List of poets

A

Ab–Ak

• Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), US poet
• Aarudhra (1925–1968), Indian Telugu poet, born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry
• Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet
• Henry Abbey (1842–1911), US poet
• Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), US poet and fiction writer
• Siôn Abel (fl. 18th c.), Welsh balladeer
• Aria Aber (born 1991), Afghan poet and novelist, resides in the US, writes and publishes primarily in English
• Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic
• Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), US journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
• Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr (967–1049), Persian poet
• Sam Abrams (born 1935), US poet, editor and critic
• Seth Abramson (born 1976), US poet
• Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet
• Dannie Abse (1923–2014), Welsh poet in English
• Kathy Acker (1947–1997), US experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
• Diane Ackerman (born 1948), US author, poet and naturalist
• Duane Ackerson (1942–2020), US writer of speculative poetry and fiction
• Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer and playwright
• Harold Acton (1904–1994), English writer, scholar and dilettante
• János Aczél (died 1523), Hungarian poet and provost
• Tamás Aczél (1921–1994), Hungarian poet
• Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), Scottish novelist, poet and critic
• Virginia Hamilton Adair (1919–2004), US poet
• Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-US poet, collagist and photographer
• Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet
• John Adams (1704–1740), US poet
• Léonie Adams (1899–1988), US poet
• Ryan Adams (born 1974), US singer-songwriter and writer
• Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet
• Fleur Adcock (born 1934), New Zealand poet mainly in England
• Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
• Kim Addonizio (born 1954), US poet and novelist
• Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet
• Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
• Mariska Ady (1888–1977), Hungarian poet
• Aeschylus (525–456 BCE), Athenian tragedian
• Anastasia Afanasieva (born 1982), Ukrainian physician, poet, writer, translator
• Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BCE), Roman comic poet
• John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
• Patience Agbabi (born 1965), British poet and performer
• James Agee (1909–1955), US novelist, screenwriter, and poet
• Deborah Ager (born 1977), US poet and editor
• István Ágh (born 1938), Hungarian poet
• Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), US poet
• Dritëro Agolli (1931–2017), Albanian poet
• Carlos Martínez Aguirre (born 1974), Spanish poet
• Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet
• Ishaaq bin Ahmed (1095 – 12th century), Arab scholar, poet and ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family
• Ai (Florence Anthony, 1947–2010), US poet
• Ama Ata Aidoo (1940–2023), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
• Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), US poet and author
• Aganice Ainianos (1838–1892), Greek poet
• Akazome Emon (956–1041), Japanese poet and historian
• Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician
• Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
• Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1929–1990), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Russian poet
• Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet
• Jan Nisar Akhtar (1914–1976), Indian Urdu poet
• Javed Akhtar (born 1945), Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
• Salman Akhtar (born 1946), Indian US professor and poet writing in English and Urdu

Al–Am

• Amina Al Adwan (born 1935), Jordanian writer, poet and critic
• Muhammad Taha Al-Qaddal (1951–2021), Sudanese poet
• Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556), Italian poet and statesman
• Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), Scottish Gaelic poet
• Ave Alavainu (born 1942), Estonian poet
• Gillebríghde Albanach (fl. 1200–1230), Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
• Alcaeus (4th c. BCE), Athenian comic poet in Greek
• Alcaeus of Messene (fl. late 3rd/early 2nd c. BCE), Greek writer of verse epigrams
• Alcaeus of Mytilene (7th–6th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
• Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956), US poet, scholar and critic
• Alcman (fl. 7th c. BCE), Ancient Greek lyric poet
• Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), US poet and teacher
• Richard Aldington (1892–1962), English poet and writer
• Vasile Alecsandri (1821–1890), Romanian poet
• Tudur Aled (c. 1465–1525), Welsh poet writing in Welsh
• Claribel Alegría (1924–2018), Central US poet writing in Spanish
• Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984), Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977
• Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901), Slovene symbolist poet
• Sherman Alexie (born 1966), US poet and writer
• Felipe Alfau (1902–1999), Catalan US novelist and poet
• Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001), Indian, Kashmiri and US poet
• Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011), Palestinian poet
• Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Italian poet
• Ali al-Hujwiri (1009–1072), Persian poet
• James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet
• August Alle (1899–1952), Estonian poet
• Dick Allen (1939–2017), US poet, critic and academic
• Donald Allen (1912–2004), US poet, editor and translator
• Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911), US author and poet
• Ron Allen (1947–2010), US poet and playwright
• Artur Alliksaar (1923–1966), Estonian poet
• William Allingham (1824 or 1828–1889), Irish poet and man of letters
• Washington Allston (1779–1843), US painter and poet
• Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist and critic
• Alta (Alta Gerrey; born 1942), US poet and writer
• Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist and translator
• Alurista (born 1947), Chicano poet and activist
• Al Alvarez (fl. 1929–2019), English poet
• Julia Alvarez (born 1950), Dominican-US poet, novelist and essayist
• Betti Alver (1906–1989), Estonian poet
• Moniza Alvi (born 1954), Pakistani-British poet and writer
• Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), Punjabi poet and Sikh guru
• Ambroise (fl. c. 1190), Norman-French poet of Third Crusade
• Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet
• Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960), Sri Lankan US poet, essayist and translator
• Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), English author and poet
• A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), US author and poet

An–Aq

• Anacreon (570–488 BCE), Greek lyric poet
• Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), German writer and publisher
• Mir Anees (or Anis) (1803–1874), Indian poet in Urdu
• Guda Anjaiah (1955–2016), Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist and writer from Telangana
• Anvari (1117–1157), Persian poet
• Temsüla Ao (born 1945), Indian Naga poet, short story writer, and ethnographer
• Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish poet and children's writer
• Victor Henry Anderson (1917–2001), US poet, kahuna and teacher of the Feri Tradition
• Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987), Brazilian poet
• Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), Brazilian poet, novelist and critic
• Bernard André (1450–1522), French Augustinian poet: poet laureate to Henry VII of England
• Peter Andrej (born 1959), Slovenian poet and musician
• Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), Portuguese poet and writer
• Bruce Andrews (born 1948), US poet of language
• Kevin Andrews (1924–1989), Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist
• Ron Androla (born 1954), US poet
• Aneirin (fl. 6th c.), Brythonic epic poet
• Guru Angad (1504–1552), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
• Ralph Angel (1951–2020), US poet and translator
• Maya Angelou (1928–2014), US poet
• James Stout Angus (1830–1923), Shetland poet mainly in Shetland dialect
• Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet in Scots
• J. K. Annand (1908–1993), Scottish children's poet
• Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet
• David Antin (1932–2016), US poet and critic
• Antler (born 1946), US poet
• Susanne Antonetta (born 1956), US poet and author
• Brother Antoninus (1912–1994), US poet
• Raymond Antrobus (living), British
• Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), Indonesian poet
• Johannes Anyuru (born 1979), Swedish poet
• Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), French poet
• Apollonius of Rhodes (270 – post–245 BCE), Greek poet and librarian in Alexandria
• Maja Apostoloska (born 1976), Macedonian poet
• Philip Appleman (1926–2020), US poet and professor
• Lajos Áprily (1887–1967), Hungarian poet and translator
• Pawlu Aquilina (1929–2009), Maltese poet

Ar

• Louis Aragon (1897–1982), French poet, novelist and editor
• János Arany (1817–1882), Hungarian poet
• Archilochus (c. 680 – c. 645 BCE), Greek lyric poet
• Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet
• Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), US dadaist, critic and poet
• Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), Romanian poet
• Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), Italian poet
• Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BCE), Greek dramatic poet
• Guru Arjan (1563–1606), Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
• Rae Armantrout (born 1947), US language poet
• Simon Armitage (born 1963), English poet, playwright and novelist
• Richard Armour (1906–1989), US poet and author
• Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860), German author and poet
• Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859), German writer, composer and visual artist
• Ludwig Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), German poet and novelist
• Craig Arnold (1967–2009), US poet and professor
• Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), English poet and cultural critic
• Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls, c. 1012 – 1070s), Icelandic skald
• Franciszka Arnsztajnowa (1865–1942), Polish poet
• Jean Arp (1886–1966), German-French sculptor, painter and poet
• Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), French playwright, poet and essayist

