Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).

• Irish poet Tuileagna Ó Maoil Chonaire composes the poem Labhram ar iongnaibh Éireann.
• On the death of Pierre de Ronsard, Philippe Desportes became "recognized indisputably as France's greatest living poet," according to 20th century scholar Bernard Weinberg.^[1]

• Giordano Bruno, Italy:
  • L’Infini de l’univers et les mondes
  • De gli eroici furori ("The Heroic Enthusiasts"), a sonnet sequence and commentaries concerning the philosophy of love and love as a means of mystical ascent; dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney
  • Cabala del Cavallo pegaseo

• January 31 – Daniel Schwenter (died 1636), German Orientalist, polymath, poet and librarian
• March 16 – Gerbrand Bredero (died 1618), Dutch poet and playwright
• October 11 – Johann Heermann (died 1647), German poet and hymn writer
• November 1 – Jan Brożek (died 1652), Polish mathematician, astronomer, physician, poet, writer, musician and rector
• December 13 – William Drummond of Hawthornden (died 1649), Scottish poet
• Also:
  • Elizabeth Cary, Viscountess Falkland, née Elizabeth Tanfield (died 1639), English poet, translator and dramatist
  • Ján Filický born about this year (died 1623), Slovak poet
  • Fang Weiyi (died 1668), Chinese woman poet^[2]

• Paolo Giovio, birth year not known, Italian, Latin-language poet^[3]
• Ambrosius Lobwasser died (born 1515), German
• December 27 – Pierre de Ronsard (born 1524), French

• Poetry
• 16th century in poetry
• 16th century in literature
• Dutch Renaissance and Golden Age literature
• Elizabethan literature
• French Renaissance literature
• Renaissance literature
• Spanish Renaissance literature
• University Wits