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What is a poet laureate?

A poet laureate is the officially recognized poetic spokesperson of a nation. The title was originally conferred in Great Britain by a monarch (king or queen) on a poet who then took on the duty of writing verses to honor the nation. This was an outgrowth of an English custom that began in the Middle Ages (A.D. c. 450–c. 1500), when versifiers and minstrels in the king's court were appointed to praise him in poetry and song. The term poet laureate is derived from ancient Greek and Roman tradition of honoring a poet with a wreath made of laurel (type of shrub or tree) leaves.

The first unofficial poet laureate was Ben Jonson (1572–1637) who was recognized for his poetry by King Charles I (1600–1649) in 1617. Years earlier, in 1605, Jonson had started work on a series of masques (short, allegorical dramas that were performed by actors wearing masks) for the king's court. While he was not...

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1. Michelangelo