The term "Graveyard Poets" refers to a group of 18th-century English poets known for their themes of death, mortality, and the sublime. Key figures include Edward Young, Thomas Gray, and William Cowper. Their works often reflect a fascination with graveyards and the contemplation of life and death, emphasizing the transient nature of human existence. These poets emerged during the Romantic period, which valued emotion and individual experience. Their writings contributed to the development of Gothic literature and influenced later poets, including John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who explored similar themes in their own works.