1809 in poetry

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

United Kingdom

 * Lord Byron, "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers", his anonymous response to the Edinburgh Review's attack on his 1807 work, Hours of Idleness; this year's response created considerable stir and shortly went through five editions; while some authors resented being satirized in its first edition, over time in subsequent editions it became a mark of prestige to be the target of Byron's pen
 * Thomas Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming: A Pennsylvanian Tale, and Other Poems; the first popular English poem set in the United States; about Gertrude's life and death after an Indian attack; the critical reception is mixed, but the poem proves popular, with three British editions and an American edition all printed in the first two years
 * John Cam Hobhouse and others, Imitations and Translations from the Ancient and Modern Classics, has 29 poems by Hobhouse, nine by Lord Byron, 27 by others
 * Margaret Holford (later Margaret Hodson), Wallace; or, The Fight of Falkirk
 * Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb, Poetry for Children, Entirely Original
 * M.G. Lewis, Monody on the Death of Sir John Moore
 * Thomas Moore, The Sceptic
 * Jane West, The Mother

United States

 * Thomas Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming
 * Thomas Green Fessenden, Pills, Poetical, Political, and Philosophical. Prescribed for the Purpose of Purging the Publick of Fiddling Philosophers, of Puny Poetasters, of Paltry Politicians, and Petty Partisans. By Peter Pepper-Box, Poet and Physician, Philadelphia: Printed for the author
 * Philip Freneau, Poems [...] Third Edition

Births
Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * January 19 – Edgar Allan Poe (died 1849), American poet, short-story writer, editor and literary critic, American
 * February 7 – Frederik Paludan-Muller (died 1876), Danish
 * March 31 – Edward Fitzgerald (died 1883), English writer and poet best known for his English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
 * April 10 – Henry Derozio (died 1831), one of the first Indian, English-language poets (Indian poetry in English)
 * June 19 – Monckton Milnes (died 1885), English poet and politician.
 * August 6 – Alfred Lord Tennyson (died 1892), Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
 * August 29 – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (died 1894), American poet, essayist and physician
 * October 18 – Thomas Holley Chivers (died 1858), American American doctor-turned-poet best known for his friendship with Edgar Allan Poe and his controversial defense of the poet after his death
 * November 27 – Fanny Kemble (died 1893), American and English actress, author and poet
 * Also:
 * John Barr (died 1889), Scottish-New Zealander
 * David Bates (died 1870), American
 * Margaret Gatty (died 1873), English writer of children's literature, poet and editor
 * Kasiprasad Ghose (Indian)

Deaths
Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:
 * January 15 (or January 16) – Karl Friedrich Kretschmann (born 1738), German poet, playwright and storyteller
 * March 11 – Hannah Cowley (born 1743), English playwright and poet
 * March 23 – Thomas Holcroft (born 1745), English novelist, poet and playwright
 * March 25 – Anna Seward, called "the Swan of Lichfield" (born 1747), English poet
 * May 1 – Gottlieb Konrad Pfeffel (born 1736), German writer, military scientist, educator and poet
 * August 8 – Ueda Akinari, 上田 秋成, also known as "Ueda Shūsei" (born 1734), Japanese author, scholar and waka poet