As–Az

• Asadi Tusi (1000–1073), Persian poet

• M. K. Asante (born 1982), US author, poet and professor
• John Ashbery (1927–2017), US poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist
• Renée Ashley, US poet and novelist
• Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
• Asjadi (10th–11th century), Persian poet
• Adam Asnyk (1838–1897), Polish poet and dramatist
• Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), English poet
• Mina Assadi (born 1942), Iranian poet, Persian poet, author and songwriter
• Vishnu Raj Atreya (1944–2020), Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
• Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
• W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-US poet, essayist
• Imre Augustich (Imre Augustič, 1837–1879), Slovenian/Hungarian poet
• Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), US poet, anthologist and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
• Ausonius (c. 310–395), Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala (Bordeaux)
• Paul Auster (born 1947), US poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and translator
• James Avery (1948–2013), US actor, poet and screenwriter
• Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
• Krayem Awad (born 1948), Viennese painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin
• Gennady Aygi (1934–2006), Russian poet
• Ayo Ayoola-Amale (born 1970), Nigerian poet
• Pam Ayres (born 1947), English humorous poet
• Robert Aytoun (1570–1638), Scottish poet
• Maryam Jafari Azarmani (born 1977), Iranian poet, Persian poet, essayist, critic and translator
• Azraqi (11th-century), Persian poet
• Jody Azzouni (born 1954), US philosopher and poet

B

Ba

• Baba Tahir (?-1019), Persian poet
• Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet and translator
• Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet
• Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), US poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
• Bacchylides (fl. 5th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet
• Bellamy Bach (fl. 1980s), joint pseudonym of fiction writers and poets
• Harivansh Rai Bachchan (fl. 20th c.), Hindi poet
• Joseph M. Bachelor (also Joseph Morris, 1889–1947), US author, poet and educator
• Simon Bacher (1823–1991), Hebrew poet in Hungary
• Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet and author
• Sutardji Calzoum Bachri (born 1941), Indonesian poet
• George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romanian poet
• Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), Polish poet and soldier
• Vahshi Bafqi (1532-?) Persian poet
• Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian Esperanto author and poet
• Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (1886–1951), Persian poet
• Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
• Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist
• József Bajza (1804–1858), Hungarian poet and critic
• Józef Baka (1706/1707–1788), Polish/Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
• Vyt Bakaitis (born 1940), Lithuania-US translator, editor and poet
• David Baker (born 1954), US poet
• Hinemoana Baker (born 1968), New Zealand poet and musician
• Bâkî (1526–1600), Ottoman-Turkish language poet (pseudonym of Mahmud Abdülbâkî)
• John Balaban (born 1943), US poet and translator
• Bálint Balassi (1554–1594), Hungarian poet
• Béla Balázs (1884–1949), Hungarian poet and critic
• Edward Balcerzan (born 1937), Polish poet, critic and translator
• Stanisław Baliński (1898–1984), Polish poet and diplomat
• Jesse Ball (born 1978), US poet and novelist
• Zsófia Balla (born 1949), Hungarian poet from Romania
• Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), US poet and suffragist
• Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian symbolist poet and translator
• Russell Banks (born 1940), US fiction writer and poet
• Anne Bannerman (1765–1829), Scottish poet
• Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) (1934–2014), US writer, poet and dramatist
• Marcin Baran (born 1963), Polish poet and journalist
• Stanisław Barańczak (1946–2014), Polish poet, critic and translator
• Porfirio Barba-Jacob (1883–1942), Colombian poet and writer
• Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist and children's author
• John Barbour (c. 1320–1395), Scottish poet, first major writer in Scots
• Alexander Barclay (c. 1476–1552), English/Scottish poet
• George Barker (1913–1991), English poet and author
• Les Barker (born 1947), English poet
• Christine Barkhuizen le Roux (1959–2020), South African poet
• Coleman Barks (born 1937), US poet
• Mihály Barla (Miháo Barla, c. 1778–1824), Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
• Mary Barnard (1909–2001), US poet, biographer and translator
• Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), US writer
• William Barnes (1801–1886), English writer, poet and philologist
• Catherine Barnett (born 1960), US poet and educator
• Richard Barnfield (1574–1620), English poet
• Willis Barnstone (born 1927), US poet and literary translator
• Maria Barrell (died 1803), poet, playwright and writer of periodicals
• Laird Barron (born 1970), US poet, author
• Sándor Barta (1897–1938), Hungarian poet executed in USSR
• Bernard Barton (1784–1849), English poet and Quaker
• Bertha Hirsch Baruch (fl. late 18th – early 19th c.), US writer, poet and suffragist
• Todd Bash (born 1965), US avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
• Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japanese renku and haiku poet
• Michael Basinski (born 1950), US text, visual and sound poet
• Ellen Bass (born 1947), US poet
• Arlo Bates (1850–1918), US author, poet and educator
• David Bates (1809–1870), US poet
• Joseph Bathanti (born 1953), US poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
• János Batsányi (1763–1845), Hungarian poet
• Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), US poet, journalist and educator
• Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet, essayist and translator
• Cirilo Bautista (1941–2018), Philippines poet, writer and critic
• Charles Baxter (born 1947), US writer and poet
• James K. Baxter (1926–1972), New Zealand poet

Be

• Jan Beatty (born 1952), US poet
• Francis Beaumont (1584–1616), English poet and dramatist
• Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist and poet
• Joshua Beckman (living), US poet
• Matija Bećković (born 1939), Serbian writer and poet
• Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish poet and fiction writer
• Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849), English poet, dramatist and physician
• Patricia Beer (1919–1999), English poet and critic
• Sapargali Begalin (1895–1983), Kazakh poet
• Aphra Behn (1640–1689), English Restoration dramatist; early professional female writer
• Ferenc Békássy (1893–1915), Hungarian poet
• Erin Belieu (born 1967), US poet
• Marvin Bell (1937–2020), US poet and teacher; first Poet Laureate of State of Iowa
• Gioconda Belli (born 1948), Nicaraguan poet and novelist
• Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791–1863), Italian sonneteer in Romanesco
• Xuan Bello (born 1965), Asturian poet
• Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), Anglo-French writer and historian
• Andrei Bely (1880–1934), Russian novelist, poet and critic
• Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), US author, poet and fiction writer
• William Rose Benét (1886–1950), US poet, writer and editor
• Elizabeth Benger (1775–1827), English poet, biographer and novelist
• Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), German essayist, novelist and expressionist poet
• Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902–1981), African-US writer and poet
• Jim Bennett (born 1951), English poet in Liverpool punk era
• Richard Berengarten (born 1943), English poet, writer and translator
• Bo Bergman (1869–1967), Swedish writer and critic
• İlhan Berk (1918–2008), Turkish poet
• Charles Bernstein (born 1950), US poet and scholar
• Béroul (12th c.), Norman poet of episodic Tristan
• Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016), US poet, priest and peace activist
• Ted Berrigan (1934–1983), US poet
• James Berry (1924–2017), Jamaican poet based in England
• Wendell Berry (born 1934), US man of letters, critic and farmer
• John Berryman (1914–1972), US poet and scholar
• Dániel Berzsenyi (1776–1836), Hungarian poet
• Mary Ursula Bethell (1874–1945), New Zealand poet and social worker
• John Betjeman (1906–1984), English poet, writer and broadcaster
• Elizabeth Beverley (fl. 1815–1830), English poet, writer and entertainer
• Helen Bevington (1906–2001), US poet, prose writer and educator
• L. S. Bevington (1845–1895), English anarchist poet and essayist

