List of poets
This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.
A
Ab–Ak
- Jonathan Aaron, US poet
- Aarudhra, Indian Telugu poet, born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry
- Chris Abani, Nigerian poet
- Henry Abbey, US poet
- Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, US poet and fiction writer
- Siôn Abel, Welsh balladeer
- Aria Aber, Afghan poet and novelist, resides in the US, writes and publishes primarily in English
- Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and literary critic
- Arthur Talmage Abernethy, US journalist, minister, scholar; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1948-1953
- Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr, Persian poet
- Sam Abrams, US poet, editor and critic
- Seth Abramson, US poet
- Kosta Abrašević, Serbian poet
- Dannie Abse, Welsh poet in English
- Kathy Acker, US experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
- Diane Ackerman, US author, poet and naturalist
- Duane Ackerson, US writer of speculative poetry and fiction
- Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer and playwright
- Harold Acton, English writer, scholar and dilettante
- János Aczél, Hungarian poet and provost
- Tamás Aczél, Hungarian poet
- Gilbert Adair, Scottish novelist, poet and critic
- Virginia Hamilton Adair, US poet
- Helen Adam, Scottish-US poet, collagist and photographer
- Draginja Adamović, Serbian poet
- John Adams, US poet
- Léonie Adams, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1948–1949
- Ryan Adams, US singer-songwriter and writer
- Hendrik Adamson, Estonian poet
- Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet mainly in England
- Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Kim Addonizio, US poet and novelist
- Artur Adson, Estonian poet
- Endre Ady, Hungarian poet
- Mariska Ady, Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus, Athenian tragedian
- Anastasia Afanasieva, Ukrainian physician, poet, writer, translator
- Lucius Afranius, Roman comic poet
- John Agard, Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
- Patience Agbabi, British poet and performer
- James Agee, US novelist, screenwriter, and poet
- Deborah Ager, US poet and editor
- István Ágh, Hungarian poet
- Kelli Russell Agodon, US poet
- Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet
- Carlos Martínez Aguirre, Spanish poet
- Delmira Agustini, Uruguayan poet
- Ishaaq bin Ahmed, Arab scholar, poet and ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family
- Ai, US poet
- Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
- Conrad Aiken, US poet and author; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1950–1952
- Aganice Ainianos, Greek poet
- Akazome Emon, Japanese poet and historian
- Mark Akenside, English poet and physician
- Rachel Akerman, Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
- Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet
- Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet
- Jan Nisar Akhtar, Indian Urdu poet
- Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
- Salman Akhtar, Indian US professor and poet writing in English and Urdu
Al–Am
- Amina Al Adwan, Jordanian writer, poet and critic
- Ali al-Marhun, Saudi faqīh and poet
- Muhammad Taha Al-Qaddal, Sudanese poet
- Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman
- Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, Scottish Gaelic poet
- Ave Alavainu, Estonian poet
- Gillebríghde Albanach, Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
- Alcaeus, Athenian comic poet in Greek
- Alcaeus of Messene, Greek writer of verse epigrams
- Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Ammiel Alcalay, US poet, scholar and critic
- Alcman, Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Amos Bronson Alcott, US poet and teacher
- Richard Aldington, English poet and writer
- Vasile Alecsandri, Romanian poet
- Tudur Aled, Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Claribel Alegría, Central US poet writing in Spanish
- Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977
- Josip Murn Aleksandrov, Slovene symbolist poet
- Sherman Alexie, US poet and writer
- Felipe Alfau, Catalan US novelist and poet
- Agha Shahid Ali, Indian, Kashmiri and US poet
- Taha Muhammad Ali, Palestinian poet
- Dante Alighieri, Italian poet
- Ali al-Hujwiri, Persian poet
- James Alexander Allan, Australian poet
- August Alle, Estonian poet
- Dick Allen, US poet, critic and academic
- Donald Allen, US poet, editor and translator
- Elizabeth Akers Allen, US author and poet
- Ron Allen, US poet and playwright
- Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet
- William Allingham, Irish poet and man of letters
- Washington Allston, US painter and poet
- Damaso Alonso, Spanish poet, philologist and critic
- Alta, US poet and writer
- Natan Alterman, Israeli poet, journalist and translator
- Alurista, Chicano poet and activist
- Al Alvarez, English poet
- Julia Alvarez, Dominican-US poet, novelist and essayist
- Betti Alver, Estonian poet
- Moniza Alvi, Pakistani-British poet and writer
- Guru Amar Das, Punjabi poet and Sikh guru
- Ambroise, Norman-French poet of Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet
- Indran Amirthanayagam, Sri Lankan US poet, essayist and translator
- Kingsley Amis, English author and poet
- Majeed Amjad, Indian/Pakistani poet in Urdu
- A. R. Ammons, US author and poet
An–Aq
- Anacreon, Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch, German writer and publisher
- Mir Anees , Indian poet in Urdu
- Guda Anjaiah, Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist and writer from Telangana
- Anvari, Persian poet
- Temsüla Ao, Indian Naga poet, short story writer, and ethnographer
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish poet and children's writer
- Victor Henry Anderson, US poet, kahuna and teacher of the Feri Tradition
- Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet
- Mário de Andrade, Brazilian poet, novelist and critic
- Bernard André, French Augustinian poet: poet laureate to Henry VII of England
- Peter Andrej, Slovenian poet and musician
- Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portuguese poet and writer
- Bruce Andrews, US poet of language
- Kevin Andrews, Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist
- Ron Androla, US poet
- Aneirin, Brythonic epic poet
- Guru Angad, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Ralph Angel, US poet and translator
- Maya Angelou, US poet
- James Stout Angus, Shetland poet mainly in Shetland dialect
- Marion Angus, Scottish poet in Scots
- J. K. Annand, Scottish children's poet
- Mika Antić, Serbian poet
- David Antin, US poet and critic
- Antler, US poet
- Susanne Antonetta, US poet and author
- Brother Antoninus, US poet
- Raymond Antrobus, British poet and educator
- Chairil Anwar, Indonesian poet
- Johannes Anyuru, Swedish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Greek poet and librarian in Alexandria
- Maja Apostoloska, Macedonian poet
- Philip Appleman, US poet and professor
- Lajos Áprily, Hungarian poet and translator
- Pawlu Aquilina, Maltese poet
Ar
- Louis Aragon, French poet, novelist and editor
- János Arany, Hungarian poet
- Archilochus, Greek lyric poet
- Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi, Indian Telugu poet
- Walter Conrad Arensberg, US dadaist, critic and poet
- Tudor Arghezi, Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet
- Aristophanes, Greek dramatic poet
- Guru Arjan, Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
- Rae Armantrout, US language poet
- Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright and novelist
- Richard Armour, US poet and author
- Ernst Moritz Arndt, German author and poet
- Bettina von Arnim, German writer, composer and visual artist
- Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and novelist
- Craig Arnold, US poet and professor
- Matthew Arnold, English poet and cultural critic
- Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld, Icelandic skald
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, Polish poet
- Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter and poet
- Antonin Artaud, French playwright, poet and essayist
As–Az
- Asadi Tusi, Persian poet
- M. K. Asante, US author, poet and professor
- John Ashbery, US poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Cliff Ashby, English poet and novelist
- Renée Ashley, US poet and novelist
- Anton Aškerc, Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
- Asjadi, Persian poet
- Adam Asnyk, Polish poet and dramatist
- Herbert Asquith, English poet
- Mina Assadi, Iranian poet, Persian poet, author and songwriter
- Vishnu Raj Atreya, Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
- Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
- W. H. Auden, Anglo-US poet, essayist
- Imre Augustich, Slovenian/Hungarian poet
- Joseph Auslander, US poet, anthologist and novelist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
- Ausonius, Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala
- Paul Auster, US poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and translator
- James Avery, US actor, poet and screenwriter
- Margaret Avison, Canadian poet
- Krayem Awad, Viennese painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin
- Gennady Aygi, Russian poet
- Ayo Ayoola-Amale, Nigerian poet
- Ayinampudi Srilakshmi, Telugu poet
- Pam Ayres, English humorous poet
- Robert Aytoun, Scottish poet
- Maryam Jafari Azarmani, Iranian poet, Persian poet, essayist, critic and translator
- Azraqi, Persian poet
- Jody Azzouni, US philosopher and poet
B
Ba
- Baba Tahir, Persian poet
- Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and translator
- Ken Babstock, Canadian poet
- Jimmy Santiago Baca, US poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
- Bacchylides, Greek lyric poet
- Bellamy Bach, joint pseudonym of fiction writers and poets
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Hindi poet
- Joseph M. Bachelor, US author, poet and educator
- Simon Bacher, Hebrew poet in Hungary
- Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian poet and author
- Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, Indonesian poet
- George Bacovia, Romanian poet
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish poet and soldier
- Vahshi Bafqi Persian poet
- Julio Baghy, Hungarian Esperanto author and poet
- Mohammad-Taqi Bahar, Persian poet
- Bai Juyi, Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
- Joanna Baillie, Scottish poet and dramatist
- József Bajza, Hungarian poet and critic
- Józef Baka, Polish/Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
- Vyt Bakaitis, Lithuania-US translator, editor and poet
- David Baker, US poet
- Hinemoana Baker, New Zealand poet and musician
- Bâkî, Ottoman-Turkish language poet
- John Balaban, US poet and translator
- Bálint Balassi, Hungarian poet
- Béla Balázs, Hungarian poet and critic
- Edward Balcerzan, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Stanisław Baliński, Polish poet and diplomat
- Jesse Ball, US poet and novelist
- Zsófia Balla, Hungarian poet from Romania
- Addie L. Ballou, US poet and suffragist
- Konstantin Balmont, Russian symbolist poet and translator
- Russell Banks, US fiction writer and poet
- Anne Bannerman, Scottish poet
- Amiri Baraka , US writer, poet and dramatist
- Marcin Baran, Polish poet and journalist
- Stanisław Barańczak, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet, essayist and children's author
- John Barbour, Scottish poet, first major writer in Scots
- Nidia Barboza, Costa Rican poet and feminist activist
- Alexander Barclay, English/Scottish poet
- George Barker, English poet and author
- Les Barker, English poet
- Christine Barkhuizen le Roux, South African poet
- Coleman Barks, US poet
- Mihály Barla, Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
- Mary Barnard, US poet, biographer and translator
- Djuna Barnes, US writer
- William Barnes, English writer, poet and philologist
- Catherine Barnett, US poet and educator
- Richard Barnfield, English poet
- Willis Barnstone, US poet and literary translator
- Maria Barrell, poet, playwright and writer of periodicals
- Laird Barron, US poet, author
- Sándor Barta, Hungarian poet executed in USSR
- Bernard Barton, English poet and Quaker
- Bertha Hirsch Baruch, US writer, poet and suffragist
- Todd Bash, US avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
- Matsuo Bashō, Japanese renku and haiku poet
- Michael Basinski, US text, visual and sound poet
- Ellen Bass, US poet
- Arlo Bates, US author, poet and educator
- David Bates, US poet
- Joseph Bathanti, US poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2012–2014
- János Batsányi, Hungarian poet
- Dawn-Michelle Baude, US poet, journalist and educator
- Charles Baudelaire, French poet, essayist and translator
- Edward Baugh, Jamaican poet and scholar
- Cirilo Bautista, Philippines poet, writer and critic
- Charles Baxter, US writer and poet
- James K. Baxter, New Zealand poet
Be
- Jan Beatty, US poet
- Francis Beaumont, English poet and dramatist
- Samuel Beckett, Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist and poet
- Joshua Beckman, US poet
- Matija Bećković, Serbian writer and poet
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and fiction writer
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, dramatist and physician
- Patricia Beer, English poet and critic
- Sapargali Begalin, Kazakh poet
- Aphra Behn, English Restoration dramatist; early professional female writer
- Ferenc Békássy, Hungarian poet
- Erin Belieu, US poet
- Marvin Bell, US poet and teacher; Poet Laureate of Iowa, 2000–2004
- Gioconda Belli, Nicaraguan poet and novelist
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, Italian sonneteer in Romanesco
- Xuan Bello, Asturian poet
- Hilaire Belloc, Anglo-French writer and historian
- Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet and critic
- Stephen Vincent Benét, US author, poet and fiction writer
- William Rose Benét, US poet, writer and editor
- Elizabeth Benger, English poet, biographer and novelist
- Gottfried Benn, German essayist, novelist and expressionist poet
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett, African-US writer and poet
- Jim Bennett, English poet in Liverpool punk era
- Louise Bennett-Coverley or Miss Lou, Jamaican poet and folklorist
- Richard Berengarten, English poet, writer and translator
- Bo Bergman, Swedish writer and critic
- İlhan Berk, Turkish poet
- Charles Bernstein, US poet and scholar
- Béroul, Norman poet of episodic Tristan
- Daniel Berrigan, US poet, priest and peace activist
- Ted Berrigan, US poet
- James Berry, Jamaican poet based in England
- Wendell Berry, US man of letters, critic and farmer
- John Berryman, US poet and scholar
- Dániel Berzsenyi, Hungarian poet
- Mary Ursula Bethell, New Zealand poet and social worker
- John Betjeman, English poet, writer and broadcaster
- Elizabeth Beverley, English poet, writer and entertainer
- Helen Bevington, US poet, prose writer and educator
- L. S. Bevington, English anarchist poet and essayist
Bh–Bl
- Subramanya Bharathi, Tamil writer, poet and Indian independence activist
- Sujata Bhatt, Indian poet in Gujarati
- Źmitrok Biadula, Jewish Belarusian poet, prose writer and independence activist
- Miron Białoszewski, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zbigniew Bieńkowski, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Biernat of Lublin, Polish poet and fabulist
- Laurence Binyon, English poet, dramatist and art scholar
- Belayet Hossain Birbhumi, Bangladeshi theologian, poet and academic
- Earle Birney, Canadian poet, fiction writer and dramatist
- Nevin Birsa, Slovene poet
- Balázs Birtalan, Hungarian poet and publicist
- Elizabeth Bishop, US poet and short-story writer; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1949-1950
- Ram Prasad Bismil, poet and revolutionary writing in Urdu and Hindi
- Bill Bissett, Canadian anti-conventional poet
- Sherwin Bitsui, US Navajo poet
- Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson, Nobel Prize-winning Norwegian poet
- Paul Blackburn, US poet
- Richard Palmer Blackmur, US literary critic and poet
- Lucian Blaga, Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright
- William Blake, English painter, poet and printmaker
- Don Blanding, US poet, journalist, writer and speaker
- Adrian Blevins, US poet
- Mathilde Blind, German-born English poet and writer
- Alexander Blok, Russian lyrical poet
- Benjamin Paul Blood, US philosopher and poet
- Robert Bloomfield, English laboring-class poet
- Roy Blumenthal, South African poet
- Edmund Blunden, English poet, author and literary critic
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, English poet and writer
- Robert Bly, US poet, author and leader of mythopoetic men's movement
Bo–Bri
- Johannes Bobrowski, East German author and poet
- Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet
- Jean Bodel, Old French poet
- Ádám Bodor, Hungarian poet from Romania
- Louise Bogan, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1945–1946
- Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian Renaissance poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic
- Michelle Boisseau, US poet
- Christian Bök, experimental Canadian poet
- Osbern Bokenam, English poet and friar
- Eavan Boland, Irish poet
- Alan Bold, Scottish poet, biographer and journalist
- Heinrich Böll, German novelist
- Edmund Bolton, English historian and poet
- Nozawa Bonchō, Japanese haikai poet
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German poet and Lutheran theologian
- Arna Wendell Bontemps, US poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance
- Luke Booker, English poet, cleric and antiquary
- Kurt Boone, US poet
- Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine fiction writer, essayist and poet
- Tadeusz Borowski, Polish writer and journalist
- Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary
- Gordon Bottomley, English poet and verse dramatist
- David Bottoms, US poet;Poet Laureate of Georgia, 2000–2012
- Cathy Smith Bowers, US poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2010–2012
- Edgar Bowers, US poet and Bollingen Prize in Poetry winner
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet and mercenary
- Kay Boyle, US writer, educator and political activist
- Alison Brackenbury, English poet
- Anne Bradstreet, America's first published poet
- Di Brandt, Canadian poet and literary critic
- Giannina Braschi, US poet born in Puerto Rico
- Kamau Brathwaite, Barbadian writer
- Richard Brautigan, US fiction writer and poet
- Bertolt Brecht, German playwright, poet and lyricist
- Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright
- Jean "Binta" Breeze, Jamaican dub poet and storyteller
- Radovan Brenkus, Slovak writer and poet
- Christopher Brennan, Australian poet and scholar
- Joseph Payne Brennan, US poet and writer of fantasy and horror fiction
- Clemens Brentano, German poet and novelist
- André Breton, French writer, poet and founder of Surrealism
- Nicholas Breton, English poet and novelist
- Ken Brewer, US poet and scholar; Poet Laureate of Utah, 2003–2006
- Breyten Breytenbach, South African/French writer, poet and painter
- Robert Bridges, English poet; UK Poet Laureate
- Traci Brimhall, US poet and professor
- Robert Bringhurst, Canadian poet, typographer and author
Bro–By
- Geoffrey Brock, US poet and translator
- Eve Brodlique, British-born Canadian/American poet, author and journalist
- Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1991-1992
- Wladyslaw Broniewski, Polish poet and soldier
- William Bronk, US poet
- Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet, youngest of three Brontë sisters
- Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet, eldest of three Brontë sisters
- Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet
- Rupert Brooke, English poet
- Gwendolyn Brooks, African-US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1985-1986
- Hans Adolph Brorson, Danish poet and Pietist bishop
- Joan Brossa, Catalan poet, playwright and artist
- Nicole Brossard, French Canadian formalist poet and novelist
- Olga Broumas, Greek poet in United States
- Flora Brovina, Kosovar Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist
- Petrus Brovka , Soviet Belarusian poet
- George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet, author and dramatist
- James Brown, known as J. B. Selkirk, Scottish poet and essayist
- Sterling Brown, African-US academic writer and poet
- Thomas Edward Brown, Manx poet, scholar and theologian
- Frances Browne, Irish poet and novelist
- William Browne, English poet
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet
- Robert Browning, English poet and playwright
- William Cullen Bryant, US romantic poet and journalist
- Colette Bryce, Northern Irish poet
- Bryher , English novelist, poet and memoirist
- Valeri Bryusov, Russian poet, novelist and critic
- Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet and children's writer
- Dugald Buchanan , Scottish poet in Scots and Scottish Gaelic
- Robert Williams Buchanan, Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
- August Buchner, German Baroque poet and professor
- Georg Büchner, German writer, poet and dramatist
- Vincent Buckley, Australian poet, essayist and critic
- David Budbill, US poet and playwright
- Andrea Hollander Budy, US poet
- Teodor Bujnicki, Polish poet
- Charles Bukowski, US poet, novelist and short story writer
- Ivan Bunin, Russian poet and novelist
- Basil Bunting, English modernist poet
- Anthony Burgess, English writer, poet and playwright
- Robert Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist
- Stanley Burnshaw, US poet
- John Burnside, Scottish poet and writer, winner of T. S. Eliot and Forward poetry prizes
- William S. Burroughs, US novelist, poet and essayist
- Andrzej Bursa, Polish poet and writer
- Yosa Buson, Japanese haikai poet and painter
- Raegan Butcher, US poet and singer
- Ray Buttigieg, poet, composer and musician
- Ignazio Buttitta, Sicilian language poet
- Anthony Butts, US poet
- W. E. Butts, US poet, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, 2009–2013
- Rachel Quick Buttz, US memoirist and poet
- Kathryn Stripling Byer, US poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2005–2009
- Witter Bynner, US poet, writer and scholar
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, English poet and literary figure
C
Cab–Cav
- Lydia Cabrera, Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Dilys Cadwaladr, Welsh poet and fiction writer in Welsh
- Cædmon, earliest Northumbrian poet known by name
- Maoilios Caimbeul, Scots poet and children's writer in Gaelic
- Scott Cairns, US poet, memoirist and essayist
- Alison Calder, Canadian poet and educator
- Angus Calder, Scots poet, academic and educator
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño, Spanish dramatist, poet and writer of Spanish Golden Age
- Musa Cälil, Soviet Tatar poet
- Barry Callaghan, Canadian author, poet and anthologist
- Michael Feeney Callan, Irish poet, novelist and biographer
- Callimachus, Hellenistic poet, critic and scholar at Library of Alexandria
- Robert Calvert, South African writer, poet and musician
- Carmen Camacho , Spanish writer, poet, columnist
- Norman Cameron, Scottish poet
- Luís de Camões, early Portuguese poet
- Angus Peter Campbell, Scottish poet, novelist, broadcaster and actor
- David Campbell, Australian poet and wartime pilot
- Nicholas Campbell, American poet.
- Roy Campbell, South African poet and satirist
- Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet
- Jan Campert, Dutch poet and journalist
- Remco Campert, Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion, English composer, poet and physician
- Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and researcher
- Melville Henry Cane, US poet and lawyer
- Ivan Cankar, Slovene playwright, essayist and poet
- May Wedderburn Cannan, English poet
- Edip Cansever, Turkish poet
- Cao Cao, Chinese poet and warlord
- Cao Pi , Chinese poet and first emperor of state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
- Cao Zhi, Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
- Vahni Capildeo, Trinidadian poet
- Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan Roman Catholic poet and priest
- Giosuè Carducci, Nobel Prize-winning Italian poet and teacher
- Thomas Carew, English Cavalier poet
- Henry Carey, English poet, dramatist and songwriter
- Robert Carliell, English didactic poet
- Bliss Carman, Canadian-US poet associated with Confederation Poets
- Fern G. Z. Carr, Canadian poet, translator, teacher and lawyer
- Jim Carroll, US author, poet and punk musician
- Lewis Carroll , English writer, mathematician and photographer
- Hayden Carruth, US poet and literary critic
- Ann Elizabeth Carson, Canadian poet, artist and feminist
- Anne Carson, Canadian poet, essayist and translator
- Elizabeth Carter, English poet and bluestocking
- Jared Carter, US poet and editor
- William Cartwright, English dramatist and churchman
- Neal Cassady, figure in 1950s Beat Generation and 1960s psychedelic movement
- Cyrus Cassells, US poet and professor
- Rosalía de Castro, Galician poet
- Catullus, Latin poet under the Roman Republic
- Charles Causley, Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer
- C. P. Cavafy, Greek poet, journalist and civil servant
- Guido Cavalcanti, Florentine poet and friend of Dante Alighieri
- Nick Cave, Australian writer, musician and actor
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English writer, aristocrat and scientist
Ce–Cl
- Paul Celan, Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator
- Blaise Cendrars, French poet and author
- Thomas Centolella, US poet
- Anica Černej, Slovene author and poet
- Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet and literary critic
- Dobriša Cesarić, Croatian poet and translator
- Aimé Césaire, French poet, author and politician from Martinique
- Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos, Portuguese surrealist poet
- Úrsula Céspedes, Cuban poet
- Ashok Chakradhar, Hindi author and poet
- John Chalkhill, English poet
- Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic
- Arthur Chapman, US cowboy poet and columnist
- George Chapman, English dramatist, translator and poet
- Fred Chappell, US author and poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1997–2002
- René Char, French poet
- Charles, Duke of Orléans, poet
- Craig Charles, English writer, poet and comedian
- Thomas Chatterton, English poet and forger of medieval poetry
- Geoffrey Chaucer, poet, philosopher and alchemist
- Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Reverend Fr. Fray Angelico Chavez, US writer, poet and Franciscan priest
- Susana Chávez, Mexican poet and human rights activist
- Syl Cheney-Coker, Sierra Leone poet and novelist
- Andrea Cheng, Hungarian-US poet and children's author
- Kelly Cherry, US author and poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia, 2010–2012
- G. K. Chesterton, English writer and poet
- Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn, Korean poet
- Fukuda Chiyo-ni, female Japanese haiku poet of the Edo period
- Henri Chopin, avant-garde poet and musician
- Jean Chopinel , French writer
- Chrétien de Troyes, French poet
- Ralph Chubb, poet, painter and printer
- Charles Churchill, English poet and satirist
- John Ciardi, Italian-US poet, translator and etymologist
- Colley Cibber, English playwright and UK Poet Laureate
- Jovan Ćirilov, Serbian drama expert, writer and poet
- Carson Cistulli, US poet, essayist and English professor
- Hélène Cixous, French feminist writer, poet and playwright
- Amy Clampitt, US poet and author
- Kate Clanchy, Scottish poet and writer
- John Clanvowe, Anglo-Welsh poet and diplomat
- John Clare, English poet
- Elizabeth Clark, Scottish poet and playwright
- Austin Clarke, Irish poet
- George Elliott Clarke, Canadian poet and academic
- Gillian Clarke, Welsh poet and playwright in English
- Paul Claudel, French poet, dramatist and diplomat
- Claudian, Latin poet at court of Emperor Honorius
- Matthias Claudius, German poet
- Hugo Claus, Belgian author, poet and film director
- Brian P. Cleary, US humorist, poet and author
- Jack Clemo, English Christian poet
- Michelle Cliff, Jamaican-US author of fiction, prose poems and literary criticism
- Lucille Clifton, educator and Poet Laureate of Maryland, 1979-1985
- Arthur Hugh Clough, English poet, educationalist and assistant to Florence Nightingale
Coa–Con
- Grace Stone Coates, US poet and story writer
- Robbie Coburn, Australian poet
- Alison Cockburn, Scottish poet, wit and socialite
- Jean Cocteau, French writer
- Judith Ortiz Cofer, Puerto Rican poet and author
- Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
- Wanda Coleman, African-US poet
- Hartley Coleridge, English poet, biographer and essayist
- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, English novelist, essayist and poet
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet
- Edward Coletti, Italian-US poet
- Billy Collins, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2001–2003
- William Collins, English poet
- William Congreve, English playwright and poet
- Stewart Conn, Scottish poet and playwright
- Paul Conneally, English poet, artist and musician
- Robert Conquest, Anglo-US historian and poet
- Henry Constable, English poet
- David Constantine, English poet and translator
Coo–Cz
- Clark Coolidge, US poet
- Matthew Cooperman, US poet, critic and editor
- Wendy Cope, English poet
- Robert Copland, English printer, author and translator
- Julia Copus, English poet and biographer
- Denys Corbet, Guernsey poet in Guernésiais
- Tristan Corbière, French poet
- Cid Corman, US poet, translator and editor
- Alfred Corn, US poet and essayist
- Frances Cornford, English poet
- F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet; husband of Frances Cornford
- Joe Corrie, Scottish miner, poet and playwright
- Gregory Corso, US Beat poet
- Jayne Cortez, US poet and performance artist
- George Coșbuc, Romanian poet, translator and teacher
- Charles Cotton, English poet, author and translator
- Abraham Cowley, English poet
- Malcolm Cowley, US novelist, poet and critic
- William Cowper, English poet and hymnist
- George Crabbe, English poet, naturalist and clergyman
- Hart Crane, US modernist poet
- Stephen Crane, US novelist, short story writer and poet
- Richard Crashaw, English Metaphysical poet
- Robert Creeley, US poet
- Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet
- Ann Batten Cristall, English poet
- Charles Cros, French poet and inventor
- Aleister Crowley, English occultist and poet
- Andrew Crozier, English poet
- György Csanády, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Sándor Csoóri, Hungarian poet, essayist and politician
- Cui Hao, Tang dynasty Chinese poet
- Countee Cullen, US poet
- Necati Cumalı, Turkish writer of fiction writer, essayist and poet
- E. E. Cummings, US poet, essayist and playwright
- Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author
- James Vincent Cunningham, US poet, literary critic and teacher
- Allen Curnow, New Zealand poet and journalist
- Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet, songwriter and humorist
- Józef Czechowicz, Polish poet
- Gergely Czuczor, Hungarian poet, monk and academic
- Tytus Czyżewski, Polish poet, playwright and painter
D
Da–Dh
- Dalpatram , Indian Gujarati language poet
- Abraham ben Daniel, Italian poet and rabbi
- Roque Dalton, Salvador poet
- Daqiqi, Persian poet
- Ruby Dhal, British-Afghan poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono, Indonesian poet
- Samuel Daniel, English poet and historian
- David Daniels, US visual poet
- Jeffrey Daniels, African-US poet
- Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet in Old French
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian poet, journalist, novelist and dramatist
