1788 in poetry

• December – Robert Burns writes his version of the Scots poem Auld Lang Syne. ==Works published in English==

===United Kingdom=== This year three works of poetry, all written by women (the Falconars, More and Yearsley), condemn slavery; while Samuel Pratt is an early advocate of animal rights: • Henry Cary, Sonnets and Odes, the author turns 16 years old this year • William Collins, Ode on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland satire in heroic couplets; supports Calvinism and attacks Voltaire, David Hume, Joseph Priestley and their followers • Philip Freneau, Miscellaneous Works of Mr. Philip Freneau, Containing His Essays and Additional Poems • A Trip to Parnassus ==Works published in other languages==

• Basilio da Gama, Relação abreviada da República e Lenitivo da saudade; Brazil • Joseph Quesnel, Colas et Colinette, a comedy in verse, French language, published in Quebec, Canada ==Births==

Death years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article: • January 22 – Lord Byron (died 1824), English poet and leading figure in Romanticism • March 10 – Joseph von Eichendorff (died 1857), German poet and novelist • May 16 – Friedrich Rückert (died 1866), German poet, translator and professor of Oriental languages • June (day unknown) – Eliza Townsend (died 1854), American poet who published anonymously • c. October 14 – Robert Millhouse (died 1839), English weaver poet • October 24 – Sarah Josepha Hale (died 1879), American writer, influential editor, author of nursery rhymes, including "Mary Had a Little Lamb" • December 6 – Richard H. Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby") (died 1845), English poet, humorist and priest ==Deaths==

Birth years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article: • March 29 – Charles Wesley (born 1707), English Methodist clergyman and hymn writer • June 12 – Johann Andreas Cramer (born 1723), German poet, writer and theologian • July 5 – Mather Byles, (born 1707), English Colonial American clergyman and poet • July 31 – Thomas Russell (born 1762), English poet whose Sonnets and Miscellaneous Poems are posthumously published in 1789 • October 13 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent (born 1709), Irish poet and politician • October 28 – William Julius Mickle (born 1734), Scottish-born poet • Giulio Variboba (born 1725), Arbëresh poet ==See also==