Bright Star (2009)(01 of15)
Open Image ModalBased on the love poem "Bright Star" by John Keats, written for his smitten kitten Fanny Brawne.
Barfly (1987) (02 of15)
Open Image ModalBukowski was a womanizing, alcoholic, deadbeat - and an amazing poet. Mickey Roarke plays Henry Chinaski, a character based loosely on Bukowski's life.
Under Milk Wood (1972)(03 of15)
Open Image ModalStarring Richard Burton, Peter O'Tool, and Elizabeth Taylor, this British production was based on Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood (strictly speaking a radio play, but which reads like poetry on the page).
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966, TV), (2000)(04 of15)
Open Image ModalFirst cartoon-style, then Jim Carrey-style (whatever that is), Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka. Dr. Seuss') children's poem is a classic on the page or on the screen.
Howl (2010)(05 of15)
Open Image ModalJames Franco plays Ginsberg in this biographical look at the poet and play-by-play of the 1957 obscenity trial against the title poem.
Braveheart (1995)(06 of15)
Open Image ModalMel Gibson's blue-faced portrayal of 13th-century Scottish warrior William Wallace is based on bard Blind Harry's epic poem "The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace" - written in the decade prior to 1488.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)(07 of15)
Open Image ModalHomer's "Odyssey" has been adapted for the screen many times, but most recently (and hilariously) by the Coen brothers. The soundtrack is also incredible.
Troy (2004)(08 of15)
Open Image ModalBrad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, and biceps. Just what Homer envisioned.
Gunga Din (1939)(09 of15)
Open Image ModalThis classic film is based loosely on Rudyard Kipling's poem about a native Indian hero facing British colonialism. Or you can watch Cary Grant pretend to shoot things.
Mulan (1998)(10 of15)
Open Image ModalDisney's Mulan is based on the ancient Chinese poem, "The Ballad of Mulan," a legend from the Northern Wei Dynasty about Hua Mulan, a girl who fights in the Chinese army in her father's place for 12 years.
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)(11 of15)
Open Image ModalThe film by MGM is based on Alice Duer Miller's original poem "The White Cliffs."
Beowulf (2007)(12 of15)
Open Image ModalRobert Zemeckis' CGI retelling of the Old English Epic is replete with Angelina Jolie and a dragon. Them's apples to boast about.
Jabberwocky (1977)(13 of15)
Open Image ModalThink you can't make a film out of a nonsense poem? Think again! Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame turned Lewis Carroll's hairbrained verse into a cult movie.
The Raven (1915), (1935), (1963), (2012) (14 of15)
Open Image ModalEdgar Allen Poe's classic seems fated to FOREVERMORE be in theaters, given how many film adaptations have been released.
The Works of Shakespeare (too many to count)(15 of15)
Open Image ModalTake your pick! When you're good, you're good. And Shakespeare was, well, pretty good. The Bard of Avon is the ultimate poet/playwright, and hopefully we'll never see the end of him on the big screen.