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, French-born poet and writer
- Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet initiating modernismo
- Keki Daruwalla, Indian poet and fiction writer in English
- Erasmus Darwin, English poet and herbalist
- Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author
- Elizabeth Daryush, English poet; daughter of Robert Bridges
- Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet and author
- Petter Dass, Norwegian poet
- Mina Dastgheib, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- René Daumal, French para-surrealist writer and poet
- Jean Daurat, French poet, scholar and La Pléiade member
- Kwame Dawes, Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and poet laureate of Jamaica
- William Davenant, English poet and playwright
- Guy Davenport, US writer, translator and illustrator
- Donald Davidson, US poet, essayist and critic
- John Davidson, Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
- Lucretia Maria Davidson, US poet
- Donald Davie, English poet and critic
- Alan Davies, US poet, critic and editor
- Hugh Sykes Davies, English poet, novelist and communist
- Sir John Davies, English poet, lawyer and politician
- W. H. Davies, Welsh poet and writer
- Jon Davis, US poet
- Edward Davison, Scottish-US poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
- Peter Davison, US poet, essayist and editor; son of poet Edward Davison
- Denis Davydov, Russian soldier-poet of Napoleonic Wars
- Dayaram, Gujarati language poet
- Gábor Dayka, Hungarian poet
- Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet; UK Poet Laureate, 1968–1972
- James Deahl, Canadian poet and publisher
- Dulcie Deamer, Australian poet and novelist
- John F. Deane, Irish poet and novelist
- Aleš Debeljak, Slovenian critic, poet and essayist
- Jean Louis De Esque, US poet and author
- Madeline DeFrees, US poet
- Jacek Dehnel, Polish poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Dekker, English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet
- Baltasar del Alcázar, Spanish poet
- Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer and novelist
- Leconte de Lisle, French poet of Parnassian movement
- Christine De Luca, Scottish poet in English and Shetland dialect
- François de Malherbe, French poet, critic and translator
- Alfred de Musset, French poet
- Gérard de Nerval, French poet, essayist and translator
- Sir John Denham, English poet and courtier
- Tory Dent, US poet, critic and commentator
- Évariste de Parny, French poet
- Regina Derieva, Russian poet and writer
- Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw, Dutch poet and philosopher
- Toi Derricotte, African-US poet
- Eustache Deschamps, medieval French poet
- Lord de Tabley, poet and botanist
- Babette Deutsch, US poet, critic and novelist
- Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio, Spanish playwright and poet
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier and poet praised also for lost plays
- Alfred de Vigny, French poet, playwright and novelist
- Lakshmi Prasad Devkota, Nepali poet and essayist
- Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, South African poet and performance artist
- Imtiaz Dharker, Pakistan-born British poet, artist and filmmaker
- Dhurjati, Telugu language poet
Di–Dr
- Souéloum Diagho, Tuareg poet
- Zoraida Díaz, Panamanian poet, educator, and feminist
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, Italian-Canadian poet; Poet Laureate of Toronto
- Jennifer K Dick, US poet
- James Dickey, US poet and novelist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1966-1968
- Emily Dickinson, US poet
- Matthew Dickman, US poet, twin of Michael Dickman
- Michael Dickman, US poet
- Blaga Dimitrova, Bulgarian poet and politician
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
- Diane di Prima, US poet
- Paul Dirmeikis, French poet
- Vladislav Petković Dis, Serbian poet
- Thomas M. Disch, US poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos, US poet
- Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and essayist
- Stephen Dobyns, US author, novelist and poet
- Lajos Dóczi, Hungarian playwright, poet and politician
- Hendrik Doeff, Dutch lexicographer and poet and Commissioner in the Dejima trading post
- Gojko Đogo, Serbian poet
- Pete Doherty, English musician, songwriter and poet
- Digby Mackworth Dolben, English poet
- Joe Dolce, Australian songwriter, poet and essayist
- María Magdalena Domínguez, Spanish poet
- John Donne, English poet, satirist and Anglican cleric
- H.D., Hilda Doolittle, US Imagist poet
- Ap Chuni Dorji, Bhutanese poet
- Edward Dorn, US poet and teacher
- Tishani Doshi, Indian English poet and journalist
- Mark Doty, US poet and memoirist
- Sarah Doudney, English poet and children's writer
- Charles Montagu Doughty, English poet, writer and traveler
- Alice May Douglas, US poet and author
- Gavin Douglas, Scottish bishop, makar and translator
- Keith Douglas, English war poet
- Rita Dove, US poet and author; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1993-1995
- Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist and short-story writer
- Jane Draycott, English poet
- Michael Drayton, English poet of Elizabethan era
- Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Albanian poet
- John Drinkwater, English poet and dramatist
- Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German poet
- William Drummond, Scottish poet
- William Henry Drummond, Irish-born Canadian poet
- Elżbieta Drużbacka, Polish poet
- John Dryden, English poet, critic and playwright
- Toru Dutt, Indian poet and translator writing in French and English
Du–Dy
- Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, French Huguenot poet
- Joachim du Bellay, French poet, critic and La Pléiade member
- W. E. B. Du Bois, US writer and activist
- Norman Dubie, US poet
- Jovan Dučić, Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
- Du Fu, Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
- Du Mu, Chinese poet of the late Tang dynasty
- Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and playwright; UK Poet Laureate
- Alan Dugan, US poet
- Sasha Dugdale, English poet, playwright and translator
- Richard Duke, English clergyman and poet
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, African-US poet, novelist and playwright
- William Dunbar, Scots makar
- Robert Duncan, US poet
- Camille Dungy, US poet, academic and essayist
- Douglas Dunn, Scottish poet, academic and critic
- Stephen Dunn, US poet
- Helen Dunmore, English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish poet
- Lawrence Durrell, English novelist, poet and dramatist
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bengali poet and dramatist
- Stuart Dybek, US poet, writer
- Sir Edward Dyer, English courtier and poet
- Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize-winning US singer-songwriter and writer
E
- Joan Adeney Easdale, English poet
- Richard Eberhart, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1959–1961
- Houshang Ebtehaj, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Russell Edson, US poet, novelist and illustrator
- Terry Ehret, US poet
- Max Ehrmann, US writer, poet, and attorney
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German poet and novelist
- Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Icelandic poet
- George Eliot , English novelist, journalist and translator
- T. S. Eliot, Nobel Prize-winning US/English poet, playwright and critic
- Ebenezer Elliott, English poet
- E. S. Elliott, English poet, hymnwriter, novelist, editor
- Julia Anne Elliott, English poet and hymnwriter
- Royston Ellis, English poet
- Paul Éluard, French poet
- Odysseus Elytis, Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet
- Claudia Emerson, US poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia, 2008–2010
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist, lecturer and poet
- Gevorg Emin, Armenian poet, essayist and translator
- Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet, novelist and journalist
- William Empson, English literary critic and poet
- Yunus Emre, Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
- Michael Ende, German fantasy and children's writer and poet
- Leszek Engelking, Polish, poet, fiction writer and translator
- Paul Engle, US poet, novelist and playwright
- Ennius, father of Latin poetry in Rome
- D. J. Enright, English poet, novelist and critic
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger, German writer, poet and translator
- János Erdélyi, Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Louise Erdrich, US novelist, poet and children's writer featuring Native US heritage
- Haydar Ergülen, Turkish poet
- Max Ernst, German poet and artist
- Errapragada Erranna, 14th-century Telugu poet
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, German Minnesinger poet and knight
- Clayton Eshleman, US poet, translator and editor
- Molla Babor Eshqi, Central Asia poet
- Martín Espada, US poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca, Portuguese poet
- Salvador Espriu, Catalan poet in Spain
- Jill Alexander Essbaum, US poet
- Alter Esselin, Yiddish US poet
- Claude Esteban, French poet
- Maggie Estep, US slam poet and musician
- Euripides, Athenian tragedian
- Margiad Evans, English poet and novelist
- Mari Evans, African-US poet
- William Everson , US poet and critic
- Gavin Ewart, English poet
- Elisabeth Eybers, South African/Dutch poet; poetry in Afrikaans
F
Fa–Fn
- Frederick William Faber, English poet, hymnist and theologian
- Kinga Fabó, Hungarian poet and essayist
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Indian/Pakistani poet
- Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani, Persian poet
- Padraic Fallon, Irish poet
- Christian Falster, Danish poet and philologist
- Ferenc Faludi, Hungarian poet
- György Faludy, Hungarian poet and translator
- U. A. Fanthorpe, English poet
- Ahmad Faraz, Pakistani Urdu poet and scriptwriter
- Patricia Fargnoli, US poet and psychotherapist
- Eleanor Farjeon, English children's writer, playwright and poet
- J. P. Farrell, US poet and musician
- Forough Farrokhzad, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Farrukhi Sistani, Persian poet
- Joseph Fasano, American poet and novelist
- Elaine Feinstein, English poet, novelist and playwright
- Károly Fellinger, Hungarian poet in Slovakia
- Fenggan, Chinese Zen monk poet under the Tang dynasty
- Elijah Fenton, English poet, biographer and translator
- James Fenton, Northern Irish linguist and poet in Ulster Scots
- James Martin Fenton, English poet, journalist and literary critic
- Ferdowsi, Persian poet
- Teréz Ferenczy, Hungarian poet
- Robert Fergusson, Scottish poet
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, US poet, painter and activist
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Spanish dramatist, translator and poet
- Jerzy Ficowski, Polish poet, writer and translator
- Henry Fielding, English novelist, dramatist and poet
- Juan de Dios Filiberto, Argentine poet and musician
- Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, English nature poet
- Annie Finch, US poet, librettist and translator
- Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer and gardener
- Roy Fisher, English poet and jazz pianist
- Edward Fitzgerald, English poet and translator of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Robert Fitzgerald, US poet, critic and translator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1984–1985
- Marjorie Fleming, Scottish child poet and diarist
- Giles Fletcher the Elder, English poet, diplomat and MP
- Giles Fletcher the Younger, English poet
- John Fletcher, English playwright and poet
- John Gould Fletcher, US Imagist poet
- Phineas Fletcher, English poet; elder son of Giles Fletcher the elder, brother of Giles the younger
- F. S. Flint, English poet and translator
Fo–Fu
- Alice B. Fogel, US poet, writer and professor
- Jean Follain, French author and poet
- Theodor Fontane, German novelist, poet and realist writer
- John Forbes, Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché, US poet, editor and translator
- Ford Madox Ford, English novelist, poet and critic
- John Ford, English playwright and poet
- John M. Ford, US SF and fantasy writer, game designer and poet
- Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Scots poet and critical theorist
- Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer, revolutionary and poet
- William Fowler, Scottish poet, writer and translator
- Janet Frame, New Zealand author
- Anatole France, French poet, journalist and novelist
- Robert Francis, US poet
- Veronica Franco, Italian poet and courtesan
- G S Fraser, Scots poet, critic and academic
- Gregory Fraser, US poet, editor and professor
- Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian poet, politician and playwright
- Aleksander Fredro, Polish poet and playwright
- Grace Beacham Freeman, US poet and fiction writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1985–1986
- Nicholas Freeston, English poet
- Erich Fried, Austrian-born British poet, writer and translator
- Jean Froissart, French chronicler and court poet
- Robert Frost, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1958–1959
- Gene Frumkin, US poet and teacher
- John Fuller, English poet and author, son of Roy Fuller
- Roy Fuller, English poet
- Alice Fulton, US poet and novelist; Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
- John Furnival, British visual and concrete poet
- Milán Füst, Hungarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Fuzûlî, Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet
G
Ga–Go
- Tadeusz Gajcy, Polish poet
- Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, Polish poet and stage writer
- Dumitru Găleșanu, Romanian poet, writer, illustrator and jurist
- Karina Galvez, Ecuadorian poet
- James Galvin, US poet
- Etienne-Paulin Gagne, French poet, essayist and inventor
- János Garay, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Isabella Gardner, American poet and actress
- Robert Garioch, Scottish poet and translator
- Hamlin Garland, US novelist, poet and essayist
- Raymond Garlick, Anglo-Welsh poet and editor
- Richard Garnett, English scholar, biographer and poet
- Jean Garrigue, US poet
- Samuel Garth, English physician and poet
- George Gascoigne, English poet, soldier and would-be courtier
- David Gascoyne, English poet of the Surrealist movement
- Théophile Gautier, French poet, dramatist and novelist
- John Gay, English poet and dramatist
- Yehonatan Geffen, Israeli author, poet and playwright
- Theodor Seuss Geisel , US writer, poet and cartoonist
- Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet, writer and translator
- Stefan George, German poet, editor and translator
- Dan Gerber, US poet
- Ágnes Gergely, Hungarian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Gerhardt, German hymnist
- Cezary Geroń, Polish poet, journalist and translator
- Mirza Asadulla Khan Ghalib, Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
- Charles Ghigna , US children's author, poet and feature writer
- Reginald Gibbons, US poet, fiction writer and critic
- Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-US artist, poet and writer
- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, English poet
- Ryan Giggs, Welsh poet, footballer and homewrecker
- Jack Gilbert, US poet
- W. S. Gilbert, English poet
- Zuzanna Ginczanka, Polish poet
- Allen Ginsberg, US Beat Generation poet
- Dana Gioia, US writer, critic and poet
- Nikki Giovanni, US poet, writer and educator
- Zinaida Gippius, Russian poet, playwright and religious thinker
- Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian scholar and poet
- Giuseppe Giusti, Italian poet
- Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Nobel Prize-winning Danish poet
- Denis Glover, New Zealand poet and publisher
- Louise Glück, Nobel Prize-winning US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2003-2004
- Guru Gobind Singh, Indian poet in Punjabi, Urdu, etc.