Bh–Bl

• Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), Tamil writer, poet and Indian independence activist
• Sujata Bhatt (born 1956), Indian poet in Gujarati
• Źmitrok Biadula (1886–1941), Jewish Belarusian poet, prose writer and independence activist
• Miron Białoszewski (1922–1983), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
• Zbigniew Bieńkowski (1913–1994), Polish poet, critic and translator
• Biernat of Lublin (c. 1465 – post-1529), Polish poet and fabulist
• Laurence Binyon (1879–1943), English poet, dramatist and art scholar
• Earle Birney (1904–1995), Canadian poet, fiction writer and dramatist
• Nevin Birsa (1947–2003), Slovene poet
• Balázs Birtalan (1969–2016), Hungarian poet and publicist
• Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), US poet and short-story writer; US Poet Laureate
• Ram Prasad Bismil (1897–1927), poet and revolutionary writing in Urdu and Hindi
• Bill Bissett (born 1939), Canadian anti-conventional poet
• Sherwin Bitsui (born 1975), US Navajo poet
• Paul Blackburn (1926–1971), US poet
• Richard Palmer Blackmur (1904–1965), US literary critic and poet
• Lucian Blaga (1895–1961), Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright
• Lewis Blake (born 1946), English poet
• William Blake (1757–1827), English painter, poet and printmaker
• Don Blanding (1894–1957), US poet, journalist, writer and speaker
• Adrian Blevins (born 1964), US poet
• Mathilde Blind (1841–1896), German-born English poet and writer
• Alexander Blok (1880–1921), Russian lyrical poet
• Benjamin Paul Blood (1832–1919), US philosopher and poet
• Robert Bloomfield (1766–1823), English laboring-class poet
• Roy Blumenthal (born 1968), South African poet
• Edmund Blunden (1896–1974), English poet, author and literary critic
• Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), English poet and writer
• Robert Bly (1926–2021), US poet, author and leader of mythopoetic men's movement

Bo–Bri

• Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965), East German author and poet
• Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Italian author and poet
• Jean Bodel (1165–1210), Old French poet
• Ádám Bodor (born 1936), Hungarian poet from Romania
• Louise Bogan (1897–1970), US poet; fourth US Poet Laureate
• Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440/1441–1494), Italian Renaissance poet
• Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), French poet and critic
• Michelle Boisseau (1955–2017), US poet
• Christian Bök (born 1966), experimental Canadian poet
• Osbern Bokenam (c. 1393 – c. 1464), English poet and friar
• Eavan Boland (1944–2020), Irish poet
• Alan Bold (1943–1998), Scottish poet, biographer and journalist
• Heinrich Böll (1917–1985), German novelist
• Edmund Bolton (c. 1575 – c. 1633), English historian and poet
• Nozawa Bonchō (c. 1640–1714), Japanese haikai poet
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German poet and Lutheran theologian
• Arna Wendell Bontemps (1902–1973), US poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance
• Luke Booker (1762–1835), English poet, cleric and antiquary
• Kurt Boone (born 1959), US poet
• Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), Argentine fiction writer, essayist and poet
• Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and journalist
• Hristo Botev (1848–1876), Bulgarian poet and revolutionary
• Gordon Bottomley (1874–1948), English poet and verse dramatist
• David Bottoms (born 1949), US poet; Georgia Poet Laureate
• Cathy Smith Bowers (born 1949), US poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010–2012
• Edgar Bowers (1924–2000), US poet and Bollingen Prize in Poetry winner
• Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (1874–1941), Polish poet, critic and translator
• Mark Alexander Boyd (1562–1601), Scottish poet and mercenary
• Kay Boyle (1902–1992), US writer, educator and political activist
• Alison Brackenbury (born 1953), English poet
• Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (c. 1612 – 1672), America's first published poet
• Di Brandt (born 1952), Canadian poet and literary critic
• Giannina Braschi (born 1953), US poet born in Puerto Rico
• Kamau Brathwaite (1930–2020), Barbadian writer
• Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), US fiction writer and poet
• Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), German playwright, poet and lyricist
• Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero (1585–1618), Dutch poet and playwright
• Radovan Brenkus (born 1974), Slovak writer and poet
• Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), Australian poet and scholar
• Joseph Payne Brennan (1918–1990), US poet and writer of fantasy and horror fiction
• Clemens Brentano (1778–1842), German poet and novelist
• André Breton (1896–1966), French writer, poet and founder of Surrealism
• Nicholas Breton (1545–1626), English poet and novelist
• Ken Brewer (1941–2006), US poet and scholar; Utah Poet Laureate
• Breyten Breytenbach (born 1939), South-African/French writer, poet and painter
• Robert Bridges (1844–1930), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
• Robert Bringhurst (born 1946), Canadian poet, typographer and author

Bro–By

• Geoffrey Brock (born 1964), US poet and translator
• Eve Brodlique (1867–1949), British-born Canadian/American poet, author and journalist
• Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), Russian poet and essayist
• Wladyslaw Broniewski (1897–1962), Polish poet and soldier
• William Bronk (1918–1999), US poet
• Anne Brontë (1820–1849), English novelist and poet, youngest of three Brontë sisters
• Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist and poet, eldest of three Brontë sisters
• Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English novelist and poet
• Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), English poet
• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), African-US poet; US Poet Laureate
• Hans Adolph Brorson (1694–1764), Danish poet and Pietist bishop
• Joan Brossa (1919–1998), Catalan poet, playwright and artist
• Nicole Brossard (born 1943), French Canadian formalist poet and novelist
• Olga Broumas (born 1949), Greek poet in United States
• Flora Brovina (born 1949), Kosovar Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist
• Petrus Brovka (aka Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka) (1905–1980), Soviet Belarusian poet
• George Mackay Brown (1921–1996), Scottish poet, author and dramatist
• James Brown, known as J. B. Selkirk (1832–1904), Scottish poet and essayist
• Sterling Brown (1901–1989), African-US academic writer and poet
• Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897), Manx poet, scholar and theologian
• Frances Browne (1816–1887), Irish poet and novelist
• William Browne (1590–1643), English poet
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), English poet
• Robert Browning (1812–1889), English poet and playwright
• William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), US romantic poet and journalist
• Colette Bryce (born 1970), Northern Irish poet
• Bryher (aka Annie Winifred Ellerman) (1894–1983), English novelist, poet and memoirist
• Valeri Bryusov (1873–1924), Russian poet, novelist and critic
• Jan Brzechwa (1898–1966), Polish poet and children's writer
• Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan) (1716–1768), Scottish poet in Scots and Scottish Gaelic
• Robert Williams Buchanan (1841–1901), Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
• August Buchner (1591–1661), German Baroque poet and professor
• Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German writer, poet and dramatist
• Vincent Buckley (1927–1988), Australian poet, essayist and critic
• David Budbill (1940–2016), US poet and playwright
• Andrea Hollander Budy (born 1947), US poet
• Teodor Bujnicki (1907–1944), Polish poet
• Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), US poet, novelist and short story writer
• Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), Russian poet and novelist
• Basil Bunting (1900–1985), English modernist poet
• Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), English writer, poet and playwright
• Robert Burns (1759–1796), Scottish poet and lyricist
• Stanley Burnshaw (1906–2005), US poet
• John Burnside (born 1955), Scottish poet and writer, winner of T. S. Eliot and Forward poetry prizes
• William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), US novelist, poet and essayist
• Andrzej Bursa (1932–1957), Polish poet and writer
• Yosa Buson (1716–1783), Japanese haikai poet and painter
• Raegan Butcher (born 1969), US poet and singer
• Ray Buttigieg (born 1955), poet, composer and musician
• Ignazio Buttitta (1899–1997), Sicilian language poet
• Anthony Butts (born 1969), US poet
• Kathryn Stripling Byer (1944–2017), US poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005–09
• Witter Bynner (also Emanuel Morgan, 1881–1968), US poet, writer and scholar
• George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet and literary figure

