user14387: If I'm getting this right it is/was customary to utter a poem shortly after realizing enlightenment. Are these verses and/or maybe stories and accounts surrounding these beings collected somewhere?

user471: Yes. For the Theravada tradition's stories of the elder monks and nuns, please see the following books of the Khuddaka Nikaya (the minor collection):

Theragatha (Verses of the Elder Monks) or here
Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns) or here
Thera Apadana (Past Life Legends of the Elder Monks)
Theri Apadana (Past Life Legends of the Elder Nuns)

For e.g. you can read the story of Sunita the Outcaste who became an arhat elder.

14387: <p>If I'm getting this right it is/was customary to utter a poem shortly after realizing enlightenment. Are these verses and/or maybe stories and accounts surrounding these beings collected somewhere?</p>
 471: <p>Yes. For the Theravada tradition's stories of the elder monks and nuns, please see the following books of the <a href="https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta/minor/kn" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Khuddaka Nikaya</a> (the minor collection):</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta/minor/kn/thag" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Theragatha</a> (Verses of the Elder Monks) or <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thag/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a></li>
<li><a href="https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta/minor/kn/thig" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Therigatha</a> (Verses of the Elder Nuns) or <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thig/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a></li>
<li><a href="https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta/minor/kn/tha-ap" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Thera Apadana</a> (Past Life Legends of the Elder Monks)</li>
<li><a href="https://suttacentral.net/pitaka/sutta/minor/kn/thi-ap" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Theri Apadana</a> (Past Life Legends of the Elder Nuns)</li>
</ul>
<p>For e.g. you can read the story of <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/thag/thag.12.02.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sunita the Outcaste</a> who became an arhat elder.</p>