- Cyprian Godebski, Polish poet and novelist
- Gérald Godin, Canadian poet in French
- Patricia Goedicke, US poet
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, artist and politician
- Octavian Goga, Romanian poet, playwright and translator
- Leah Goldberg, Hebrew-language poet, playwright and writer
- Rumer Godden, English children's writer and poet
- Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, writer and poet
- Oliver Goldsmith, Anglo-Irish writer and poet
- Pavel Golia, Slovenian poet and playwright
- George Gomri, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Luis de Góngora, Spanish lyric poet
- Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet
- Paul Goodman, US novelist, playwright and poet
- Barnabe Googe or Gooche, English pastoral poet and translator
- Adam Lindsay Gordon, Australian poet and politician
- Gábor Görgey, Hungarian poet and politician
- Sergei Gorodetsky, Russian poet
- Hedwig Gorski, US performance poet and artist
- Herman Gorter, Dutch poet and socialist
- Sir Edmund William Gosse, English poet, author and critic
- Remy de Gourmont, French poet, novelist and critic
- John Gower, English poet and friend of Chaucer
Gr–Gy
- Anders Abraham Grafström, Swedish historian, priest and poet
- James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish nobleman, soldier and poet
- Jorie Graham, US poet and first female Boylston Professor at Harvard
- W S Graham, Scottish poet
- Mark Granier, Irish poet and photographer
- Alex Grant, Scottish US poet and teacher
- Günter Grass, German novelist, poet and playwright; 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Richard Graves, English poet and essayist
- Robert Graves, English author and scholar
- Sir Alexander Gray, Scottish translator, writer and poet
- Thomas Gray, English poet
- Jaki Shelton Green, American poet, North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2018–present
- Robert Greene, English author and poet
- Dora Greenwell, English poet
- Linda Gregg, US poet
- Horace Gregory, US poet, translator and critic
- Eamon Grennan, Irish poet
- Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet, dramatist and statesman
- Susan Griffin, US poet and writer
- Ann Griffiths, Welsh poet and hymnist
- Bill Griffiths, English poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar
- Jane Griffiths, English poet and literary historian
- Rachel Eliza Griffiths, US poet, photographer and visual artist
- Mariela Griffor, Chilean poet, short-story writer and scholar
- Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic
- Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer, poet and dramatist
- Nicholas Grimald, English poet and dramatist
- Angelina Weld Grimké, African-US playwright and poet
- Charlotte Forten Grimké, African-US poet
- Rufus W. Griswold, US anthologist, poet and critic
- Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist
- Nikanor Grujić, Serbian writer, poet and bishop
- Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist
- Philip Gross, English poet, novelist and playwright
- Igo Gruden, Slovene poet and translator
- N. F. S. Grundtvig, Danish poet, pastor and historian
- Wioletta Grzegorzewska, Polish poet and writer
- Barbara Guest, US poet and prose stylist
- Edgar Guest, English-born US poet
- Paul Guest, US poet and memoirist
- Bimal Guha, Bangladesh poet writing in Bengali
- Guillaume de Lorris, French scholar and poet
- Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet
- Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, activist and writer
- Guido Guinizelli, Italian poet
- Guiot de Provins, French poet and trouvère
- Malcolm Guite
- Gül Baba, Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet
- Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet who founded acmeism
- Ivan Gundulić , Croatian Baroque poet
- Thom Gunn, Anglo-US poet
- Lee Gurga, US haiku poet
- Ivor Gurney, English composer and poet
- Lars Gustafsson, Swedish poet, novelist and scholar
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Cuban novelist and poet
- Beth Gylys, US poet and professor
- István Gyöngyösi, Hungarian poet
- Géza Gyóni, Hungarian poet
- Brion Gysin, English writer and sound poet
- Gabor G. Gyukics, Hungarian-US poet and translator
H
Ha
- Rafey Habib, Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
- Marilyn Hacker, US poet, translator and critic
- Hadraawi, Somaliland poet and songwriter
- Hafez, Persian poet
- Hai Zi, Chinese poet
- John Haines, US poet and educator
- Donald Hall, US poet, writer and critic; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2006-2007
- Arthur Hallam, English poet, subject of In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Tennyson
- Michael Hamburger, English translator, poet and academic
- Han Yu, Chinese essayist and poet of the Tang dynasty
- Hanshan, Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
- Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet
- Joy Harjo, American poet, musician, playwright, and author; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2019-2022
- Charles Harpur, Australian poet
- Sir Theodore Wilson Harris, Guyanese poet, novelist and essayist
- Jim Harrison, US poet, novelist and essayist
- Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright
- Carla Harryman, US poet, essayist and playwright
- David Harsent, English poet and TV scriptwriter
- Paul Hartal, Hungarian-born Canadian poet, painter and critic
- Peter Härtling, German writer and poet
- Michael Hartnett, Irish poet writing in English and Irish
- Julia Hartwig, Polish poet, writer and translator
- Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and librettist
- Alamgir Hashmi, English poet of Pakistani origin
- Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet
- Robert Hass, US poet; U.S Poet Laureate, 1995-1997
- Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, emir of the Dervish movement, of which Diiriye Guure was sultan
- Olav H. Hauge, Norwegian poet
- Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, poet and novelist; Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912
- Stephen Hawes, English poet
- Robert Stephen Hawker, English poet, antiquarian and Anglican priest
- George Campbell Hay, Scottish poet and translator in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots and English
- Gilbert Hay, Scottish poet and translator in Middle Scots
- Robert Hayden, US poet, essayist and educator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1976-1978
- William Hayley, English writer
- Tony Haynes, US poet, songwriter and lyricist
- Ha Seung-moo, Korean poet, professor and theologian
He
- Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, playwright and translator; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Josephine D. Heard, US teacher and poet
- John Heath-Stubbs, English poet and translator
- Anne Hébert, Canadian poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1982–1984
- Jennifer Michael Hecht, US poet, historian and philosopher
- Allison Hedge Coke, US poet, writer and performer
- Markus Hediger, Swiss writer and translator
- Ilona Hegedűs, poet
- John Hegley, English performance poet, comedian and songwriter
- Heinrich Heine, German poet, essayist and literary critic
- Lyn Hejinian, US poet, essayist and translator
- Acharya Hemachandra, Jain scholar, poet and polymath
- Felicia Hemans, English poet
- Marian Hemar, Polish poet, songwriter and playwright
- Essex Hemphill, US poet and activist
- Hamish Henderson, Scottish poet, songwriter and catalyst for folk revival in Scotland
- William Ernest Henley, English poet, critic and editor
- Adrian Henri, English poet and painter
- Robert Henryson, Scottish poet
- Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, Anglo-Welsh soldier, historian, poet and philosopher; brother of George Herbert
- George Herbert, public orator and poet
- Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke , early English woman in literature
- Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- David Herbison, Irish poet, writing in Ulster Scots dialect and English
- Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian and literary critic
- Miguel Hernández, Spanish poet and playwright of Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
- Herodas or Herondas, Greek poet and author of humorous dramatic scenes in verse
- Antoine Héroet, French poet
- Juan Felipe Herrera ; American poet, performer, writer, toonist, teacher, and activist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2015–2017
- Robert Herrick, English poet
- Thomas Kibble Hervey, Scottish-born English poet and critic
- Hesiod, Ancient Greek poet
- Phoebe Hesketh, English poet
- Hermann Hesse, German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter
- Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright
- John Harold Hewitt, Northern Irish poet
- William Heyen, US poet, literary critic, novelist
- Thomas Heywood, English playwright, actor and author
Hi–Hy
- Dick Higgins, English poet and publisher
- Scott Hightower, US poet and teacher
- Nâzım Hikmet, Turkish poet, playwright and novelist
- Geoffrey Hill, English poet and professor
- Selima Hill, English poet
- Hilda Hilst, Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist
- Ellen Hinsey, US poet
- Hipponax, of Ephesus, Ancient Greek iambic poet
- Hirato Renkichi, Japanese avant-garde poet
- Rozalie Hirs, Dutch poet
- Jane Hirshfield, US poet
- George Parks Hitchcock, US poet, playwright and painter
- H. L. Hix, US poet and academic
- Marian Hluszkewycz, Russian poet
- Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve, English poet and clerk
- Daniel Hoffman, American poet, essayist, and academic; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1973–1974
- Michael Hofmann, German-born poet and translator in English
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian novelist, poet and dramatist
- James Hogg, Scottish poet and novelist
- David Holbrook, English writer, poet and academic
- Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet
- Margaret Holford, English poet and novelist
- Barbara Holland, US author
- John Hollander, Jewish-US poet and literary critic
- Matthew Hollis, English poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, US poet, professor and author
- Homer, Greek epic poet
- Thomas Hood, English humorist and poet; father of playwright and editor Tom Hood
- A. D. Hope, Australian satirical poet and essayist
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet and Jesuit priest
- Horace , Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton, African-US poet
- Joan Houlihan, US poet
- A. E. Housman, English poet and classicist
- Libby Houston, English poet, botanist and rock climber
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English Renaissance poet
- Richard Howard, US poet, critic and essayist
- Fanny Howe, US poet and fiction writer
- Susan Howe, US poet, scholar and essayist
- Hrotsvitha, poet and first known female dramatist, from Lower Saxony
- Mohammad Nurul Huda, Bangladeshi poet in Bengali
- John Ceiriog Hughes, Welsh poet in Welsh
- Langston Hughes, US poet, novelist and playwright
- Ted Hughes, English poet and children's writer; UK Poet Laureate
- Richard Hugo, US poet
- Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist and dramatist
- Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet
- Lynda Hull, US poet
- Keri Hulme, New Zealand poet and fiction writer
- Thomas Ernest Hulme, English critic and poet
- Alexander Hume, Scottish poet
- Leigh Hunt, English critic, essayist and poet
- Sam Hunt, New Zealand poet
- Cynthia Huntington US poet, professor, memoirist
- Hồ Xuân Hương, Vietnamese poet
- Aldous Huxley, English novelist, poet and travel writer
- Hwang Myung, Korean poet
- Abby B. Hyde, American hymnwriter
- Helen von Kolnitz Hyer, US poet and writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1974–1983
I
- Khadijah Ibrahiim, British poet
- Henrik Johan Ibsen, Norwegian playwright, director and poet
- Ibycus, Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Ikkyu, Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet
- Vojislav Ilić, Serbian poet
- Gyula Illyés, Hungarian poet and novelist
- Maria Ilnicka, Polish poet, novelist and translator
- Lawson Fusao Inada, US poet
- Sabit Ince, Turkish lyric poet
- Tonya Ingram, US poet
- Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
- Avetik Isahakyan, Armenian lyric poet
- Inge Israel, Canadian poet and playwright
- Wacław Iwaniuk, Polish poet and journalist
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and translator
- Sergey Izgiyaev, Russian poet, playwright and translator of Mountain Jewish descent
J
- FP Jac, Danish poet
- Violet Jacob, Scottish poet in Scots
- Josephine Jacobsen, Canadian-born American poet, short story writer, essayist, and critic; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1971-1973
- Rolf Jacobsen, Norwegian poet and writer
- Ada Jafarey, Pakistani poet in Urdu
- Richard Jago, English poet
- Đura Jakšić, Serbian poet, painter and dramatist
- James I, King of Scots, author of The Kingis Quair
- James VI and I, King of Scots and of England and Ireland
- Christine James, Welsh poet and academic
- Clive James, Australian author, poet and memoirist
- Ernst Jandl, Austrian writer, poet and translator
- Klemens Janicki, Polish poet in Latin
- Janus Pannonius, Hungarian/Slavonian poet in Latin
- Patricia Janus, US poet and artist
- Mark F. Jarman, US poet and critic
- Randall Jarrell, US poet, children's author and novelist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1956-1958
- Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Mieczysław Jastrun, Polish poet and essayist
- László Jávor, Hungarian poet
- Robinson Jeffers, US poet
- Vojin Jelić, Croatian Serb poet and writer
- Rod Jellema, US poet, teacher and translator
- Simon Jenko, Slovene poet, lyricist and writer
- Elizabeth Jennings, English poet
- Johannes V. Jensen Nobel Prize-winning poet and author
- Jia Dao, Chinese poet active under the Tang dynasty
- Juan Ramón Jiménez Nobel Prize-winning Spanish poet and writer
- John of the Cross, Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John, English poet
- Georgia Douglas Johnson, US poet
- Helene Johnson, African-US poet
- James Weldon Johnson, US author, poet and folklorist
- Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet
- Lionel Johnson, English poet, essayist and critic
- Emily Pauline Johnson , Canadian writer, performer and poet marking First Nations heritage
- Samuel Johnson, English poet, essayist and lexicographer
- George Benson Johnston, Canadian poet, translator and academic
- Anna Jókai, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- David Jones, English artist and poet
- Edward Smyth Jones, African-American poet
- Richard Jones, English US poet
- Ben Jonson, English poet and dramatist
- June Jordan, US poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph, British/Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician
- Jenny Joseph, English poet
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Serbian poet, physician
- James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet
- Attila József, Hungarian poet
- Frank Judge, US editor, poet and film critic
- Ferenc Juhász, Hungarian poet
- Gyula Juhász, Hungarian poet
- Jamal Jumá, Iraqi poet and researcher
- Donald Justice, US poet
- Juvenal, Roman poet and satirist
- Jumoke Verissimo, Nigerian poet
- Jaydeep Sarangi, Indian poet in English
K
Ka–Kh
- Abhay K, Indian poet and diplomat
- Kabir, mystic poet and sant of India
- Margit Kaffka, Hungarian poet and novelist
- Kālidāsa, Sanskrit poet
- Kambar, Tamil poet
- Anna Kamieńska, Polish poet, translator and critic
- Kannadasan, Tamil poet, author and lyricist
- Jim Kacian, US haiku poet and editor
- Uuno Kailas, Finnish poet, author and translator
- Chester Kallman, US poet, librettist and translator
- László Kálnoky, Hungarian poet and translator
- Kálmán Kalocsay, Hungarian and Esperanto poet
- Anna Kamieńska, Polish poet, writer and critic
- Ilya Kaminsky, Russian-US poet, critic and translator
- Orhan Veli Kanik, Turkish poet
- Sándor Kányádi, Hungarian poet and translator from Romania
- Jaan Kaplinski, Estonian poet, philosopher and critic
- Adeena Karasick, Canadian/US poet, media artist and essayist
- Vim Karenine, US poet, essayist and novelist
- Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Nobel Prize-winning Swedish poet
- György Károly, Hungarian poet and critic
- Franciszek Karpiński, Polish poet
- Mary Karr, US poet, essayist and memoirist
- Siavash Kasrai, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Julia Kasdorf, US poet
- Laura Kasischke, US poet and fiction writer
- Jan Kasprowicz, Polish poet, playwright and critic
- Lajos Kassák, Hungarian poet, novelist and painter
- Erich Kästner, German author, poet and satirist
- József Katona, Hungarian playwright and poet
- Bob Kaufman, US beat poet and surrealist
- Shirley Kaufman, US poet and translator