C

Cab–Cav

• Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet
• Dilys Cadwaladr (1902–1979), Welsh poet and fiction writer in Welsh
• Cædmon (fl. 7th c.), earliest Northumbrian poet known by name
• Maoilios Caimbeul (born 1944), Scots poet and children's writer in Gaelic
• Scott Cairns (born 1954), US poet, memoirist and essayist
• Alison Calder, Canadian poet and educator
• Angus Calder (1942–2008), Scots poet, academic and educator
• Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (1600–1681), Spanish dramatist, poet and writer of Spanish Golden Age
• Musa Cälil (1906–1944), Soviet Tatar poet
• Barry Callaghan (born 1937), Canadian author, poet and anthologist
• Michael Feeney Callan (born 1955), Irish poet, novelist and biographer
• Callimachus (c. 305 – c. 240 BCE), Hellenistic poet, critic and scholar at Library of Alexandria
• Robert Calvert (1944–1988), South African writer, poet and musician
• Norman Cameron (1905–1953), Scottish poet
• Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580), early Portuguese poet
• Angus Peter Campbell (aka Aonghas P(h)àdraig Caimbeul, born 1952), Scottish poet, novelist, broadcaster and actor
• David Campbell (1915–1979), Australian poet and wartime pilot
• Roy Campbell (1901–1957), South African poet and satirist
• Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), Scottish poet
• Jan Campert (1902–1943), Dutch poet and journalist
• Remco Campert (1929–2022), Dutch poet and novelist
• Thomas Campion (1567–1619), English composer, poet and physician
• Matilde Camus (1919–2012), Spanish poet and researcher
• Melville Henry Cane (1879–1980), US poet and lawyer
• Ivan Cankar (1876–1918), Slovene playwright, essayist and poet
• May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973), English poet
• Edip Cansever (1928–1986), Turkish poet
• Cao Cao (155–220), Chinese poet and warlord
• Cao Pi (formally Emperor Wen of Wei) (187–226), Chinese poet and first emperor of state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
• Cao Zhi (192–232), Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
• Vahni Capildeo (born 1973), Trinidadian poet
• Ernesto Cardenal (1925–2020), Nicaraguan Roman Catholic poet and priest
• Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), Italian poet and teacher
• Thomas Carew (1595–1639), English Cavalier poet
• Henry Carey (1687–1743), English poet, dramatist and songwriter
• Robert Carliell (died c. 1622), English didactic poet
• Bliss Carman (1861–1929), Canadian-US poet associated with Confederation Poets
• Fern G. Z. Carr (born 1956), Canadian poet, translator, teacher and lawyer
• Jim Carroll (1949–2009), US author, poet and punk musician
• Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832–1898), English writer, mathematician and photographer
• Hayden Carruth (1921–2008), US poet and literary critic
• Ann Elizabeth Carson (born 1929), Canadian poet, artist and feminist
• Anne Carson (born 1950), Canadian poet, essayist and translator
• Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806), English poet and bluestocking
• Jared Carter (born 1939), US poet and editor
• William Cartwright (1611–1643), English dramatist and churchman
• Neal Cassady (1926–1968), figure in 1950s Beat Generation and 1960s psychedelic movement
• Cyrus Cassells (born 1957), US poet and professor
• Rosalía de Castro (1837–1885), Galician poet
• Catullus (c. 84–54 BCE), Latin poet under the Roman Republic
• Charles Causley (1917–2003), Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer
• C. P. Cavafy (1863–1933), Greek poet, journalist and civil servant
• Guido Cavalcanti (1250s – 1300), Florentine poet and friend of Dante Alighieri
• Nick Cave (born 1957), Australian writer, musician and actor
• Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English writer, aristocrat and scientist

Ce–Cl

• Paul Celan (1920–1970), Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator
• Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), French poet and author
• Thomas Centolella (living), US poet
• Anica Černej (1900–1944), Slovene author and poet
• Luis Cernuda (1903–1963), Spanish poet and literary critic
• Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), French poet, author and politician from Martinique
• Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos (1923–2006), Portuguese surrealist poet
• Úrsula Céspedes (1832–1874), Cuban poet
• Ashok Chakradhar (born 1951), Hindi author and poet
• John Chalkhill (fl. 1600), English poet
• Jean Chapelain (1595–1674), French poet and critic
• Arthur Chapman (1873–1935), US cowboy poet and columnist
• George Chapman (1559–1634), English dramatist, translator and poet
• Fred Chappell (born 1936), US author and poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1997–2002
• René Char (1907–1998), French poet
• Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394–1465), poet
• Craig Charles (born 1964), English writer, poet and comedian
• Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), English poet and forger of medieval poetry
• Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400), poet, philosopher and alchemist
• Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (1904–1948), Indian poet writing in Hindi
• Reverend Fr. Fray Angelico Chavez (1910–1996), US writer, poet and Franciscan priest
• Susana Chávez (1974–2011), Mexican poet and human rights activist
• Syl Cheney-Coker (born 1945), Sierra Leone poet and novelist
• Andrea Cheng (1957–2015), Hungarian-US poet and children's author
• Kelly Cherry (born 1940), US author and poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia 2010–2012
• G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), English writer and poet
• Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn (born 857), Korean (Silla) poet
• Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703–1775), female Japanese haiku poet of the Edo period
• Henri Chopin (1922–2008), avant-garde poet and musician
• Jean Chopinel (or Jean de Meun) (c. 1240 – c. 1305), French writer
• Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 12th c.), French poet
• Ralph Chubb (1892–1960), poet, painter and printer
• Charles Churchill (1732–1764), English poet and satirist
• John Ciardi (1916–1986), Italian-US poet, translator and etymologist
• Colley Cibber (1671–1757), English playwright and Poet Laureate
• Jovan Ćirilov (1931–2014), Serbian drama expert, writer and poet
• Carson Cistulli (born 1979), US poet, essayist and English professor
• Hélène Cixous (born 1937), French feminist writer, poet and playwright
• Amy Clampitt (1920–1994), US poet and author
• Kate Clanchy (born 1965), Scottish poet and writer
• John Clanvowe (c. 1341–1391), Anglo-Welsh poet and diplomat
• John Clare (1793–1864), English poet
• Elizabeth Clark (1918–1978), Scottish poet and playwright
• Austin Clarke (1896–1974), Irish poet
• George Elliott Clarke (born 1960), Canadian poet and academic
• Gillian Clarke (born 1937), Welsh poet and playwright in English
• Paul Claudel (1868–1955), French poet, dramatist and diplomat
• Claudian (c. 370–404), Latin poet at court of Emperor Honorius
• Matthias Claudius (Asmus, 1740–1815), German poet
• Hugo Claus (1929–2008), Belgian author, poet and film director
• Brian P. Cleary (born 1959), US humorist, poet and author
• Jack Clemo (1916–1994), English Christian poet
• Michelle Cliff (1946–2016), Jamaican-US author of fiction, prose poems and literary criticism
• Lucille Clifton (1936–2010), educator and Poet Laureate of Maryland
• Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861), English poet, educationalist and assistant to Florence Nightingale

Coa–Con

• Grace Stone Coates (1881–1976), US poet and story writer
• Robbie Coburn (born 1994), Australian poet
• Alison Cockburn (1712–1794), Scottish poet, wit and socialite
• Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), French writer
• Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952–2016), Puerto Rican poet and author
• Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
• Wanda Coleman (1946–2013), African-US poet
• Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849), English poet, biographer and essayist
• Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907), English novelist, essayist and poet
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), English poet
• Edward Coletti (born 1944), Italian-US poet
• Billy Collins (born 1941), US poet; US Poet Laureate 2001–2003
• William Collins (1721–1759), English poet
• William Congreve (1670–1729), English playwright and poet
• Stewart Conn (born 1936), Scottish poet and playwright
• Paul Conneally (born 1959), English poet, artist and musician
• Robert Conquest (1917–2015), Anglo-US historian and poet
• Henry Constable (1562–1613), English poet
• David Constantine (born 1944), English poet and translator

