1948 in poetry

• January 6 – Pablo Neruda speaks out in the Senate of Chile against political repression and is forced into hiding.
• Summer – Composer Richard Strauss sets three short poems by Hermann Hesse to music; they become part of his valedictory Four Last Songs, his final works before his death in 1949.
• September 17 – The remains of Irish poet W. B. Yeats (who died at Menton, France in 1939) are re-buried at Drumcliffe, County Sligo, "Under bare Ben Bulben's head", having been moved from the original burial place, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, on Irish Naval Service corvette LÉ Macha. His grave at Drumcliffe, with an epitaph from "Under Ben Bulben", one of his final poems ("Cast a cold Eye / On Life, on Death. / Horseman, pass by"), becomes a place of literary pilgrimage
• Sometime this year, Jack Kerouac introduces the phrase Beat Generation to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at this time to the novelist John Clellon Holmes
• Di Goldene Keyt, an Israeli literary quarterly, is founded
• The Bollingen Prize is established by Paul Mellon, funded by a $10,000 grant from the Bollingen Foundation to the Library of Congress.

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

• Earle Birney, The Strait of Anian. Toronto: Ryerson Press.^[1]
• Roy Daniels, Deeper into the Forest^[2]
• Robert Finch, The Strength of the Hills^[2]
• A. M. Klein, The Rocking Chair and Other Poems. Governor General's Award 1948.^[2]
• Irving Layton, Now Is The Place: Stories and Poems. Montreal: First Statement Press.^[3]
• Douglas Le Pan, The Wounded Prince^[2]
• L. A. MacKay, The Ill-Tempered Lover^[2]
• A. J. M. Smith, editor, The Book of Canadian Poetry, anthology (see also editions of 1943, 1957)^[2]
• Arthur Stringer, New York Nocturnes. Toronto: Ryerson.

• Bimal Chandra Bose, Gandhi-Gita ( Poetry in English ), Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.^[4]
• Gurdial Mallik, Hound of the Heart ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Naranda Publications^[4]
• Dilip Kumar Roy, Eyes of Light ( Poetry in English ), Bombay: Nalanda Publications^[5]
• Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani, He Walked Alone ( Poetry in English ), Delhi: Bharat Publishing House^[6]

• Richard Aldington, Complete Poems^[7]
• Edward Andrade, He Likens Her to a Soldier
• John Betjeman, Selected Poems
• Lilian Bowes Lyon, Collected Poems
• Lawrence Durrell, On Seeming to Presume^[7]
• T. S. Eliot, Notes Towards the Definition of Culture^[7]
• D. J. Enright, Season Ticket^[7]
• Robert Farren, The Course of Irish Verse in English, Irish criticism
• W. S. Graham, The Voyages of Alfred Wallis
• Robert Graves, The White Goddess, a "historical grammar" of poetic myth and inspiration
• Jacquetta Hawkes, Symbols and Speculations^[8]
• John Heath-Stubbs, The Swarming of the Bees
• Hamish Henderson, Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica
• A. Norman Jeffares, W. B. Yeats: Man And Poet, United Kingdom, biography, revised in 1978^[9]
• Louis MacNeice, Holes in the Sky^[7]
• Norman Nicholson, Rock Face^[7]
• Vernon Scannell, Graves and Resurrections^[7]
• Sydney Goodsir Smith, Under the Eildon Tree: a poem in XXIV elegies
• Vernon Watkins, The Lady with the Unicorn^[7]