- Rupi Kaur, Indo-Canadian poet and photographer
- Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet and novelist
- Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet
- Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary
- John Keats, English Romantic poet
- Weldon Kees, US poet, novelist and critic
- Isabella Kelly, Scottish poet and novelist
- Arthur Kelton, rhymer on Welsh history
- Miranda Kennedy, US poet
- Rann Kennedy, English poet
- Walter Kennedy, Scottish makar
- X. J. Kennedy, US poet, anthologist and children's writer
- Jane Kenyon, US poet and translator
- Géza Képes, Hungarian poet and translator
- Khwaju Kermani, Persian poet
- Jack Kerouac, US novelist and poet
- Sidney Keyes, English poet killed in action in World War II
- Keorapetse Kgositsile, South African poet
- Mimi Khalvati, Iranian-born British poet
- Dilwar Khan, Bangladeshi poet
- Khushal Khan Khattak, Pashtun Afghan poet, warrior and tribal chief
- Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet
- Khaqani, Persian poet
- Kherdian, David, Armenian-American writer, poet, and editor
- Vladislav Khodasevich, Russian poet and literary critic
- Talib Khundmiri, Indian poet and humorist in Urdu
- Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow, Sufi poet, scholar and musician
Ki–Ky
- Saba Kidane, Eritrean poet
- Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and poet
- Emelihter Kihleng, Pohnpeian poet and academic
- Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski, Polish poet and politician
- Takarai Kikaku, Japanese haikai poet and disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer, US writer and poet
- Edward King, Irish-born subject of Milton's Lycidas
- Henry King, English poet and bishop
- William King, English poet
- Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish bishop, poet and hymnist
- Gottfried Kinkel, German poet and revolutionary
- Galway Kinnell, US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
- John Kinsella, Australian poet, novelist and essayist
- Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator and editor
- Rudyard Kipling, English fiction writer and poet
- Easterine Kire, Naga poet and novelist
- Danilo Kiš, Serbian fiction writer and poet
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish poet, novelist and playwright
- Atala Kisfaludy, Hungarian poet
- Iya Kiva, Ukrainian poet
- Eila Kivikk'aho, Finnish poet
- Carolyn Kizer, US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
- Sarah Klassen, Canadian poet and fiction writer
- August Kleinzahler, US poet
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet
- Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin, Polish poet and Jesuit
- Etheridge Knight, African-US poet
- Kobayashi Issa, Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski, Polish Renaissance poet
- Kenneth Koch, US poet, playwright and professor
- Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet
- Petar Kočić, Bosnian Serb writer
- István Koháry, Hungarian poet
- Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet
- Aladár Komját, Hungarian poet
- Yusef Komunyakaa, US poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
- Béla Kondor, Hungarian poet, prose writer and painter
- Faik Konitza, Albanian poet
- Halina Konopacka, Polish poet and athlete
- Maria Konopnicka, Polish poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ted Kooser, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2004–2006
- Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski, Polish poet and translator
- Julian Kornhauser, Polish poet, novelist and critic
- Apollo Korzeniowski, Polish expressionist poet
- József Kossics, Hungarian/Slovenian poet and priest
- Laza Kostić, Serbian poet, writer and polyglot
- Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Gopi Kottoor, Indian poet, playwright and editor
- Urszula Kozioł, Polish poet
- Taja Kramberger, Slovenian poet, translator and anthropologist
- Ignacy Krasicki, Polish poet and novelist
- Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet
- Zlatko Krasni, Serbian poet
- Ruth Krauss, US poet and children's book author
- Krayem Awad, Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor and poet
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, US writer; Poet Laureate of Virginia, 2006–2008
- Katarzyna Krenz, poet, novelist and painter
- Miroslav Krleža, Croatian/Yugoslav poet and novelist
- Antjie Krog, South African poet, academic and writer
- Józef Krupiński, Polish poet
- Ryszard Krynicki, Polish poet and translator
- Marilyn Krysl, US poet and fiction writer
- Andrzej Krzycki, Polish poet and archbishop
- Žofia Kubini, Hungarian poet in early Czech
- Paweł Kubisz, Polish poet and journalist
- Péter Kuczka, Hungarian poet and critic
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky, Russian/Irish novelist, poet and translator
- Endre Kukorelly, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Maxine Kumin, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1981–82
- Stanley Kunitz, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1974-1976 and 2000-2001
- Yanka Kupala, Belarus poet
- Tuli Kupferberg, US counterculture poet and author
- Jalu Kurek, Polish poet and prose writer
- Momoko Kuroda, Japanese haiku poet
- Mira Kuś, Polish poet
- Kusumagraj, Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
- Onat Kutlar, Turkish writer and poet
- Stephen Kuusisto, US poet
- Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston, English poet
L
La
- Jean de La Fontaine, French fabulist
- Ilmar Laaban, Estonian poet
- Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet in French
- László Ladányi, Hungarian-Israeli poet and writer
- Jules Laforgue, Franco-Uruguayan poet
- Abolqasem Lahouti, Persian poet
- Jarkko Laine, Finnish poet, writer and playwright
- Ivan V. Lalić, Serbian poet
- Philip Lamantia, US poet and lecturer
- Kendrick Lamar, US poet and hip-hop artist
- Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer, poet and politician
- Charles Lamb, English essayist and poet
- Peter Lampe, German scholar, writer and poet
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon , English poet and novelist
- Walter Savage Landor, English writer and poet
- Antoni Lange, Polish poet, philosopher and translator
- William Langland, probable English author of dream-vision Piers Plowman
- Emilia Lanier, English poet
- Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos, Hungarian poet and historian
- Laozi , Chinese philosopher and poet
- Alda Lara, Angolan poet
- Rebecca Hammond Lard, US poet
- Bruce Larkin, US children's author and poet
- Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist
- Claudia Lars, Salvadoran poet
- Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and playwright
- Lasus of Hermione, Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
- Evelyn Lau, Canadian poet and novelist
- James Laughlin, US poet and publisher
- Ann Lauterbach, US poet, essayist and professor
- Comte de Lautréamont, Uruguayan/French poet
- Dorianne Laux, US poet
- Christine Lavant, Austrian poet and novelist
- D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet and critic
- Henry Lawson, Australian writer and poet; son of Louisa Lawson
- Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and feminist
- Robert Lax, US poet
- Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Nepalese poet and scholar
- Henryka Łazowertówna, Polish poet
Le
- Edward Lear, English poet, artist and illustrator
- Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Polish poet and aphorist
- Joanna Lech, Polish poet and novelist
- Jan Lechoń, Polish poet, critic and diplomat
- Francis Ledwidge, Irish war poet
- David Lee, US poet
- Dennis Lee, Canadian poet, editor and critic
- David Lehman, US poet and editor
- Ágnes Lehóczky, Hungarian poet, academic and translator
- Eino Leino, Finnish poet and journalist
- Brad Leithauser, US poet, novelist and essayist
- Alexander Lenard, Hungarian writer and poet
- Sue Lenier, English poet and playwright
- Lalitha Lenin, Indian poet
- Krystyna Lenkowska, Polish poet and translator
- Charlotte Lennox, Scottish poet and novelist
- John Leonard, Australian poet
- Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet, essayist and philologist
- Mikhail Lermontov, Russian writer, poet and painter
- Ben Lerner, US poet, novelist and critic
- Bolesław Leśmian, Polish poet and artist
- Rika Lesser, US poet and translator
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German writer, philosopher and dramatist
- Denise Levertov, British-born US poet
- Dana Levin, US poet and teacher
- Philip Levine, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2011–2012
- Larry Levis, US poet
- D. A. Levy, US poet, artist and publisher
- William Levy, US poet, fiction writer and editor
- Oswald LeWinter, poet
- Alun Lewis, Welsh poet in English
- C. S. Lewis, Northern Irish novelist, poet and essayist
- Gwyneth Lewis, Welsh poet; inaugural National Poet of Wales
- J. Patrick Lewis, US children's poet
- Saunders Lewis, Welsh poet, dramatist and critic
- Wyndham Lewis, English painter and author
Li–Ly
- Li Houzhu, Chinese poet and ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom
- José Lezama Lima, Cuban writer and poet
- Tim Liardet, English poet, critic and professor
- Li Bai, Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- Jerzy Liebert, Polish poet
- Li Jiao, poet under the Tang and Zhou dynasties
- Li Qingzhao, Chinese Song dynasty writer and poet
- Li Shangyin, Chinese late Tang-dynasty poet
- Tim Lilburn, Canadian poet and essayist
- Ada Limón, American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2022–present
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, US author and aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
- Jack Lindeman, US poet and critic
- Sarah Lindsay, US poet
- Rossy Evelin Lima, Mexican poet
- Vachel Lindsay, US poet
- Ewa Lipska, Polish poet
- László Listi, Hungarian poet
- Alun Llywelyn-Williams, Welsh poet and critic
- Józef Łobodowski, Polish poet and political thinker
- Terry Locke, New Zealand poet, anthologist and academic
- Thomas Lodge, English dramatist and writer
- Iain Lom, Scottish Gaelic poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet and educator
- Michael Longley, Northern Irish poet
- Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, dramatist and stage director
- Audre Lorde, Caribbean-US writer, poet and librarian
- Richard Lovelace, English Cavalier poet
- Amy Lowell, US poet
- James Russell Lowell, US poet, critic and diplomat
- Robert Lowell, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1947–1948
- Maria White Lowell, US poet and abolitionist
- Tom Lowenstein, English poet, ethnographer, cultural historian and translator
- Solomon Löwisohn, Hungarian Jewish poet and historian in Hebrew and German
- Mina Loy, English poet, playwright and novelist
- Lu You, Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, Polish poet, writer and politician
- Gherasim Luca, Romanian poet and surrealist
- Lucan, Roman poet
- Edward Lucie-Smith, English writer, poet and broadcaster
- Gaius Lucilius, Roman satirist
- Lucilius Junior, poet and Procurator of Sicily
- Lucretius, Roman poet and philosopher
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow, US author, journalist and explorer
- Edith Gyömrői Ludowyk, Hungarian poet and politician
- Luo Binwang, Chinese Tang-dynasty writer and poet
- Thomas Lux, US poet
- Mario Luzi, Italian poet
- John Lydgate, English monk and poet
- John Lyly, English writer, poet and dramatist
- Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, Scottish Lord Lyon and poet
- Sandford Lyne, US poet, educator and editor
- George Lyttelton, English poet, statesman and arts patron
M
Ma
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, Anglo-Scottish poet and historian
- George MacBeth, Scottish poet and novelist
- Norman MacCaig, Scottish poet
- Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, Canadian poet and writer
- Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poet
- George MacDonald, Scottish poet and novelist
- Sorley MacLean, Scottish Gaelic poet
- Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canadian writer and poet
- Antonio Machado, Spanish poet
- Arthur Machen, Welsh author and mystic
- Compton Mackenzie, Scottish writer, memoirist and poet
- Archibald MacLeish, US modernist poet and writer
- Aonghas MacNeacail, writer in Scottish Gaelic
- Louis MacNeice, Irish poet and playwright
- Hector Macneill, Scottish poet and songwriter
- Valerie Macon, US poet and civil servant
- James Macpherson, Scottish writer and poet
- Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar, Marathi and Hindi poet and playwright
- Haki R. Madhubuti, African-US writer, poet and educator
- Viggo Madsen, Danish poet and writer
- John Gillespie Magee Jr., US poet and aviator
- Eric Magrane, US poet and geographer
- Jayanta Mahapatra, Indian English poet
- Derek Mahon, Northern Irish poet
- Mahsati, Persian poet
- Rudolf Maister, Slovene poet and activist
- János Majláth, Hungarian historian and poet
- Clarence Major, US poet, painter and novelist
- Desanka Maksimović, Serbian poet and professor
- Antoni Malczewski, Polish poet
- Marcin Malek, Polish poet, writer and playwright
- Josh Malihabadi , Indian Urdu poet
- Madayyagari Mallana, Telugu poet
- Stephane Mallarme, French poet and critic
- David Mallet, Scottish dramatist and poet
- Thomas Malory, English author of Le Morte d'Arthur
- Goffredo Mameli, Italian patriot, poet and writer
- Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet
- James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet
- Bill Manhire, New Zealand poet and fiction writer; New Zealand Poet Laureate
- Marcus Manilius, Roman poet and astrologer
- Maurice Manning, US poet
- Ruth Manning-Sanders, Welsh-born English poet and author
- Robert Mannyng, English chronicler and monk in Middle English, French and Latin
- Chris Mansell, Australian poet and publisher
- Jakobe Mansztajn, Polish poet and blogger
- Manuchehri, royal poet in Persia
- Alessandro Manzoni, Italian poet and novelist
- Sándor Márai, Hungarian/US poet and novelist
- Ausiàs March, Valencian poet and knight
- Morton Marcus, US poet and author
- Mareez, Indian poet in Gujarati
- Paul Mariani, US poet and academic
- Marie de France, poet probably French-born and resident in England
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor
- Giambattista Marino, Italian poet
- E. A. Markham, Montserrat poet, playwright and novelist
- Edwin Markham, US poet
- Đorđe Marković Koder, Serbian poet
- Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist, poet and translator
- Clément Marot, French Renaissance poet
- Don Marquis, US novelist, poet and playwright
- Edward Garrard Marsh, English poet and cleric
- John Marston, English playwright, poet and satirist
- José Martí, Cuban poet and writer
- Martial, Roman epigrammatist
- Camille Martin, Canadian poet and collage artist
- Harry Martinson, Swedish sailor, author and poet
- Andrew Marvell, English metaphysical poet and politician
- John Masefield, English poet and writer; UK Poet Laureate, 1930–1967
- Masud Sa'd Salman, Persian poet
- Edgar Lee Masters, US poet, biographer and dramatist
- Dafydd Llwyd Mathau, Welsh poet in Welsh
- János Mattis-Teutsch, Hungarian-Romanian poet and artist
- Glyn Maxwell, British poet, playwright and librettist
- Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian/Soviet poet and playwright
- Karl May, German writer, poet and musician
- Bernadette Mayer, US poet and prose writer
- Ben Mazer, US poet and editor
Mc–Me
- James McAuley, Australian poet and critic
- Susan McCaslin, Canadian/US poet and critic
- J. D. McClatchy, US poet and critic
- Michael McClure, US poet, playwright and novelist
- John McCrae, Canadian poet, physician and artist
- Walt McDonald, US poet; Poet Laureate of Texas, 2001
- Dermit McEncroe, Irish doctor and poet
- Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet and comedian
- William Topaz McGonagall, Scottish writer of doggerel
- Roger McGough, English comedian and poet
- Campbell McGrath, US poet
- Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet and novelist
- Thomas McGrath, US poet
- Heather McHugh, US poet, translator and educator
- Duncan Ban McIntyre, Scottish poet in Scottish Gaelic
- James McIntyre, Canadian writer of doggerel
- Claude McKay, Jamaican-US writer and poet
- Don McKay, Canadian poet, editor and educator
- Rod McKuen, US poet, composer and singer
- James McMichael, US poet
- Ian McMillan, English poet, playwright and broadcaster
- Meera, Indian Hindu mystic poet and Krishna devotee
- Narsinh Mehta, Indian poet-saint of Gujarat
- Mei Yaochen, Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Peter Meinke, US poet and fiction writer
- Cecília Meireles, Brazilian poet
- Herman Melville, US fiction writer and poet
- Meng Haoran, Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- George Meredith, English poet and novelist
- Bert Meyers American Poet.