Coo–Cz

• Clark Coolidge (born 1939), US poet
• Wendy Cope (born 1945), English poet
• Robert Copland (fl. 1508–1547), English printer, author and translator
• Julia Copus (born 1969), English poet and biographer
• Denys Corbet (1826–1909), Guernsey poet in Guernésiais
• Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), French poet
• Cid Corman (1924–2004), US poet, translator and editor
• Alfred Corn (born 1943), US poet and essayist
• Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet
• F. M. Cornford (1874–1943), English classical scholar and poet; husband of Frances Cornford
• Joe Corrie (1894–1968), Scottish miner, poet and playwright
• Gregory Corso (1930–2001), US Beat poet
• Jayne Cortez (1936–2012), US poet and performance artist
• George Coșbuc (1866–1918), Romanian poet, translator and teacher
• Charles Cotton (1630–1687), English poet, author and translator
• Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), English poet
• Malcolm Cowley (1898–1989), US novelist, poet and critic
• William Cowper (1731–1800), English poet and hymnist
• George Crabbe (1754–1832), English poet, naturalist and clergyman
• Hart Crane (1899–1932), US modernist poet
• Stephen Crane (1871–1900), US novelist, short story writer and poet
• Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), English Metaphysical poet
• Robert Creeley (1926–2005), US poet
• Octave Crémazie (1827–1879), French Canadian poet
• Ann Batten Cristall (1769–1848), English poet
• Charles Cros (1842–1888), French poet and inventor
• Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist and poet
• Andrew Crozier (1943–2008), English poet
• György Csanády (1895–1952), Hungarian poet and journalist
• Sándor Csoóri (1930–2016), Hungarian poet, essayist and politician
• Cui Hao (c. 704–754), Tang dynasty Chinese poet
• Countee Cullen (1903–1946), US poet
• Necati Cumalı (1921–2001), Turkish writer of fiction writer, essayist and poet
• E. E. Cummings (1894–1962), US poet, essayist and playwright
• Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), Scottish poet and author
• James Vincent Cunningham (1911–1985), US poet, literary critic and teacher
• Allen Curnow (1911–2001), New Zealand poet and journalist
• Ivor Cutler (1923–2006), Scottish poet, songwriter and humorist
• Józef Czechowicz (1903–1939), Polish poet
• Gergely Czuczor (1800–1866), Hungarian poet, monk and academic
• Tytus Czyżewski (1880–1945), Polish poet, playwright and painter

D

Da–Dh

• Dalpatram (Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi) (1820–1898), Indian Gujarati language poet
• Roque Dalton (1935–1975), Salvador poet
• Daqiqi (?-977), Persian poet
• Ruby Dhal (born 1994), British-Afghan poet
• Sapardi Djoko Damono (1940–2020), Indonesian poet
• Samuel Daniel (1562–1619), English poet and historian
• David Daniels (1933–2008), US visual poet
• Jeffrey Daniels (living), African-US poet
• Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet in Old French
• Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), Italian poet, journalist, novelist and dramatist
• Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843–1925), French-born poet and writer
• Rubén Darío (1867–1916), Nicaraguan poet initiating modernismo
• Keki Daruwalla (born 1937), Indian poet and fiction writer in English
• Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), English poet and herbalist
• Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008), Palestinian poet and author
• Elizabeth Daryush (1887–1977), English poet; daughter of Robert Bridges
• Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Bengali poet and author
• Petter Dass (died 1707), Norwegian poet
• Mina Dastgheib (born 1943), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• René Daumal (1908–1944), French para-surrealist writer and poet
• Jean Daurat (1508–1588), French poet, scholar and La Pléiade member
• William Davenant (1606–1668), English poet and playwright
• Guy Davenport (1927–2005), US writer, translator and illustrator
• Donald Davidson (1893–1968), US poet, essayist and critic
• John Davidson (1857–1909), Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
• Lucretia Maria Davidson (1808–1825), US poet
• Donald Davie (1922–1995), English poet and critic
• Alan Davies (born 1951), US poet, critic and editor
• Hugh Sykes Davies (1909–1984), English poet, novelist and communist
• Sir John Davies (1569–1626), English poet, lawyer and politician
• W. H. Davies (1871–1940), Welsh poet and writer
• Jon Davis, US poet
• Edward Davison (1898–1970), Scottish-US poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
• Peter Davison (1928–2004), US poet, essayist and editor; son of poet Edward Davison
• Denis Davydov (1784–1839), Russian soldier-poet of Napoleonic Wars
• Dayaram (1777–1853), Gujarati language poet
• Gábor Dayka (1769–1796), Hungarian poet
• Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972), Anglo-Irish poet; UK Poet Laureate 1968–1972
• James Deahl (born 1945), Canadian poet and publisher
• Dulcie Deamer (1890–1972), Australian poet and novelist
• John F. Deane (born 1943), Irish poet and novelist
• Aleš Debeljak (1961–2016), Slovenian critic, poet and essayist
• Jean Louis De Esque (1879–1956), US poet and author
• Madeline DeFrees (1919–2015), US poet
• Jacek Dehnel (born 1980), Polish poet, translator and painter
• Thomas Dekker (1572–1641), English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), Mexican poet
• Baltasar del Alcázar (1530–1606), Spanish poet
• Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), English poet, short story writer and novelist
• Leconte de Lisle (1818–1894), French poet of Parnassian movement
• Christine De Luca (born 1947), Scottish poet in English and Shetland dialect
• François de Malherbe (1555–1628), French poet, critic and translator
• Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), French poet
• Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), French poet, essayist and translator
• Sir John Denham (c. 1614–1669), English poet and courtier
• Tory Dent (1958–2005), US poet, critic and commentator
• Évariste de Parny (1753–1814), French poet
• Regina Derieva (1949–2013), Russian poet and writer
• Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw (1863–1919), Dutch poet and philosopher
• Toi Derricotte (born 1941), African-US poet
• Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), medieval French poet
• Lord de Tabley (1835–1895), poet and botanist
• Babette Deutsch (1895–1982), US poet, critic and novelist
• Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562–1635), Spanish playwright and poet
• Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier and poet praised also for lost plays
• Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863), French poet, playwright and novelist
• Lakshmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepali poet and essayist
• Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (born 1966), South African poet and performance artist
• Imtiaz Dharker (born 1954), Pakistan-born British poet, artist and filmmaker
• Dhurjati (c. 15th – 16th cc.), Telugu language poet

Di–Dr

• Souéloum Diagho (living), Tuareg poet
• Zoraida Díaz (1991–1948), Panamanian poet, educator, and feminist
• Pier Giorgio Di Cicco (1949–2019), Italian-Canadian poet; Poet Laureate of Toronto
• Jennifer K Dick (born 1970), US poet
• James Dickey (1923–1997), US poet and novelist; US Poet Laureate
• Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), US poet
• Matthew Dickman (born 1975), US poet, twin of Michael Dickman
• Michael Dickman (born 1975), US poet
• Blaga Dimitrova (1922–2003), Bulgarian poet and politician
• Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908–1974), Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
• Diane di Prima (1934–2020), US poet
• Paul Dirmeikis (born 1954), French poet
• Vladislav Petković Dis (1880–1917), Serbian poet
• Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008), US poet, novelist
• Tim Dlugos (1950–1990), US poet
• Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921), English poet and essayist
• Stephen Dobyns (born 1941), US author, novelist and poet
• Lajos Dóczi (1845–1918), Hungarian playwright, poet and politician
• Hendrik Doeff (1777–1835), Dutch lexicographer and poet (in Japanese) and Commissioner in the Dejima trading post
• Gojko Đogo (born 1940), Serbian poet
• Pete Doherty (born 1979), English musician, songwriter and poet
• Digby Mackworth Dolben (1848–1867), English poet
• Joe Dolce (born 1947), Australian songwriter, poet and essayist
• María Magdalena Domínguez (1922–2021), Spanish poet
• John Donne (1572–1631), English poet, satirist and Anglican cleric
• H.D., Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), US Imagist poet
• Ap Chuni Dorji, Bhutanese poet
• Edward Dorn (1929–1999), US poet and teacher
• Tishani Doshi (born 1975), Indian English poet and journalist
• Mark Doty (born 1953), US poet and memoirist
• Sarah Doudney (1841–1926), English poet and children's writer
• Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), English poet, writer and traveler
• Alice May Douglas (1865–1943), US poet and author
• Gavin Douglas (1474–1522), Scottish bishop, makar and translator
• Keith Douglas (1920–1944), English war poet
• Rita Dove (born 1952), US poet and author; US Poet Laureate
• Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), English poet, novelist and short-story writer
• Jane Draycott (living), English poet
• Michael Drayton (1563–1631), English poet of Elizabethan era
• Aleksander Stavre Drenova (1872–1947), Albanian poet
• John Drinkwater (1882–1937), English poet and dramatist
• Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797–1848), German poet
• William Drummond (1585–1649), Scottish poet
• William Henry Drummond (1854–1907), Irish-born Canadian poet
• Elżbieta Drużbacka (1695 or 1698–1765), Polish poet
• John Dryden (1631–1700), English poet, critic and playwright
• Toru Dutt (1856–1877), Indian poet and translator writing in French and English