• W. H. Auden, "In Praise of Limestone", a poem published in Horizon in July (written in May), later published in a collection in 1951 (native English poet living in the United States)
• John Berryman, The Dispossessed^[10]
• Richard Ellmann, Yeats, The Man And The Mask, United States, biography^[9]
• William Everson, The Residual Years, New Directions^[11]
• Langston Hughes, One-Way Ticket, Alfred A. Knopf^[11]
• Randall Jarrell, Losses^[10]
• Robinson Jeffers, The Double Axe and Other Poems,^[10] largely critical of U.S. policy, the book came with an extremely unconventional note from Random House that the views expressed by Jeffers were not those of the publisher; several influential literary critics disapproved of the book, with particularly scathing pieces penned by Yvor Winters and Kenneth Rexroth, who had previously commented favorably on Jeffers' work
• Archibald MacLeish, Actfive and Other Poems^[10]
• William Meredith, Ships and Other Figures^[10]
• Ezra Pound:
  • The Pisan Cantos^[10]
  • The Cantos of Ezra Pound^[10]
• Theodore Roethke, The Lost Son and Other Poems^[10]
• Muriel Rukeyser, The Green Wave^[10]
• May Sarton, The Lion and the Rose^[10]
• Wallace Stevens, A Primitive Like an Orb, Publisher: Gotham Book Mart^[12]
• Winfield Townley Scott, Mr. Whittier^[10]
• Mark Van Doren, New Poems^[10]
• Peter Viereck, Terror and Decorum^[10]
• William Carlos Williams:
  • Paterson, Book II^[10]
  • Clouds, Aigeltinger, Russia

• James K. Baxter, Blow, Wind of Fruitfulness, New Zealand
• V. N. Bhusan, The Far Ascent, Bombay: Padma Pub.; India, Indian poetry in English^[13]
• Charles Brasch: Disputed Ground: Poems 1939-45, Christchurch: Caxton Press, New Zealand^[14]
• Robert Farren, The Course of Irish Verse in English, Irish criticism published in the United Kingdom
• Derek Walcott, 25 Poems

Listed by nation where the work was first published and again by the poet's native land, if different; substantially revised works listed separately:

• Louis Aragon, Le Nouveau Creve-Coeur^[15]
• André Breton, Poemes^[15]
• Aimé Césaire, Soleil cou coupé;^[16] Paris: K
• René Char, Fureur et mystere^[15]
• Paul Éluard, Corps mémorable^[15]
• Henri Michaux, La Vie dans les plis ("Life in the Folds")^[15]
• Saint-John Perse, Anabase, revised edition (first edition 1924)^[17]
• Jacques Prévert, Histoires^[18]
• Francis Ponge, Proêmes^[15]
• Raymond Queneau:
  • L'Instant fatal^[15]
  • Saint-Glinglin^[18]
• Georges Schéhadé, Hosties noires^[18]

In each section, listed in alphabetical order by first name:

• Sukanta Bhattacharya, Chharpatra, posthumous
• Jibanananda Das, Satti Tarar Timur^[19]
• Mangalacharan Chattopadhyay, Telangana-O-Anyanya Kabita^[19]
• Premendra Mitra, Pherari Phauj^[19]
• Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Agnikon^[19]

• Gangadhara Chittala, Kalada Kare, lyrics on the theme of "time"^[19]
• M. Gopalakrishna Adiga, Kattuvevu, his first collection of lyrics^[19]
• S. G. Kulakarni, editor, Kannada kavya Bhandara, anthology of navodaya poets, including B. M. Shreekantayya, K. V. Puttappa, D. R. Bendre and D. V. Gundappa

• Amrita Pritan, Lamian Vatan, Punjabi language^[19]
• Ananta Patnaik, Tarpana Kare Aji, poems on Gandhi, Oriya^[19]
• Asi, pen name of Abdul Bari, Rubaiyati Asi, Urdu^[19]
• Buddhidhari Singha, Amar Bapu, Maithili^[19]
• Harivans Rai Bacchan, Sut Ki Mala, 111 eleven poems on Gandhi and his ideology, Hindi^[19]
• Khumanthem Ibohal Singh, Nacome Lei ("Bouquet"), Manipuri
• Maheswar Neog, Sri Sri Sankaradeva, Assamese^[19]
• Mahjoor, Vava Subahuki, a political poem on the indignation of Kashmiris at delays in the United Nations Security Council concerning pleas to counter Pakistan's actions regarding that area; Kashmiri^[19]
• N. V. Krishna Varier, Ninta Kavitakal, long poems in Malayalam^[19]
• Nayaya vijaya Muni, Visva Vibhuti Svargaroha, a poem on Gandhi's death, Sanskrit^[19]
• Sumitranandan Pant, Visva Vibhuti Svargaroha, Hindi-language poems written in homage to Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo^[19]
• Upendranath Jha, Sannyasi, a Kanda Kavya in blank verse, Maithili^[19]