- William Morris Meredith Jr., American poet and educator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1978-1980
- Kersti Merilaas, Estonian poet
- Alda Merini, Italian writer and poet
- Stuart Merrill, US poet writing mainly in French
- James Merrill, US poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Thomas Merton, US writer and Trappist monk
- W. S. Merwin, US poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2010-2011
- Sarah Messer, US poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew, English poet
- Henry Meyer, US poet writing in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Ferenc Mező, Hungarian poet
Mi–Mo
- Henri Michaux, Belgian/French poet, writer and painter
- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Italian poet and sculptor
- Tadeusz Miciński, Polish poet and playwright
- Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet, essayist and publicist
- Veronica Micle, Austrian/Romanian poet
- Christopher Middleton, English poet and translator
- Christopher Middleton, Royal Navy officer and navigator
- Christopher Middleton, English poet
- Thomas Middleton, English poet and playwright
- Agnes Miegel, German writer and poet
- Josephine Miles, US poet and critic
- Jennifer Militello, US poet and professor
- Branko Miljković, Serbian poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, US lyric poet, playwright and feminist
- Alice Duer Miller, US writer and poet
- Grazyna Miller, Italian/Polish poet and translator
- Jace Miller, US poet
- Jane Miller, US poet
- Joaquin Miller, US poet
- Leslie Adrienne Miller, US poet
- Thomas Miller, English poet
- Vassar Miller, US writer and poet
- Spike Milligan, Irish comedian, poet and musician
- Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet; 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature
- John Milton, English poet and polemicist
- Sima Milutinović Sarajlija, Serbian adventurer, writer and poet
- Marijane Minaberri, French/Basque poet and radio broadcaster
- Robert Minhinnick, Welsh poet, essayist and novelist
- Matthew Minicucci, US poet and teacher
- Mir Taqi Mir, Indian poet in Urdu
- Frédéric Mistral Nobel Prize-winning Occitan poet, writer, and lexicographer
- Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet and feminist
- Adrian Mitchell, English poet, novelist and playwright
- Silas Weir Mitchell, US physician and writer
- Stephen Mitchell, US poet, translator and anthologist
- Waddie Mitchell, US poet
- Ndre Mjeda, Albanian Gheg poet
- Stanisław Młodożeniec, poet
- Anis Mojgani, US spoken-word poet and visual artist
- Molière , French playwright
- Atukuri Molla, Indian Telugu poet
- Aja Monet, Black American poet
- Harold Monro, English poet
- Harriet Monroe, US scholar, critic and poet
- John Montague, Irish poet
- Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman
- Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, writer and translator; 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Alexander Montgomerie, Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
- Alan Moore, Irish writer and poet
- Marianne Moore, US poet and writer
- Merrill Moore, US psychiatrist and poet
- Thomas Moore, Irish poet, singer and songwriter
- Dom Moraes, Goan writer, poet and columnist
- Kelly Ana Morey, New Zealand novelist and poet
- Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet and translator
- J. O. Morgan, Scottish poet
- John Morgan, Welsh clergyman, scholar and poet
- Lorin Morgan-Richards, US poet and author
- Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet
- Eduard Mörike, German poet
- William Morris, English writer, poet and designer
- Jim Morrison, US songwriter and poet
- Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, Polish poet
- Zbigniew Morsztyn, Polish poet
- Valzhyna Mort, Belarus poet
- Viggo Mortensen, US poet, actor and musician
- Moschus, Greek bucolic poet
- Howard Moss, US poet, dramatist and critic
- Andrew Motion, English poet, novelist and biographer; UK Poet Laureate, 1999–2009
- Paul Scott Mowrer, US newspaper correspondent, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, 1968–1971
- Enrique Moya, Venezuelan poet, fiction writer and critic
Mu–My
- Micere Githae Mugo, Kenyan playwright, author and poet
- Erich Mühsam, German-Jewish essayist, poet and, playwright
- Edwin Muir, Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Muldoon, Irish poet
- Lale Müldür, Turkish poet and writer
- Laura Mullen, US poet
- Anthony Munday, English playwright and writer
- Jens Mungard, Frisian poet en linguist, wrote in Söl'ring
- George Murnu, Romanian archeologist, historian and poet
- Sheila Murphy, US text and visual poet
- George Murray, Canadian poet
- Joan Murray, US poet, writer and playwright
- Les Murray, Australian poet, anthologist and critic
- Richard Murphy, Irish poet
- Susan Musgrave, Canadian poet and children's writer
- Lukijan Mušicki, Serbian poet, prose writer and polyglot
- Nikola Musulin, Serbian poet
- Togara Muzanenhamo, Zimbabwean poet
- Christopher Mwashinga, Tanzanian poet, author and Christian minister
- Lam Quang My, Vietnamese poet in Polish and Vietnamese
N
- Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist and poet in Russian and English
- Daniel Naborowski, Polish poet
- Cecilia del Nacimiento, Spanish nun, mystic, writer, and poet
- Ágnes Nemes Nagy, Hungarian poet and translator
- Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet
- Lajos Parti Nagy, Hungarian poet, playwright and critic
- László Nagy, Hungarian poet and translator
- Guru Nanak Dev, first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Nannaya, earliest known Telugu author
- Philip Nanton, Vincentian poet
- Adam Naruszewicz, Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
- Ogden Nash, US poet known for light verse
- Thomas Nashe, English playwright, poet and satirist
- Nasir Khusraw, Persian poet
- Imadaddin Nasimi, Azerbaijani poet
- Momčilo Nastasijević, Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist
- Natsume Sōseki, Japanese novelist and poet
- Gellu Naum, Romanian poet, dramatist and children's writer
- Nedîm, Ottoman poet
- John Neal, US writer, critic, activist and poet
- Henry Neele, English poet and scholar
- Walela Nehanda, Black American poet
- John Neihardt, US poet, historian and ethnographer
- Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet
- Marilyn Nelson, US poet, translator and children's writer
- Howard Nemerov, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1963–1964 and 1988–1990
- István Péter Németh, Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Condetto Nénékhaly-Camara, Guinean poet and playwright
- Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, writer and poet
- Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
- Neşâtî, Ottoman Sufi poet
- Henry John Newbolt, English historian and poet
- John Henry Newman, writer, poet and hymnist
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Asian US poet
- Nguyễn Du, Vietnamese poet in ancient Chữ Nôm script
- B. P. Nichol, Canadian poet
- Nicholas I of Montenegro, poet and king of Montenegro
- Grace Nichols, Guyanese poet
- Norman Nicholson, English poet
- Lorine Niedecker, US poet
- Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Polish poet, playwright and statesman
- Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, poet and philologist
- Millosh Gjergj Nikolla , Albanian poet and writer
- Nizami Aruzi, Persian poets
- Nisami, Persian poet
- Attar of Nishapur, Persian poet
- Nishiyama Sōin, Japanese haikai poet
- Moeen Nizami, Pakistani poet, scholar and writer
- Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Serbian poet, playwright and prince-bishop
- Yamilka Noa, Cuban–Costa Rican poet
- Gábor Nógrádi, Hungarian poet, essayist and children's novelist
- Christopher Nolan, Irish poet and author
- Fan S. Noli, Albanian/US writer, diplomat and historian
- Olga Nolla, Puerto Rican poet, writer and professor
- Henry Normal, British poet, writer, film & TV producer
- Harry Northup, US actor and poet
- Caroline Norton, English writer, feminist and reformer
- Cyprian Norwid, Polish poet, dramatist and artist
- Alice Notley, US poet
- Novalis , German poet and novelist
- Franciszek Nowicki, Polish poet and conservationist
- Alfred Noyes, English poet
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal, first Aboriginal Australian published poet
- Julia Nyberg, Swedish poet and songwriter
- Naomi Shihab Nye, Palestinian-US poet, songwriter and novelist
- Robert Nye, English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Niyi Osundare, Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic
O
- Dositej Obradović, Serbian philosopher, writer and poet
- Sean O'Brien, British poet, critic and playwright
- D. Michael O'Connor aka Damond Jiniya, North American singer, writer and poet
- Philip O'Connor, Anglo-French writer and poet
- Antoni Edward Odyniec, Polish poet
- Ron Offen, US poet, playwright and producer
- Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet
- Frank O'Hara, US writer, poet and art critic
- Hisashi Okuyama, Japanese poet
- Porsha Olayiwola, US poet
- Sharon Olds, US poet
- Mary Oliver, US poet
- Charles Olson, US modernist poet
- Saishu Onoe, Japanese poet
- Onomacritus, Attic poet, priest and seer
- George Oppen, US poet
- Artur Oppman, Polish poet
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II, US poet and painter
- Zaharije Orfelin, Serbian polymath and poet
- Władysław Orkan, Polish poet
- Peter Orlovsky, US poet and actor; partner of Allen Ginsberg
- Gregory Orr, US poet
- Agnieszka Osiecka, Polish poet, writer and screenplay author
- Alice Oswald, English poet
- Ouyang Xiu, Chinese Song dynasty historian, essayist and poet
- Ovid, Roman poet
- Wilfred Owen, English poet and soldier
- İsmet Özel, Turkish poet and scholar
P
Pa
- Ruth Padel, English poet, author and critic
- Ron Padgett, US poet, writer and translator
- Padmanābha, Dingal poet and historian
- Dan Pagis, Israeli poet and Holocaust survivor
- Grace Paley, US short story writer and poet
- Francis Turner Palgrave, English critic and poet
- Palladas, Greek poet
- Michael Palmer, US poet and translator
- Sima Pandurović, Serbian poet
- Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet in Hindi
- William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh poet and hymnist in Welsh
- Park Yong-rae, Korean poet
- Andrew Park, Scottish poet
- Dorothy Parker, US poet, fiction writer and satirist
- Amy Parkinson, British-born Canadian poet
- Thomas Parnell, Irish poet and clergyman
- Nicanor Parra, Chilean mathematician and poet
- Henry Parrot, English epigrammatist
- Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet
- Ámbar Past, Mexican poet, visual artist
- Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist and translator
- Leon Pasternak, Polish poet and satirist
- Benito Pastoriza Iyodo, Puerto Rican poet and fiction and literature writer
- Kenneth Patchen, US poet and novelist
- Ravji Patel, Indian poet
- Banjo Paterson , Australian bush poet, journalist and author
- Don Paterson, Scottish poet, writer and musician
- Coventry Patmore, English poet and critic
- Brian Patten, English poet
- Lekhnath Paudyal, Nepalese poet
- Paul I, Prince Esterházy, Austro-Hungarian poet
- Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, novelist and critic
- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Polish poet and dramatist
- Octavio Paz, Mexican writer, poet and diplomat
Pe–Pl
- Thomas Love Peacock, English poet and novelist
- Patrick Pearse, Irish poet and writer
- James Larkin Pearson, US poet and publisher
- Allasani Peddana, Telugu poet
- Charles Péguy, French poet, essayist and editor
- Kathleen Peirce, US poet
- Gabino Coria Peñaloza, Argentine poet and lyricist
- Sam Pereira, US poet
- Lucia Perillo, US poet
- Persius, Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin
- Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, philosopher and critic
- Lenrie Peters, Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
- Robert Peters, US poet, scholar and playwright
- Pascale Petit, French-Welsh poet and artist
- Petrarch , Italian scholar and poet
- Kata Szidónia Petrőczy, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Marine Petrossian, Armenian poet, essayist and columnist
- Veljko Petrović, Serbian poet, prose writer and theorist
- Mirko Petrović-Njegoš, Serbian and Montenegrin poet, soldier and diplomat
- Mario Petrucci, British poet, author, translator, scientist and ecologist of Italian origin
- Adaliza Cutter Phelps, US poet
- Ambrose Philips, English poet and politician
- Katherine Philips, Anglo-Welsh poet
- Savitribai Phule, Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra
- Pi Rixiu, Tang dynasty poet
- Tom Pickard, English poet and film maker
- Pindar, Theban lyric poet in Greek
- Robert Pinsky, US poet, critic and translator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1997–2000
- Ruth Pitter, English poet
- Christine de Pizan, Venetian historian, poet and philosopher
- Sylvia Plath, US poet and novelist
- William Plomer, South African novelist, poet and editor in English
Po–Pu
- Jacek Podsiadło, Polish poet, translator and essayist
- Edgar Allan Poe, US author, poet and critic
- Suman Pokhrel, Nepalese poet, playwright and artist
- Wincenty Pol, Polish poet and geographer
- Margaret Steuart Pollard, English poet
- Edward Pollock, US poet
- John Pomfret, English poet and clergyman
- Marie Ponsot, US poet, critic and essayist
- Vasko Popa, Serbian poet of Romanian descent
- Alexander Pope, English poet
- Antonio Porchia, Italian Argentinian poet
- Judith Pordon, US poet, writer and editor
- Jenny Lind Porter, Texas Poet Laureate
- Peter Porter, Australian poet based in England
- Halina Poświatowska, Polish poet and writer
- Roma Potiki, New Zealand poet and playwright
- Wacław Potocki, Polish poet and moralist
- Ezra Pound, US expatriate poet and critic
- Alishetty Prabhakar, Telugu poet
- Tapan Kumar Pradhan, Indian poet, translator and activist
- Adélia Prado, Brazilian writer and poet
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet
- Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet in Hindi
- E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet
- Petar Preradović, Croatian poet, writer and general
- France Prešeren, Carniolan Romantic poet
- Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter
- Richard Price, Scottish poet, novelist and translator
- Robert Priest, English-born Canadian poet, children's author and singer-songwriter
- F. T. Prince, English poet and academic
- Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat
- Bryan Procter, English poet
- Sextus Propertius, Latin elegiac poet
- Kevin Prufer, US poet, academic and essayist
- J. H. Prynne, English poet
- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zenon Przesmycki, Polish poet, translator and critic
- Jeremi Przybora, Polish poet, writer and singer
- Luigi Pulci, Italian poet known for Morgante
- Ben Purkert, American poet, novelist and creative writing instructor
- Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet, novelist and playwright
Q
- Nizar Qabbani, Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
- Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri, Indian poet, writer and politician
- Aref Qazvini, Iranian poet, lyricist and musician, Persian poet
- Qatran Tabrizi, Persian poet
- Qu Yuan, Chinese poet
- Francis Quarles, English Christian poet
- Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature
R
Ra–Re
- Rabia Balkhi, Persian poet, She is the first known female poet to write in Persian
- Jean Racine, French dramatist
- Branko Radičević, Serbian lyric poet
- Leetile Disang Raditladi, poet from Botswana
- Sam Ragan, US poet, journalist and writer
- Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi poet and columnist
- Craig Raine, English poet
- Kathleen Raine, English poet, critic and scholar
- Samina Raja, Pakistani poet, writer and broadcaster
- Milan Rakić, Serbian poet
- Carl Rakosi, US Objectivist poet
- Martin Rakovský, Hungarian poet and scholar
- Zsuzsa Rakovszky, Hungarian poet and translator
- Maraea Rakuraku, New Zealand Māori poet, playwright and short story writer
- Sir Walter Raleigh, English writer, poet and explorer
- Tenali Rama, Telugu poet
- Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu, Telugu poet
- Ramarajabhushanudu, Telugu poet and musician
- Guru Ram Das, Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
- Simón Darío Ramírez, Venezuelan poet
- Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet, playwright and publisher
- Dudley Randall, African-US poet and publisher
- Thomas Randolph, English poet and dramatist
- John Crowe Ransom, US poet, essayist and editor
- Addepalli Ramamohana Rao, Telugu poet and literary critic
- Ágnes Rapai, Hungarian poet, writer and translator
- Noon Meem Rashid, Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Stephen Ratcliffe, US poet and critic
- Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet and translator
- Tom Raworth, British poet and visual artist
- Herbert Read, English anarchist, poet and arts critic
- Peter Reading, English poet
- Angela Readman, English poet
- James Reaney, Canadian poet, playwright and professor
- Malliya Rechana, Telugu poet
- Peter Redgrove, English poet
- Beatrice Redpath, Canadian poet and short story writer
- Henry Reed, English poet, translator and radio dramatist
- Ishmael Reed, US poet, playwright and novelist
- Ennis Rees, US poet, professor and translator
- James Reeves, English poet, children's writer and writer on song
- Abraham Regelson, Israeli Hebrew poet, author and children's author
- Christopher Reid, Hong Kong-born English poet, essayist and cartoonist
- James Reiss, US poet
- Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and prose writer
- Robert Rendall, Orkney Scottish poet and amateur naturalist
- Pierre Reverdy, French poet of Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
- Jacobus Revius , Dutch poet, theologian and church historian
- Kenneth Rexroth, US poet, translator and critical essayist
- Sydor Rey, Polish poet and novelist
- Charles Reznikoff, US Objectivist poet
- Raees Warsi, Pakistani poet, writer and lyricist writing in Urdu
Ri–Ry
- Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira, Ecuadorian poet
- Anne Rice, US fiction writer
- Stan Rice, US poet and artist; husband of Anne Rice
- Adrienne Rich, US poet, essayist and feminist
- John Richardson, English Lake District poet
- Edgell Rickword, English poet, critic and journalist
- Lola Ridge, Irish-born US anarchist poet and editor
- Laura Riding, US poet, critic and novelist
- Anne Ridler, English poet and editor
- James Whitcomb Riley, US writer and poet
- John Riley, English poet of British Poetry Revival
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian poet
- Gopal Prasad Rimal, Nepali poet and playwright
- Arthur Rimbaud, French symbolist poet of Decadent movement
- Alberto Ríos, US poet and professor
- Khawar Rizvi, Pakistani poet and scholar in Urdu and Persian
- Emma Roberts, English travel writer and poet
- Michael Roberts, English poet, writer and editor
- Edwin Arlington Robinson, US poet
- Mary Robinson, English poet and novelist
- Peter Robinson, English poet
- Roland Robinson, Australian poet and writer
- Georges Rodenbach, Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist
- W R Rodgers, Northern Irish poet, essayist and Presbyterian minister
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, Panamanian poet and artist
- Theodore Roethke, US poet
- Samuel Rogers, English poet
- Rognvald Kali Kolsson, Earl of Orkney and saint
- Matthew Rohrer, US poet
- Géza Röhrig, Hungarian poet and actor
- Radoslav Rochallyi, Slovak writer
- David Romtvedt, US poet
- Pierre de Ronsard, French poet
- Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet
- Franklin Rosemont, US poet, artist and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Penelope Rosemont, US poet, writer and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Michael Rosen, UK children's poet and former children's poet laureate
- Isaac Rosenberg, English poet
- Susan Rosenbloom UK choreographer, artistic director, teacher and poet
- Barbara Rosiek, Polish poet, writer and psychologist
- Alan Ross, English poet, cricket writer and editor
- Christina Rossetti, English poet
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet, illustrator and painter
- Andrus Rõuk, Estonian artist and poet
- Raymond Roussel, French poet, novelist and playwright
- Nicholas Rowe, English dramatist, poet and miscellanist; UK Poet Laureate, 1715
- Samuel Rowlands, English poet and pamphleteer
- Susanna Roxman, English poet born in Sweden
- Istvan Rozanich, Hungarian poet exiled in Venezuela
- Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and writer
- Ljubivoje Ršumović, Serbian poet
- Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator and academic
- Rudaki, Persian poet
- Muriel Rukeyser, US poet and political activist
- Zygmunt Rumel, Polish poet and partisan
- Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi Rumi, Persian Muslim poet, jurist and Sufi mystic
- Paul-Eerik Rummo, Estonian poet
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet in Swedish
- Nipsey Russell, US poet and comedian
- Kay Ryan, poet and educator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2008–2010
- Lucjan Rydel, Polish poet and playwright
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- Ryōkan, Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa–Se
- Sanai, Persian poet
- Umberto Saba, Italian poet and novelist
- Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet
- Nelly Sachs, Jewish German poet and playwright; 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex, English poet and courtier
- Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman, poet and dramatist
- Vita Sackville-West, English author, poet and gardener
- Saib Tabrizi, Persian poets
- Saʿdī Shīrāzī, Persian poet
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz, US poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ali Ahmad Said , Syrian poet, essayist and translator
- Mellin de Saint-Gelais, French Renaissance poet
- Benjamin Saltman, American Jewish poet.