Du–Dy

• Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590), French Huguenot poet
• Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522–1560), French poet, critic and La Pléiade member
• W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), US writer and activist
• Norman Dubie (born 1945), US poet
• Jovan Dučić (1871–1943), Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
• Du Fu (712–770), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
• Du Mu (803–852), Chinese poet of the late Tang dynasty
• Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), Scottish poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
• Alan Dugan (1923–2003), US poet
• Sasha Dugdale (born 1974), English poet, playwright and translator
• Richard Duke (1658–1711), English clergyman and poet
• Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), African-US poet, novelist and playwright
• William Dunbar (c. 1460 – c. 1520), Scots makar
• Robert Duncan (1919–1988), US poet
• Camille Dungy (born 1972), US poet, academic and essayist
• Douglas Dunn (born 1942), Scottish poet, academic and critic
• Stephen Dunn (1939–2021), US poet
• Helen Dunmore (1952–2017), English poet, novelist and children's writer
• Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany (1878–1957), Irish poet
• Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), English novelist, poet and dramatist
• Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873), Bengali poet and dramatist
• Stuart Dybek (born 1942), US poet, writer
• Sir Edward Dyer (1543–1607), English courtier and poet
• Bob Dylan (born 1941), US singer-songwriter and writer

E

• Joan Adeney Easdale (1913–1998), English poet
• Richard Eberhart (1904–2005), US poet
• Houshang Ebtehaj (1928–2022), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Russell Edson (1935–2014), US poet, novelist and illustrator
• Terry Ehret (born 1955), US poet
• Max Ehrmann (1872–1945), US writer, poet, and attorney
• Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), German poet and novelist
• Kristín Eiríksdóttir (born 1981), Icelandic poet
• George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) (1819–1880), English novelist, journalist and translator
• T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), US/English publisher, playwright and critic
• Ebenezer Elliott ("Corn Law rhymer", 1781–1849), English poet
• E. S. Elliott (1836–1897), English poet, hymnwriter, novelist, editor
• Julia Anne Elliott (1809–1841), English poet and hymnwriter
• Royston Ellis (born 1941), English poet
• Paul Éluard (1895–1952), French poet
• Odysseus Elytis (1911–1996), Greek poet
• Claudia Emerson (1957–2014), US poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia
• Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), US essayist, lecturer and poet
• Gevorg Emin (1918–1998), Armenian poet, essayist and translator
• Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889), Romanian poet, novelist and journalist
• William Empson (1906–1984), English literary critic and poet
• Yunus Emre (c. 1240 – c. 1321), Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
• Michael Ende (1929–1995), German fantasy and children's writer and poet
• Leszek Engelking (born 1955), Polish, poet, fiction writer and translator
• Paul Engle (1908–1991), US poet, novelist and playwright
• Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BCE), father of Latin poetry in Rome
• D. J. Enright (1920–2002), English poet, novelist and critic
• Hans Magnus Enzensberger (born 1929), German writer, poet and translator
• János Erdélyi (1814–1868), Hungarian poet and philosopher
• Louise Erdrich (born 1954), US novelist, poet and children's writer featuring Native US heritage
• Haydar Ergülen (born 1956), Turkish poet
• Max Ernst (1891–1976), German poet and artist
• Errapragada Erranna, 14th-century Telugu poet
• Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1170 – c. 1220), German Minnesinger poet and knight
• Clayton Eshleman (1935–2022), US poet, translator and editor
• Martín Espada (born 1957), US poet and teacher
• Florbela Espanca (1894–1930), Portuguese poet
• Salvador Espriu (1913–1985), Catalan poet in Spain
• Jill Alexander Essbaum (born 1971), US poet
• Alter Esselin (1889–1974), Yiddish US poet
• Claude Esteban (1935–2006), French poet
• Maggie Estep (born 1963), US slam poet and musician
• Euripides (480–406 BCE), Athenian tragedian
• Margiad Evans (1909–1958), English poet and novelist
• Mari Evans (1923–2017), African-US poet
• William Everson (Brother Antoninus) (1912–1994), US poet and critic
• Gavin Ewart (1916–1995), English poet
• Elisabeth Eybers (1915–2007), South African/Dutch poet; poetry in Afrikaans

F

Fa–Fn

• Frederick William Faber (1814–1863), English poet, hymnist and theologian
• Kinga Fabó (1953–2021), Hungarian poet and essayist
• Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911–1984), Indian/Pakistani poet
• Fakhruddin As'ad Gurgani (11th-century), Persian poet
• Padraic Fallon (1905–1974), Irish poet
• Christian Falster (1690–1752), Danish poet and philologist
• Ferenc Faludi (1704–1779), Hungarian poet
• György Faludy (1910–2006), Hungarian poet and translator
• U. A. Fanthorpe (1929–2009), English poet
• Ahmad Faraz (1931–2008), Pakistani Urdu poet and scriptwriter
• Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), English children's writer, playwright and poet
• J. P. Farrell (born 1968), US poet and musician
• Forough Farrokhzad (1934–1967), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Farrukhi Sistani (1000–1040), Persian poet
• Joseph Fasano (born 1982), American poet and novelist
• Elaine Feinstein (1930–2019), English poet, novelist and playwright
• Károly Fellinger (born 1963), Hungarian poet in Slovakia
• Fenggan (fl. 9th c.), Chinese Zen monk poet under the Tang dynasty
• Elijah Fenton (1683–1730), English poet, biographer and translator
• James Fenton (1931–2021), Northern Irish linguist and poet in Ulster Scots
• James Martin Fenton (born 1949), English poet, journalist and literary critic
• Ferdowsi (935–1020), Persian poet
• Teréz Ferenczy (1823–1853), Hungarian poet
• Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), Scottish poet
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), US poet, painter and activist
• Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), Spanish dramatist, translator and poet
• Jerzy Ficowski (1924–2006), Polish poet, writer and translator
• Henry Fielding (1707–1754), English novelist, dramatist and poet
• Juan de Dios Filiberto (1885–1964), Argentine poet and musician
• Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), English nature poet
• Annie Finch (born 1956), US poet, librettist and translator
• Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), Scottish poet, writer and gardener
• Roy Fisher (1930–2017), English poet and jazz pianist
• Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), English poet and translator of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
• Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985), US poet, critic and translator
• Marjorie Fleming (1803–1811), Scottish child poet and diarist
• Giles Fletcher the Elder (c. 1548–1611), English poet, diplomat and MP
• Giles Fletcher the Younger (c. 1586–1623), English poet
• John Fletcher (1579–1625), English playwright and poet
• John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950), US Imagist poet
• Phineas Fletcher (1582–1650), English poet; elder son of Giles Fletcher the elder, brother of Giles the younger
• F. S. Flint (1885–1960), English poet and translator

Fo–Fu

• Jean Follain (1903–1971), French author and poet
• Theodor Fontane (1819–1898), German novelist, poet and realist writer
• John Forbes (1950–1998), Australian poet
• Carolyn Forché (born 1950), US poet, editor and translator
• Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), English novelist, poet and critic
• John Ford (1586–1639), English playwright and poet
• John M. Ford (1957–2006), US SF and fantasy writer, game designer and poet
• Veronica Forrest-Thomson (1947–1975), Scots poet and critical theorist
• Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), Italian writer, revolutionary and poet
• William Fowler (c. 1560–1612), Scottish poet, writer and translator
• Janet Frame (1924–2004), New Zealand author
• Anatole France (1844–1924), French poet, journalist and novelist
• Robert Francis (1901–1987), US poet
• Veronica Franco (1546–1591), Italian poet and courtesan
• G S Fraser (1915–1980), Scots poet, critic and academic
• Gregory Fraser (born 1963), US poet, editor and professor
• Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), Albanian poet and writer
• Louis-Honoré Fréchette (1839–1908), Canadian poet, politician and playwright
• Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876), Polish poet and playwright
• Grace Beacham Freeman (1916–2002), US poet and fiction writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1985–1986
• Nicholas Freeston (1907–1978), English poet
• Erich Fried (1921–1988), Austrian-born British poet, writer and translator
• Jean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 1405), French chronicler and court poet
• Robert Frost (1874–1963), US poet
• Gene Frumkin (1928–2007), US poet and teacher
• John Fuller (born 1937), English poet and author, son of Roy Fuller
• Roy Fuller (1912–1991), English poet
• Alice Fulton (born 1952), US poet and novelist; Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
• John Furnival (1933–2020), British visual and concrete poet
• Milán Füst (1888–1967), Hungarian poet, novelist and playwright
• Fuzûlî (c. 1483–1556), Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet

