Poet Smurf (original French name Schtroumpf Poète) is one of the main characters of the Smurfs comic books, the 1980s Smurfs cartoon show, and the 2021 Smurfs cartoon show.
Character
He's the village writer, a thoughtful Smurf who writes poems and rhymes every time he opens his mouth - except, perhaps, in an emergency (and again!). He loves to compose odes for anything and everything, and on occasion he can also write novels or plays.
In the 1980s cartoon show, he is usually composing Odes, such as: Ode to the Sun, Ode to Petrification, Ode to an Apple (before Greedy ate it), Ode to a Paint Brush, Ode to a Stripe, Ode to the Missing Smurfs (though Grouchy stopped him: "I HATE sad poems!"), Ode to a Fried Egg (even though Painter forcibly discouraged this one, saying "Bah! You cannot do zat! I am already painting zee fried egg!"), Ode to a River, Ode to Rain, and Ode to Brainy Smurf.
Poet's feather on his hat changes in most of the media he is in: white (The original Smurfs comics, the 1981 TV series, and the 2021 TV series), red (The earlier Smurfs comics and The Smurfs And The Magic Flute), and purple (Smurfs: The Lost Village).
Personality
Poet is a kind and creative Smurf who crafts poems about just about really anything that inspires him. Even without making poems, he is a very friendly guy, helping Smurfs whenever they need it. In "Who Nose?", Poet was one of the four Smurfs that helped Hefty attempt to shrink his nose to impress Smurfette.
He creates poems at any point in time, usually reading (or saying) them out-loud where he stands. He's often quite animated as he does so, making motions with a free hand (if he's holding said poem) or the like.
As of "Denisa's Greedy Doll" and the 2021 series onwards, Poet is shown to regularly speak in rhyming couplets. In previous appearances, he usually doesn't rhyme unless he works on his poetry.
Poet is very panicky. In "Poet Slam", he teaches Lily more about rhymes and ends up getting "poet's block", fearing when he stops rhyming for a while. In "Who Nose?", he is the only one in the group of five Smurfs that are searching for a nose spell in Gargamel's hovel that is actively worried about the wizard's return.
Relationships with Others
Poet does not seem to have any particular Smurf best friend, but they all care about him and consider him a friend.
Usually, the Smurfs let him read his newest work whenever he has one, rarely reacting with negativity. In "Painter And Poet", however, he makes a group of Smurfs listening to his poetry fall asleep. Seeing as no one in the village appears to understand their art, him and Painter plan to run away together, the two sailing away on a boat in search of a far-off land before a whirlwind occurs and strands them on an island. As they are gone, Poet and Painter have heated arguments with each other, but later on the duo work together to defeat Gargamel and save their fellow Smurfs from his clutches. Poet even compliments him on a painting that tricked the evil wizard and his cat, calling it his greatest masterpiece ever.
Despite whether or not they understand his work, Poet loves the others very much. In "Poet's Writers' Block", when he is about to be banished to the Valley of the Howling Wolves for the rest of his life, he writes a very heartfelt farewell poem to the Smurfs. The poem is so touching, one of the Wilybeast guards presents it to the king, who reads it aloud and successfully lifts his daughter of her curse. When he is set free, Poet goes home and presents his poem to the others via the Smurf Theatre, which moves the village to tears and applause.
Poet considers writing a poem for Clumsy among the many other requests he received in "Poet's Writers' Block", stating his reasoning to be that he really likes him. Later in the episode, after he writes the farewell poem, he sadly requests one of the guards to leave it under a rock in the forest, claiming his friend Clumsy collects rocks and will find it. He also thinks of how he'll miss his friends, Smurfette's smile, Clumsy tripping, and Papa Smurf just being himself. However, in The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf, he knows excatly how clumsy he can be and says that he probably wouldn't be able to stop Gargamel's vileaf.
Jokey is another Smurf seen with Poet in the 2021 cartoon episodes "Funny Mommy" and "Fake News". In these, Poet gets annoyed with him but later in both episodes, he considers him as a friend. In "Poet Slam", Jokey helps Poet be able to poet again.
Appearances
In The Movies
Smurfs: The Lost Village
Poet briefly appears as a background character in Smurfs: The Lost Village.
Smurf Videogames
The Smurfs: The TeleTransport Smurf
Poet is one of the playable characters in the PC game The TeleTransport Smurf.
Smurfs' Village
In the app game Smurfs' Village, Poet's hut in the main village costs 25 smurfberries.
The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf
Poet appears as the narrator in this game, though he is not physically seen. Most of what he narrates is how Gargamel uses the Vileaf to poison plants and the various Smurfs who venture out to get the ingredients to heal the plants.
The Smurfs 2: The Prisoner of the Green Stone
Poet is the narrator of the game, though unlike The Smurfs: Mission Vileaf, he is physically seen in it. He joins the group of Smurfs in Gargamel's hovel with Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and Grouchy and stays behind.
Later, Stolas goes to Gargamel's hovel and has commenced a ritual intended to secure his freedom. The hovel has thus been transformed into a mass of wreckage floating in the Astral Nothingness. Later, Handy takes it upon himself to fight Stolas, before gaining his trust and defeats Gargamel. Later, Poet ends the narration by saying Handy and the other Smurfs celebrate a party with Stolas, who enjoyed the story as a whole.
Trivia
- His character was voiced by Frank Welker in the 1981 TV series and Lawrence Sheldon in the 2021 TV series.
- He usually rolls his 'R's when he's in poetry mode.
- He has read to the Smurfs about the Knights of The Round Table.
- Poet did not appear in the 2011 live-action CGI movie or its 2013 sequel. However, his comic book animation appears at the end credits of both movies.
- He along with Nanny, Harmony, Farmer, Tailor, Nat, and Slouchy are the only main Smurf characters of the 1980s series who doesn't go time-travelling during Season 9.
- He, Tailor, Nat, and Slouchy also do not appear in Season 9.
- Despite being a main character (before Season 9), he only appears for four episodes of Season 4 and five episodes of Season 8.
- Poet has his name in four episode titles of the 1980's series which are "Painter And Poet", "Poet's Writers' Block", "Poet The Know-It-All", and "Poet's Storybook".