- Akim Samar, Soviet poet and novelist seen as first Nanai language writer
- Sonia Sanchez, African-US poet associated with Black Arts Movement
- Michal Šanda, Czech writer and poet
- Carl Sandburg, US poet, writer and editor; three Pulitzer Prizes
- Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples
- Ann Sansom, English poet and writing tutor
- Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian Serb poet
- Taneda Santōka, Japanese free verse haiku poet
- Genrikh Sapgir, Russian poet and fiction writer
- Sappho, ancient Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Jaydeep Sarangi, Indian poet in English
- Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish poet in Latin
- William Saroyan, US author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon, English war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo, Indonesian poet, fiction writer and literary critic
- Satsvarupa Das Goswami, US poet and artist
- William Saunders, Welsh poet in Welsh
- Mary Stebbins Savage, American poet and writer
- Richard Savage, English poet
- Leslie Scalapino, US poet, writer and playwright
- Maurice Scève, French poet
- Hermann Georg Scheffauer, US poet, architect and fiction writer
- Georges Schehadé, Lebanese playwright and poet in French
- Friedrich Schiller, German poet, philosopher and playwright
- Arno Schmidt, German author and translator
- Dennis Schmitz, US poet
- Steven P. Schneider, US poet, critic, and university professor
- Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and dramatist
- Anton Schosser, Austrian dialect poet
- Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout, Surinamese poet and community leader, wrote in Sranan Tongo and English
- Philip Schultz, US poet
- James Schuyler, US poet
- Delmore Schwartz, US poet and fiction writer
- Alexander Scott, Scottish poet
- Alexander Scott, Scottish poet and playwright
- Frederick George Scott, Canadian poet and author, father of F. R. Scott
- F. R. Scott, Canadian poet, academic and constitutional expert
- Tom Scott, Scottish poet
- Sir Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet
- Gil Scott-Heron, US soul musician and jazz poet
- George Bazeley Scurfield, English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Peter Seaton, US Language poet
- Władysław Sebyła, Polish poet
- Johannes Secundus, Dutch Neo-Latin poet
- Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, English poet, wit and dramatist
- George Seferis , Greek poet and Nobel laureate
- Hugh Seidman, US poet
- Rebecca Seiferle, US poet
- Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, poet and journalist; 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lasana M. Sekou, Sint Maarten poet, essayist and journalist
- Semonides of Amorgos, Greek iambic and elegiac poet
- Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist
- Robert W. Service, Scottish-Canadian poet
- Vikram Seth, Indian author and poet
- Anne Sexton, US poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- John W. Sexton, Irish poet, fiction and children's writer
Sh–Sj
- Tendai M. Shaba, Malawian poet
- Thomas Shadwell, English poet and playwright; UK Poet Laureate, 1689–1692
- Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, sultan of Golkonda and poet in Persian, Telugu and Urdu
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
- Abdulrahman Adel Al-Shammari, Saudi poet
- Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar Iranian poet
- Turan Bahrami Shahriari Iranian poet and lawyer
- Parveen Shakir, Pakistani poet, teacher and civil servant of the government of Pakistan
- William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright
- Tupac Shakur, US rapper, actor and black activist
- Otep Shamaya, US singer-songwriter, actress and poet
- Ahmad Shamlou, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Paata Shamugia, Georgian poet
- Ntozake Shange, US playwright and poet
- Jon Beck Shank, US poet and teacher
- Jo Shapcott, English poet, editor and lecturer
- Karl Shapiro, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1946–1947
- Sanu Sharma Nepalese Australian novelist, writer, poet, lyricist
- Brenda Shaughnessy, US poet
- Luci Shaw, English-born Christian poet
- Muhannad Al-Shawi, Iraqi poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, English Romantic poet
- William Shenstone, English poet
- Bhupi Sherchan, Nepalese poet
- Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and artist
- Mustafa Sheykhoghlu, Turkish poet and translator
- Masaoka Shiki, Japanese author, poet and literary critic
- Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet
- James Shirley, English dramatist
- Avraham Shlonsky, Israeli poet and editor
- Sir Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier and soldier
- Eli Siegel, Latvian-US poet, critic and philosopher
- Robert Siegel, US poet and novelist
- August Silberstein, Austro-Hungarian poet and writer in German
- Jon Silkin, English poet
- Hilda Siller, American poet and short story writer
- Ron Silliman, US poet of Language poetry
- Shel Silverstein, US poet, musician and children's writer
- Simeon Simev, Macedonian poet, essayist and journalist
- Charles Simic, Serbian-US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2007–2008
- Simonides of Ceos, Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
- Louis Simpson, Jamaican poet
- Bennie Lee Sinclair, US poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
- Burns Singer, US poet raised in Scotland
- Marilyn Singer, US children's writer and poet
- Ervin Šinko, Croatian-Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Lemn Sissay, English author and broadcaster
- Charles Hubert Sisson, English poet and translator
- Edith Sitwell, English poet and critic; eldest of three literary Sitwells
- Sjón, Icelandic author and poet
Sk–Sp
- Egill Skallagrímsson, Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer, protagonist of Egil's Saga
- John Skelton, English poet
- Sasha Skenderija, Bosnian-US poet
- Ed Skoog, US poet
- Jan Stanisław Skorupski, Polish poet, essayist and esperantist
- Pencho Slaveykov, Bulgarian poet
- Petko Slaveykov, Bulgarian poet, publicist and folklorist
- Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet and journalist
- Anton Martin Slomšek, Slovene bishop, author and culture advocate
- Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet, playwright and artist
- Michaël Slory, Surinamese poet in Sranan Tongo, also in English, Dutch and Spanish
- Juliusz Słowacki, Polish Romantic poet
- Boris Slutsky, Russian poet
- Christopher Smart, English poet and playwright
- Hristo Smirnenski, Bulgarian poet and writer
- Bruce Smith, US poet
- Charlotte Smith, English Romantic poet and novelist
- Clark Ashton Smith, US poet, sculptor and author
- Margaret Smith, US poet, musician and artist
- Patti Smith, US singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist
- Stevie Smith, English poet and novelist
- Sydney Goodsir Smith, Scottish poet in Braid Scots
- Tracy K. Smith, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2017–2019
- William Jay Smith, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1968–1970
- Tobias Smollett, Scottish poet and author
- William De Witt Snodgrass, US poet
- Gary Snyder, US poet, essayist and environmentalist
- Edith Södergran, Finnish poet in Swedish
- Sōgi, Japanese waka and renga poet
- David Solway, Canadian poet, educational theorist and travel writer
- Marie-Ange Somdah, Burkinabe poet and writer
- William Somervile, English poet
- Sophocles, Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley, English war poet
- Gary Soto, Mexican-US author and poet
- William Soutar, Scottish poet in English and Braid Scots
- Caroline Anne Southey, English poet
- Robert Southey, English Romantic poet and UK Poet Laureate, 1813–1843
- Robert Southwell, English Catholic Jesuit priest, poet and clandestine missionary
- Wole Soyinka, Nigerian poet and playwright and poet; 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Bernard Spencer, English poet, translator and editor
- Stephen Spender, English poet, novelist, and essayist; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1965–1966
- Edmund Spenser, English poet
St–Sz
- Edward Stachura, poet, prose writer and translator
- Leopold Staff, Polish poet
- William Stafford, US poet and pacifist; U.S. Poet Laureate 1970–1971
- A. E. Stallings, US poet and translator
- Jon Stallworthy, English academic, poet and literary critic
- Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet
- Ann Stanford, US poet
- Anna Stanisławska, Polish poet
- George Starbuck, US neo-Formalist poet
- Andrzej Stasiuk, Polish poet and novelist
- Statius, Roman poet
- Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE, New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
- Stesichorus, Greek lyric poet
- Joseph Stefan, Carinthian Slovenes physicist, mathematician and poet in Austria
- Stefan Stefanović, Serbian poet
- Gertrude Stein, US modernist in prose and poetry
- Eric Stenbock, Baltic German poet and writer of fantastic fiction
- Mattie Stepanek, US poet and advocate
- Shelby Stephenson, US poet, North Carolina Poet Laureate, 2014–2018
- George Stepney, English poet and diplomat
- George Sterling, US poet and playwright, author of "A Wine of Wizardry"
- Anatol Stern, Polish poet and art critic
- Gerald Stern, US poet
- Marinko Stevanović, Bosnian poet
- C. J. Stevens, US writer of poetry, fiction and biography
- Wallace Stevens, US modernist poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer
- Margo Taft Stever, US poet
- Trumbull Stickney, US classical scholar and poet
- James Still, US poet, novelist and folklorist
- Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja, Serbian poet
- Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-US poet, writer and philosopher
- Donna J. Stone, US poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone, US poet, author and teacher
- Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet, US poet and editor
- Edward Storer, English writer, translator and poet linked with Imagism
- Theodor Storm, German writer and poet
- Alfonsina Storni, Latin US Modernist poet
- Mark Strand, Canadian-born US poet, essayist and translator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1990–1991
- Botho Strauß, German playwright, poet and novelist
- Joseph Stroud, US poet
- Jesse Stuart, US writer of fiction and poetry
- Jacquie Sturm , New Zealand poet, fiction writer and librarian
- Su Shi, Song dynasty writer, poet and artist
- Su Xiaoxiao, courtesan and poet under Southern Qi dynasty
- Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi, Indian Telugu poet
- Sir John Suckling, English poet and inventor of card game cribbage
- Suleiman the Magnificent, Islamic poet and Ottoman ruler
- Robert Sullivan, New Zealand Māori poet, academic and editor
- Jovan Sundečić, Serbian poet
- Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and writer
- Abhi Subedi, Nepalese poet, playwright and critic
- Pingali Surana, Telugu poet
- Robert Sward, US and Canadian poet and novelist
- Cole Swensen, US poet, translator and copywriter
- Karen Swenson, US poet
- May Swenson, US poet and playwright
- Marcin Świetlicki, Polish poet, prose writer and musician
- Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist and pamphleteer
- Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright and novelist
- Anna Świrszczyńska , Polish poet
- Joshua Sylvester, English poet
- Arthur William Symons, English poet, critic and editor
- John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist, poet and folklore collector
- Władysław Syrokomla, Polish poet and translator in Russian Empire
- Lőrinc Szabó, Hungarian poet and literary translator
- Fruzina Szalay, Hungarian poet and translator
- Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński, poet in Polish and Latin
- Arthur Sze, Chinese US poet
- Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian poet and politician
- Gyula Szentessy, Hungarian poet
- George Szirtes, Hungary-born British poet and translator
- Janusz Szpotański, Polish poet, satirist and translator
- Włodzimierz Szymanowicz, Polish poet and painter
- Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet, essayist and translator; 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Szymon Szymonowic, Polish poet
T
Ta–Te
- Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath; 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Judit Dukai Takách, Hungarian poet
- Bogi Takács, Hungarian poet and fiction writer in US
- Kyoshi Takahama, Japanese poet
- Taliesin, British poet of post-Roman period
- Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu, Tamil poet, editor and critic
- Maxim Tank, Belarus poet
- Tao Qian, Chinese poet
- Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet, essayist and literary critic
- Alain Tasso, Franco-Lebanese poet, painter and critic
- Torquato Tasso, Italian poet
- Allen Tate, US poet, essayist and commentator; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1943–1944
- James Tate, US poet
- Emma Tatham, English poet
- Tracey Tawhiao, New Zealand Maori poet and artist
- Apirana Taylor, New Zealand poet, novelist and storyteller
- Edward Taylor, colonial American poet, physician and pastor
- Emily Taylor, English poet and children's writer
- Henry Taylor, English poet and dramatist
- Henry S. Taylor, US poet
- Jane Taylor, English poet and novelist
- Sara Teasdale, US lyric poet
- Guru Tegh Bahadur, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Telesilla, Greek poet
- Raipiyel Tennakoon, Sri Lankan poet
- William Tennant, Scottish scholar and poet
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet; UK Poet Laureate, 1850–1892
- Vahan Terian, Armenian poet, lyricist and public activist
- Elaine Terranova, US poet
- Lucy Terry, African-US poet; author of oldest known work by African American
- A. S. J. Tessimond, English poet
- Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish poet, satirist and performer
Th–To
- Kálmán Thaly, Hungarian poet and politician
- Ernest Thayer, US writer and poet
- John Thelwall, English poet and essayist
- Theocritus, Greek bucolic poet
- Antony Theodore, German pastor poet and educator
- Jan Theuninck, Belgian painter and poet
- Nandi Thimmana, Telugu poet
- Thiruvalluvar, Tamil poet and philosopher
- Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and writer in English
- Edward Thomas, Welsh poet and essayist in English
- Lorenzo Thomas, US poet and critic
- R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet in English and Anglican priest
- John Thompson, English-born Canadian poet
- John Reuben Thompson, US poet, journalist, editor and publisher
- Francis Thompson, English poet and ascetic
- James Thomson, Scottish poet and playwright
- James Thomson, Scottish Victorian poet
- Henry David Thoreau, US author, poet and philosopher
- Georg Thurmair, German poet and hymn writer
- Maria Luise Thurmair, German poet and hymn writer
- Joseph Thurston, English poet
- Anthony Thwaite, English poet and writer
- Tibullus, Latin poet and elegy writer
- Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet
- Thomas Tickell, English poet and man of letters
- Ludwig Tieck, German poet, translator, editor and critic
- Tikkana, Telugu poet, translator of Mahabharata
- Gary Tillery, US writer, poet and artist
- Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade, Somali poet
- Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Polish poet
- Nick Toczek, English writer, poet and broadcaster
- Melvin B. Tolson, US Modernist poet, educator and columnist
- Charles Tomlinson, English poet and translator
- Jean Toomer, US poet and novelist
- Mihály Tompa, Hungarian poet and pastor
- Álvaro Torres-Calderón, Peruvian poet
- Kálmán Tóth, Hungarian poet
- Krisztina Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator
- Sándor Tóth, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Cyril Tourneur, English poetic dramatist
- Ann Townsend, US poet and essayist
Tr–Tz
- Thomas Traherne, English poet, clergyman and religious writer
- Georg Trakl, Austrian Expressionist poet
- Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese-American poet
- Elizabeth Treadwell, US poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay, French Canadian writer and poet
- Natasha Trethewey, American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate 2012–2014
- William S. Tribell, US poet
- Duško Trifunović, Serbian poet and writer
- Calvin Trillin, US humorist, poet and novelist
- Geeta Tripathee, Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist and scholar
- Suryakant Tripathi, Indian poet in Hindi and Bengali
- Quincy Troupe, US poet, editor and professor
- Tõnu Trubetsky , Estonian glam punk musician and poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian/Soviet poet
- Kurt Tucholsky, German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer
- Charlotte Maria Tucker, English poet and religious writer
- Tulsidas, Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher
- Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian writer and public activist
- Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet, critic and publisher
- George Turberville, English poet
- Charles Tennyson Turner, English poet, elder brother of Alfred Tennyson
- Julian Turner, English poet and mental health worker
- Thomas Tusser, English poet and farmer
- Hone Tuwhare, New Zealand Māori poet
- Julian Tuwim, Polish poet of Jewish descent
- Jan Twardowski, Polish poet and priest
- Chase Twichell, US poet, professor and publisher
- Pontus de Tyard, French poet and priest
- Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian Romantic poet
- Tristan Tzara, Romanian and French avant-garde poet and performance artist
U
- Kornel Ujejski, Polish poet and political writer
- Erzsi Újvári, Hungarian poet
- Laura Ulewicz, US beat poet
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha, Telugu poet
- Jeff Unaegbu, Nigerian writer, actor and documentary film maker
- Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish essayist, novelist and poet
- Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet, critic and academic
- Abul Qasim Hasan Unsuri Balkhi Persian poet
- Louis Untermeyer, US poet, anthologist and critic; U.S. Poet Laureate 1961–1962
- John Updike, US novelist, poet and critic
- Allen Upward, Irish-English Imagist poet and teacher
- Uthman Mukhtari, Persian poet
- Amy Uyematsu, Japanese-US poet
V
- János Vajda, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Paul Valéry, French Symbolist author and poet
- Alfonso Vallejo, Spanish artist, playwright and poet
- César Vallejo, Peruvian poet, writer and playwright
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton, French-Swiss poet and writer
- Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
- Cor van den Heuvel, US haiku poet, editor and archivist
- Mona Van Duyn, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1992–1993
- Lin Van Hek, Australian poet, writer and fashion designer
- Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian poet
- Varand, Armenian poet, writer and professor of literature
- Mahadevi Varma, Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Dimitris Varos, modern Greek poet, journalist and photographer
- Henry Vaughan, Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet
- Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden, English poet
- Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, African-American poet, painter and sculptor
- Joana Vaz, Portuguese poet and courtier
- Vazha-Pshavela , Georgian poet and writer
- Reetika Vazirani, US poet and educator
- Ivan Vazov, Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Attila Végh, Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Maffeo Vegio , Italian poet in Latin
- Vemana, Indian Telugu poet
- Gavril Stefanović Venclović, Serbian priest, writer, poet and illuminator
- Helen Vendler, US poetry critic and professor
- Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet in Spain
- Paul Verlaine, French poet associated with Symbolist movement
- Paul Vermeersch, Canadian poet
- Veturi, Telugu poet and songwriter
- Francis Vielé-Griffin, French symbolist poet
- Peter Viereck, US poet, professor and political thinker
- Gilles Vigneault, Canadian Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
- Judit Vihar, Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Jose Garcia Villa, Philippines poet, literary critic and painter
- Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexican poet and playwright
- François Villon, French poet, thief and barroom brawler
- Virgil, ancient Roman poet
- Roemer Visscher, Dutch writer and poet
- Mihály Csokonai Vitéz, Hungarian poet
- Mihailo Vitković, Hungarian poet in Serbian and lawyer
- Walther von der Vogelweide, celebrated Middle High German lyric poet
- Vincent Voiture, French poet
- Voltaire , French Enlightenment writer
- Joost van den Vondel, Dutch playwright and poet
- Andrei Voznesensky, Soviet Russian poet
- Stanko Vraz, Croatian-Slovenian language poet
W
Wa–Wh
- Wace, Norman poet
- Sidney Wade, US poet and professor
- Madge Morris Wagner, US poet, journalist, novelist, editor
- John Wain, English poet, novelist and critic
- Genan Wakil, Syrian poet and writer
- Diane Wakoski, US poet linked with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
- Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Anne Waldman, US poet
- Rosmarie Waldrop, German-US poet, translator and publisher
- Arthur Waley, English orientalist and Sinologist, poet and translator
- Alice Walker, US author, poet and activist
- Margaret Walker, African-US writer
- Edmund Waller, English poet and politician
- Martin Walser, German writer
- Robert Walser, German-speaking Swiss writer
- Wan Shenzi, Chinese couplet writer
- Connie Wanek, US poet
- Wang Wei, Tang dynasty Chinese poet, musician and painter
- Wang Wei, Chinese priestess and poet
- Emily Warn, US poet
- Sylvia Townsend Warner, English novelist and poet
- Robert Penn Warren, US poet, novelist and critic; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1944–1945 and 1986–1987
- Lewis Warsh, US poet, writer and visual artist
- Thomas Warton, English literary historian, critic and poet
- Albert Wass, Hungarian poet and novelist exiled in US
- Aleksander Wat, Polish poet and memoirist
- Vernon Watkins, Welsh poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Watson, English lyric poet in English and Latin
- Samuel Wagan Watson, Australian poet
- George Watsky, US poet and rapper
- Barrett Watten, US poet, editor and educator linked with Language poets
- Isaac Watts, English hymnist and logician
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, English critic and poet
- Tom Wayman, Canadian poet, author and educator
- Adam Ważyk, Polish poet and essayist
- Francis Webb, Australian poet
- John Webster, English dramatist
- Rebecca Wee, US poet and professor
- Hannah Weiner, US Language poet
- Sándor Weöres, Hungarian poet and translator
- Wei Yingwu, Chinese poet
- Wen Yiduo, Chinese poet
- Marjory Heath Wentworth, US poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 2003–2020
- Charles Wesley, English Methodist leader and hymnist
- Gilbert West, English poet, translator and Christian apologist
- Philip Whalen, US poet, Zen Buddhist and figure in San Francisco Renaissance
- Franz Werfel, Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright and poet
- Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet
- Mary Whateley, English poet and playwright
- Phillis Wheatley, first African-US poet
- Billy Edd Wheeler, US songwriter, performer and poet
- E.B. White, US essayist, author and humorist
- Henry Kirke White, English poet
- James L. White, US poet, editor and teacher
- Robert Whitehall, English poet
- Walt Whitman, US poet, essayist and humanist
- Isabella Whitney, English poet
- Reed Whittemore, US poet, biographer and critic; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1964–1965 and 1984–1985
- John Greenleaf Whittier, US poet
Wi–Wy
- Anna Wickham , English poet raised in Australia
- Les Wicks, Australian poet, publisher and editor
- Ulrika Widström, Swedish poet and translator
- John Wieners, US lyric poet
- Kazimierz Wierzyński, Polish poet and journalist
- Richard Wilbur, US poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1987–1988
- Peter Wild, US poet and historian
- Jane Wilde, Irish poet and nationalist
- Oscar Wilde, Irish writer, playwright and poet
- John Wilkinson, English poet
- William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, earliest troubadour poet whose work survives
- Aeneas Francon Williams, Anglo-Scottish poet, writer and missionary
- Emmett Williams, US poet and visual artist
- Jonathan Williams, US poet, publisher and essayist
- Heathcote Williams, English poet, political activist and dramatist
- Miller Williams, US poet, translator and editor
- Oscar Williams, Jewish Ukrainian-US anthologist and poet
- Saul Williams, African-US singer, poet, writer and actor
- Sherley Anne Williams, African-US poet, novelist and social critic
- Waldo Williams, Welsh poet in Welsh
- William Carlos Williams, poet and physician linked with modernism and imagism; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1952
- William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh poet and hymnist
- Clive Wilmer, English poet
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, English poet, courtier and satirist
- Eleanor Wilner, US poet and editor
- Anne Elizabeth Wilson, US-born Canadian poet, writer, editor
- Peter Lamborn Wilson, US political and cultural writer, essayist and poet
- Christian Wiman, US poet and editor
- David Wingate, Scottish poet
- Yvor Winters, US poet and literary critic
- George Wither, English poet, pamphleteer and satirist
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish poet, writer and philosopher
- Stefan Witwicki, Polish poet
- Woeser, Tibetan activist, poet and essayist
- Rafał Wojaczek, Polish poet
- Grażyna Wojcieszko, Polish poet and essayist
- Christa Wolf, German literary critic, novelist and poet
- Charles Wolfe, Irish poet
- Hans Wollschläger, German writer, translator and historian
- Sholeh Wolpe, Iranian-US poet, literary translator and playwright
- Maryla Wolska, Polish poet
- George Woodcock, Canadian poet and writer of biography and history
- Gregory Woods, English poet who grew up in Ghana
- Dorothy Wordsworth, English author, poet and diarist; sister of William Wordsworth
- William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet
- Philip Stanhope Worsley, English poet
- Carolyn D. Wright, US poet
- Charles Wright, US poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; U.S. Poet Laureate, 2014–2015
- David Wright, South African-born poet and author
- Franz Wright, US poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Wright, US poet, father of Franz Wright
- Jay Wright, African-US poet, playwright and essayist
- Judith Wright, Australian poet and environmentalist
- Lady Mary Wroth, English poet
- Thomas Wyatt, English ambassador and lyric poet
- Józef Wybicki, Polish poet and national-anthem writer
- Elinor Wylie, US poet and novelist
- Hedd Wyn, Welsh poet in Welsh
- Edward Alexander Wyon, English architect and poet
- Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright and painter
X
- Xenokleides, Athenian poet
- Xin Qiji, Chinese poet
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi , Somali poet active in 1960s
- Xu Pei, Chinese-born German poet
- Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet
- Halima Xudoyberdiyeva, Uzbek poet
Y
- Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese religious poet
- Mitsuye Yamada, US poet
- Leo Yankevich, US poet and editor
- Peyo Yavorov, Bulgarian Symbolist poet
- Raushan Yazdani, Bengali poet and researcher
- W. B. Yeats, Irish poet; 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Sergei Yesenin, Russian lyrical poet
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet Russian poet, dramatist and film director
- Yi Suhyŏng, politician and Confucian scholar, writer, and poet
- Lin Yining, Chinese poet, painter and composer
- Akiko Yosano, Japanese poet, feminist and pacifist
- Nima Yooshij, Iranian poet, Persian poet
- Andrew Young, Scottish poet and clergyman
- Edward Young, English poet
- Ian Young, English/Canadian poet
- Kevin Young, US poet and teacher
- Marguerite Young, US author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction
- Simpson Charles Younger, baseball player, soldier during the American Civil War, civil rights campaigner, and poet
- A. W. Yrjänä, Finnish poet, musician and songwriter
- Yuan Mei, Chinese poet, scholar and gastronome
Z
- Tymon Zaborowski, Polish poet
- Adam Zagajewski, Polish poet, novelist and essayist
- Józef Bohdan Zaleski, Polish poet
- Wacław Michał Zaleski, Polish poet, critic and politician
- Esperanza Zambrano, Mexican poet
- Alessio Zanelli, Italian poet in English
- Andrea Zanzotto, Italian poet
- Matthew Zapruder, US poet, translator and professor
- Marya Zaturenska, US lyric poet
- Kazimiera Zawistowska, Polish poet and translator
- Abd al-Wahhab Abu Zayd, Saudi poet and translator
- Piotr Zbylitowski, Polish poet and courtier
- Katarzyna Ewa Zdanowicz-Cyganiak, Polish poet and journalist
- Mao Zedong, Chinese poet, politician, political theorist, military strategist, revolutionary, and founder of the People's Republic of China
- Emil Zegadłowicz, Polish poet, playwright and translator
- Ludwig Zeller, Chilean poet
- Robert Zend, Hungarian-Canadian poet, fiction writer and artist
- Benjamin Zephaniah, English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
- Hristofor Zhefarovich, Serbian painter, writer and poet
- Calvin Ziegler, German-US poet in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Narcyza Żmichowska, Polish poet and novelist
- Radovan Zogović, Serbian/Montenegrin poet
- Miklós Zrínyi, Hungarian poet and statesman
- Zuhayr ibn Abī Sūlmā, pre-Islamic Arabian poet
- Louis Zukofsky, US objectivist poets
- Jerzy Żuławski, Polish poet, novelist and philosopher
- Juliusz Żuławski, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Huldrych Zwingli, Swish poet, hymnist and Reformation leader
- Eugeniusz Żytomirski, Polish poet, playwright and novelist in Russia and Canada