G

Ga–Go

• Tadeusz Gajcy (1922–1944), Polish poet
• Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1905–1953), Polish poet and stage writer
• Karina Galvez (born 1964), Ecuadorian poet
• James Galvin (born 1951), US poet
• Etienne-Paulin Gagne (1808–1876), French poet, essayist and inventor
• János Garay (1812–1853), Hungarian poet and journalist
• Robert Garioch (wrote as Robert Garioch Sutherland, 1909–1981), Scottish poet and translator
• Hamlin Garland (1860–1940), US novelist, poet and essayist
• Raymond Garlick (1926–2011), Anglo-Welsh poet and editor
• Richard Garnett (1835–1906), English scholar, biographer and poet
• Jean Garrigue (1914–1972), US poet
• Samuel Garth (1661–1719), English physician and poet
• George Gascoigne (1535–1577), English poet, soldier and would-be courtier
• David Gascoyne (1916–2001), English poet of the Surrealist movement
• Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), French poet, dramatist and novelist
• John Gay (1685–1732), English poet and dramatist
• Yehonatan Geffen (born 1947), Israeli author, poet and playwright
• Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (1904–1991), US writer, poet and cartoonist
• Juan Gelman (1930–2014), Argentinian poet, writer and translator
• Stefan George (1868–1933), German poet, editor and translator
• Dan Gerber (born 1940), US poet
• Ágnes Gergely (born 1933), Hungarian poet, novelist and translator
• Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676), German hymnist
• Cezary Geroń (1960–1998), Polish poet, journalist and translator
• Mirza Asadulla Khan Ghalib (1797–1869), Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
• Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) (born 1946), US children's author, poet and feature writer
• Reginald Gibbons (born 1947), US poet, fiction writer and critic
• Khalil Gibran (1883–1931), Lebanese-US artist, poet and writer
• Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878–1962), English poet
• Ryan Giggs (born 1973), Welsh poet, footballer and homewrecker
• Jack Gilbert (1925–2012), US poet
• W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), English poet
• Zuzanna Ginczanka (Sara Ginzburg, 1917–1945), Polish poet
• Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), US Beat Generation poet
• Dana Gioia (born 1950), US writer, critic and poet
• Nikki Giovanni (born 1943), US poet, writer and educator
• Zinaida Gippius (1869–1945), Russian poet, playwright and religious thinker
• Giglio Gregorio Giraldi (1479–1552), Italian scholar and poet
• Giuseppe Giusti (1809–1850), Italian poet
• Denis Glover (1912–1980), New Zealand poet and publisher
• Louise Glück (born 1943), US poet; US Poet Laureate
• Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), Indian poet in Punjabi, Urdu, etc.
• Cyprian Godebski (1765–1809), Polish poet and novelist
• Gérald Godin (1938–1994), Canadian poet in French
• Patricia Goedicke (1931–2006), US poet
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German writer, artist and politician
• Octavian Goga (1881–1938), Romanian poet, playwright and translator
• Leah Goldberg (1911–1970), Hebrew-language poet, playwright and writer
• Rumer Godden (1907–1998), English children's writer and poet
• Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924), Turkish sociologist, writer and poet
• Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774), Anglo-Irish writer and poet
• Pavel Golia (1887–1959), Slovenian poet and playwright
• George Gomri (born 1934), Hungarian poet and journalist (also in English)
• Luis de Góngora (1561–1627), Spanish lyric poet
• Lorna Goodison (born 1947), Jamaican poet
• Paul Goodman (1911–1972), US novelist, playwright and poet
• Barnabe Googe or Gooche (1540–1594), English pastoral poet and translator
• Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870), Australian poet and politician
• Gábor Görgey (born 1929), Hungarian poet and politician
• Sergei Gorodetsky (1884–1967), Russian poet
• Hedwig Gorski (born 1949), US performance poet and artist
• Herman Gorter (1864–1927), Dutch poet and socialist
• Sir Edmund William Gosse (1849–1928), English poet, author and critic
• Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915), French poet, novelist and critic
• John Gower (c. 1330–1408), English poet and friend of Chaucer

Gr–Gy

• Anders Abraham Grafström (1790–1870), Swedish historian, priest and poet
• James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650), Scottish nobleman, soldier and poet
• Jorie Graham (born 1950), US poet and first female Boylston Professor at Harvard
• W S Graham (1918–1986), Scottish poet
• Mark Granier (born 1957), Irish poet and photographer
• Alex Grant (living), Scottish US poet and teacher
• Günter Grass (1927–2015), German novelist, poet and playwright; 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Richard Graves (1715–1804), English poet and essayist
• Robert Graves (1895–1985), English author and scholar
• Sir Alexander Gray (1882–1968), Scottish translator, writer and poet
• Thomas Gray (1716–1771), English poet
• Robert Greene (1558–1592), English author and poet
• Dora Greenwell (1821–1882), English poet
• Linda Gregg (1942–2019), US poet
• Horace Gregory (1898–1982), US poet, translator and critic
• Eamon Grennan (born 1941), Irish poet
• Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628), English poet, dramatist and statesman
• Susan Griffin (born 1943), US poet and writer
• Ann Griffiths (1776–1805), Welsh poet and hymnist
• Bill Griffiths (1948–2007), English poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar
• Jane Griffiths (born 1970), English poet and literary historian
• Rachel Eliza Griffiths (born 1978), US poet, photographer and visual artist
• Mariela Griffor (born 1961), Chilean poet, short-story writer and scholar
• Geoffrey Grigson (1905–1985), English poet and critic
• Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), Austrian writer, poet and dramatist
• Nicholas Grimald (1519–1562), English poet and dramatist
• Angelina Weld Grimké (1880–1958), African-US playwright and poet
• Charlotte Forten Grimké (1835–1914), African-US poet
• Rufus W. Griswold (1815–1857), US anthologist, poet and critic
• Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
• Nikanor Grujić (1810–1887), Serbian writer, poet and bishop
• Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
• Philip Gross (born 1952), English poet, novelist and playwright
• Igo Gruden (1893–1948), Slovene poet and translator
• N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872), Danish poet, pastor and historian
• Wioletta Grzegorzewska (born 1974), Polish poet and writer
• Barbara Guest (1920–2006), US poet and prose stylist
• Edgar Guest (1881–1959), English-born US poet
• Paul Guest (living), US poet and memoirist
• Bimal Guha (born 1952), Bangladesh poet writing in Bengali
• Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200 – c. 1240), French scholar and poet
• Jorge Guillén (1893–1984), Spanish poet
• Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), Cuban poet, activist and writer
• Guido Guinizelli (c. 1230–1276), Italian poet
• Guiot de Provins (died after 1208), French poet and trouvère
• Malcolm Guite (born 1957)
• Gül Baba (died 1541), Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet
• Nikolay Gumilyov (1886–1921), Russian poet who founded acmeism
• Ivan Gundulić (Gianfrancesco Gondola) (1589–1638), Croatian Baroque poet
• Thom Gunn (1929–2004), Anglo-US poet
• Lee Gurga (born 1949), US haiku poet
• Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), English composer and poet
• Lars Gustafsson (1936–2016), Swedish poet, novelist and scholar
• Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 1950), Cuban novelist and poet
• Beth Gylys (born 1964), US poet and professor
• István Gyöngyösi (1620–1704), Hungarian poet
• Géza Gyóni (1884–1917), Hungarian poet
• Brion Gysin (1916–1986), English writer and sound poet
• Gabor G. Gyukics (born 1958), Hungarian-US poet and translator (also in English)

