Ever since the dawn of language, there has been poetry. Before we even had writing, we used rhyme and song to pass down our stories in the oral tradition, often for generations. Then along came the written word - and lo and behold the oldest story ever told was written in verse: "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Homer followed with the Iliad and a variety of other Greek verses.

From the time they learn to speak, children naturally grasp some of the basic rules of poetry, like scansion and rhyme. As their vocabulary grows and their understanding of the rules grows more explicit and clearer, they take pleasure in mixing words up and knowing when to break the rules. The most gifted of them go on to be able to put across in verse "what oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed", as poet Alexander Pope had it.

Which of these titans of the literary pantheon are you most like? Perhaps your poetry is about sticking it to the status quo, or casting a light into the shadows of human sorrow. Perhaps you're all about deep thoughts, or satirizing conventional wisdom that isn't really that wise. Either way, there's a poet who came before who might be the role model you were looking for. Read on to find out who they are!