• García Baena, Mientras cantan los pájaros ("While Birds Sing"), Spain^[20]
• Aimé Césaire, Soleil cou coupé, Martinique author published in France
• Peter Huchel, Gedichte (Poems), East Germany
• Bohumil Hrabal, Ztracená ulička ("A Lost Alley"), Czechoslovakia
• Henryk Jasiczek, Rozmowy z ciszą ("Conversations with Silence"), Poland
• Olga Kirsch, Mure van die Hart, Afrikaans, South Africa
• Paul la Cour, Fragmenter af en Dagbog ("Fragments of a Diary"), Denmark^[21]
• Alexander Mezhirov, Kommunisty, vpered!, "Communists, Ahead!" poem reprinted in his second collection, New Encounters, and in many volumes, anthologies and samplers; Russia, Soviet Union^[22]
• Eugenio Montale, La fiera letteraria poetry criticism; Italy
• Nizar Qabbani, Childhood of a Breast, Syrian poet writing in Arabic
• Ole Wivel, I Fiskens Tegn ("In the Sign of the Fish"), Denmark^[23]

• Nobel Prize in Literature: T. S. Eliot
• Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (later the post would be called "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress"): Léonie Adams appointed this year.
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: W. H. Auden, The Age of Anxiety
• Fellowship of the Academy of American Poets: Percy MacKaye
• Canada: Governor General's Award, poetry or drama: The Rocking Chair and Other Poems, A. M. Klein^[24]
• North Carolina Poet Laureate: Arthur Talmage Abernethy (the first one to hold the office)

Years link to the corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:

• January 22 – Timothy Steele, American poet and academic
• January 31 – Albert Goldbarth, American poet
• February 16 – Jeff Guess, Australian poet
• March 5 – Leslie Marmon Silko, Laguna Pueblo descent American writer, a figure in the "Native American Renaissance"
• March 28 – Iman Budhi Santosa, Indonesian writer
• April 6 – Anna Couani, Australian poet and teacher
• May 13 – R. S. Gwynn, American poet and anthologist associated with New Formalism
• May 16 – Manglesh Dabral (died 2020), Indian Hindi poet and journalist
• May 24 – Lorna Crozier, Canadian poet
• May 29 – David Waltner-Toews, Canadian poet, writer and veterinary epidemiologist
• June 11 – David Lehman, American poet and series editor for The Best American Poetry book series
• June 29 – John Ash, English-born poet and writer
• July 7 – Stephen Ratcliffe, American poet and publisher
• August 1 – Frank Stanford (died 1978), American poet
• August 20 – Heather McHugh, American poet
• September 9 – Sherod Santos, American poet and academic
• October 3 – Barrett Watten, American poet
• October 6 – Zakes Mda (Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni Mda), South African novelist, poet and playwright
• October 7 – Diane Ackerman, American author, poet and naturalist
• October 9 – Ciaran Carson, Northern Irish poet and novelist
• October 18 – Ntozake Shange (pronounced En-toe-ZAHK-kay SHONG-gay) née Paulette Williams (died 2018), African-American playwright, performance artist, writer and poet
• November 14 – Kristina Lugn (died 2020), Swedish poet and dramatist
• November 29 – George Szirtes, Hungarian-born English poet and translator
• Also:
  • Ali Al Shargawi (علي الشرقاوي), Bahraini poet
  • Aung Cheint (died 2021), Burmese poet
  • Qassim Haddad, Bahraini free verse political poet
  • Umar Bin Hassan, American poet
  • Brian Henderson, Canadian poet and writer
  • Bob Holman, American poet
  • Lawrence Joseph, American poet, writer, essayist, critic, lawyer and law professor
  • Yitzhak Laor (יצחק לאור), Israeli poet, author and journalist
  • Denise Riley, English poet