 * Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Casey at the Bat.
 * Walt Whitman, November Boughs

Other

 * Rubén Darío, Azul
 * James Russell Lowell, Heartsease and Rue
 * Władysław Mickiewicz, Adam Mickiewicz, sa vie et son œuvre ("Adam Mickiewicz: His Life and Works"), biography written by and collected works edited by the author's son, translated from the original Polish into French, Paris

Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * March 30 – Julian Grenfell (died 1915), English soldier and poet
 * June 13 – Fernando Pessoa (died 1935), Portuguese poet and writer
 * April 30 – John Crowe Ransom (died 1974), American poet, essayist, social and political theorist and academic
 * June 8 – Senge Motomaro 千家元麿 (died 1948), Japanese, Taishō and Showa period poet (surname: Senge)
 * June 22 &mdash; Alan Seeger (died 1916), American poet
 * August 1 – Aline Kilmer (died 1941), American poet, children's book author and essayist; wife of Joyce Kilmer
 * September 26 &mdash; T. S. Eliot (died 1965), American-born English poet, playwright, editor, critic and writer
 * October 1 – Ryuko Kawaji 川路柳虹, pen-name of Kawaki Makoto (died 1959), Japanese, Showa period poet and literary critic (surname: Kawaji)
 * October 14 &mdash; Katherine Mansfield (died 1923), New Zealand poet
 * October 16 &mdash; Eugene O'Neill (died 1953), American playwright
 * date not known – Nilkanth Sharma Dal (died 1970), Indian, Kashmiri-language poet

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * 15 April - Matthew Arnold, English poet
 * May 12 - Edward Lear, English poet
 * August 9 - Charles Cros, French poet