The Nobel Prize has been awarded since 1901 on an annual basis and was the brainchild of Alfred Nobel. During the past century, a number of famous poets have won the Nobel Prize for literature. We can of course not discuss all of them in this short article, but we will look at the contribution made by a few of them.

Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865 and died in 1936. His father taught arts and crafts at a school of art in Bombay, India. At the time India was of course ruled by the British. "Ruddy" as he was often affectionately referred to, was actually brought up by a local woman in the service of his parents (called an ayah) and his first language was therefore Hindustani.

Kipling received the Nobel Prize in 1907. Some of his most famous poems include "The Prodigal Son", "Gunga Din" and "Sestina of the Tramp Royal".

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in 1888 and died during 1965. His was a native of St Louis, Missouri and belonged to an old and respected New England family. He studied at Harvard, the Sorbonne and eventually Oxford. He settled in England and eventually became a British citizen.

Eliot became the literary editor of the publishing house Faber and Faber and the editor of an exclusive Magazine called Criterion. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1948. His most widely read poems include "The Hollow Men", "Journey of the Magi" and "The Naming of Cats".

Rabindranath Tagore must be the greatest writer modern India has so far produced. He was a Bengali poet and novelist who won the Nobel Prize in 1913. He was also awarded a British knighthood in 1915, but during 1919 he surrendered this again as a form of protest against the massacre that took place at Amritsar where British troops killed more than 400 Indian protestors who held a demonstration against colonial rule. A few of his most memorable works include "A Moments Indulgence", "Beggarly Heart", "Baby's Way" and "Baby's World".

William Butler Yeats was born in the Irish city of Dublin during 1865 and died in 1939. He came from an Irish Protestant family. His early years were spend in London and later he also spent much time in Slingo, one of the most beautiful counties on the Irish West Coast. This area made an indelible impression on him and was later depicted in a number of his poems. He won the Nobel Price for Literature in 1923. A few of his works that will never be forgotten by lovers of poetry include "Brown Penny", "He wishes for the cloths of Heaven", "The Second Coming" and "September 1913".

There are countless other famous poets that changed world literature forever and who provided rare insights into the meaning of life and the beauty and suffering surrounding us. If the subject interests you, there are various websites where you can read more about their works.