H

Ha

• Rafey Habib (living), Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
• Marilyn Hacker (born 1942), US poet, translator and critic
• Hadraawi (born 1943), Somaliland poet and songwriter
• Hafez (1315–1390), Persian poet
• Hai Zi (1964–1989), Chinese poet
• John Haines (1924–2011), US poet and educator
• Donald Hall (1928–2018), US poet, writer and critic; US Poet Laureate
• Arthur Hallam (1811–1833), English poet, subject of In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Tennyson
• Michael Hamburger (1924–2007), English translator, poet and academic
• Han Yu (768–824), Chinese essayist and poet of the Tang dynasty
• Hanshan (fl. 9th c.), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
• Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English novelist and poet
• Charles Harpur (1813–1868), Australian poet
• Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (1921–2018), Guyanese poet, novelist and essayist
• Jim Harrison (1937–2016), US poet, novelist and essayist
• Tony Harrison (born 1937), English poet and playwright
• Carla Harryman (born 1952), US poet, essayist and playwright
• David Harsent (born 1942), English poet and TV scriptwriter
• Paul Hartal (born 1936), Hungarian-born Canadian poet, painter and critic
• Peter Härtling (1933–2017), German writer and poet
• Michael Hartnett (1941–1999), Irish poet writing in English and Irish
• Julia Hartwig (1921–2017), Polish poet, writer and translator
• Gwen Harwood (1920–1995), Australian poet and librettist
• Alamgir Hashmi (born 1951), English poet of Pakistani origin
• Ahmet Haşim (c. 1884–1933), Turkish poet
• Robert Hass (born 1941), US poet; former Poet Laureate
• Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920), emir of the Dervish movement, of which Diiriye Guure was sultan^[1]
• Olav H. Hauge (1908–1994), Norwegian poet
• Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946), German dramatist, poet and novelist; Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912
• Stephen Hawes (died 1523), English poet
• Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875), English poet, antiquarian and Anglican priest
• George Campbell Hay (1915–1984), Scottish poet and translator in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots and English
• Gilbert Hay (fl. 15th c.), Scottish poet and translator in Middle Scots
• Robert Hayden (1913–1980), US poet, essayist and educator; 1976 US Poet Laureate
• William Hayley (1745–1820), English writer
• Tony Haynes (born 1960), US poet, songwriter and lyricist
• Ha Seung-moo(born October 13, 1963), Korean poet, professor and theologian

He

• Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), Irish poet, playwright and translator; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Josephine D. Heard (1861 – c. 1921), US teacher and poet
• John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006), English poet and translator
• Anne Hébert (1916–2000), Canadian poet and novelist
• Anthony Hecht (1923–2004), US poet
• Jennifer Michael Hecht (born 1965), US poet, historian and philosopher
• Allison Hedge Coke (born 1958), US poet, writer and performer
• Markus Hediger (born 1959), Swiss writer and translator
• Ilona Hegedűs (living), poet
• John Hegley (born 1953), English performance poet, comedian and songwriter
• Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), German poet, essayist and literary critic
• Lyn Hejinian (born 1941), US poet, essayist and translator
• Acharya Hemachandra (1089–1172), Jain scholar, poet and polymath
• Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), English poet
• Marian Hemar (1901–1972), Polish poet, songwriter and playwright
• Essex Hemphill (1957–1995), US poet and activist
• Hamish Henderson (1919–2002), Scottish poet, songwriter and catalyst for folk revival in Scotland
• William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), English poet, critic and editor
• Adrian Henri (1932–2000), English poet and painter
• Robert Henryson (died c. 1500), Scottish poet
• Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648), Anglo-Welsh soldier, historian, poet and philosopher; brother of George Herbert
• George Herbert (1593–1633), public orator and poet
• Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621) (née Sidney), early English woman in literature
• Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998), Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
• David Herbison (1800–1880), Irish poet, writing in Ulster Scots dialect and English
• Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), German philosopher, theologian and literary critic
• Miguel Hernández (1910–1942), Spanish poet and playwright of Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
• Herodas or Herondas (3rd c. BCE), Greek poet and author of humorous dramatic scenes in verse
• Antoine Héroet (died 1568), French poet
• Robert Herrick (1591–1674), English poet
• Thomas Kibble Hervey (1799–1859), Scottish-born English poet and critic
• Hesiod (fl. 750–650 BCE), Ancient Greek poet
• Phoebe Hesketh (1909–2005), English poet
• Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter
• Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002), Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright
• John Harold Hewitt (1907–1987), Northern Irish poet
• William Heyen (born 1940), US poet, literary critic, novelist
• Thomas Heywood (c. 1570s – 1641), English playwright, actor and author

Hi–Hy

• Dick Higgins (1938–1998), English poet and publisher
• Scott Hightower (born 1952), US poet and teacher
• Nâzım Hikmet (1902–1963), Turkish poet, playwright and novelist
• Geoffrey Hill (1932–2016), English poet and professor
• Selima Hill (born 1945), English poet
• Hilda Hilst (1930–2004), Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist
• Ellen Hinsey (born 1960), US poet
• Hipponax (6th c. BCE), of Ephesus, Ancient Greek iambic poet
• Hirato Renkichi (1893–1922), Japanese avant-garde poet
• Rozalie Hirs (born 1965), Dutch poet
• Jane Hirshfield (born 1953), US poet
• George Parks Hitchcock (1914–2010), US poet, playwright and painter
• H. L. Hix (born 1960), US poet and academic
• Marian Hluszkewycz (1877–1935), Russian poet
• Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (c. 1368 – 1426), English poet and clerk
• Michael Hofmann (born 1957), German-born poet and translator in English
• Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), Austrian novelist, poet and dramatist
• James Hogg (1770–1835), Scottish poet and novelist
• David Holbrook (1923–2011), English writer, poet and academic
• Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843), German lyric poet
• Margaret Holford (1778–1852), English poet and novelist
• Barbara Holland (1933–2010), US author
• John Hollander (1929–2013), Jewish-US poet and literary critic
• Matthew Hollis (born 1971), English poet
• Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), US poet, professor and author
• Homer (fl. 8th c. BCE), Greek epic poet
• Thomas Hood (1799–1845), English humorist and poet; father of playwright and editor Tom Hood
• A. D. Hope (1907–2000), Australian satirical poet and essayist
• Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), English poet and Jesuit priest
• Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–08 BCE), Roman lyric poet
• George Moses Horton (1797–1884), African-US poet
• Joan Houlihan, US poet
• A. E. Housman (1859–1936), English poet and classicist
• Libby Houston (living), English poet, botanist and rock climber
• Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547), English Renaissance poet
• Richard Howard (1929–2022), US poet, critic and essayist
• Fanny Howe (born 1940), US poet and fiction writer
• Susan Howe (born 1937), US poet, scholar and essayist
• Hrotsvitha (died c. 1002), poet and first known female dramatist, from Lower Saxony
• Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1949), Bangladeshi poet in Bengali
• John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet in Welsh
• Langston Hughes (1902–1967), US poet, novelist and playwright
• Ted Hughes (1930–1998), English poet and children's writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
• Richard Hugo (1923–1982), US poet
• Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French poet, novelist and dramatist
• Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), Chilean poet
• Lynda Hull (1954–1994), US poet
• Keri Hulme (1947–2021), New Zealand poet and fiction writer
• Thomas Ernest Hulme (1883–1917), English critic and poet
• Alexander Hume (1560–1609), Scottish poet
• Leigh Hunt (1784–1859), English critic, essayist and poet
• Sam Hunt (born 1946), New Zealand poet
• Hồ Xuân Hương (1772–1822), Vietnamese poet
• Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), English novelist, poet and travel writer
• Abby B. Hyde (1799–1872), American hymnwriter
• Helen von Kolnitz Hyer (1896–1983), US poet and writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1974–1983

I

• Khadijah Ibrahiim (fl. 2022), British poet^[2]
• Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828–1906), Norwegian playwright, director and poet
• Ibycus (fl. late 6th c. BCE), Ancient Greek lyric poet
• Ikkyu (1394–1481), Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet
• Vojislav Ilić (1860–1894), Serbian poet
• Gyula Illyés (1902–1983), Hungarian poet and novelist
• Maria Ilnicka (1825 or 1827–1897), Polish poet, novelist and translator
• Tonya Ingram (1991–2022), US poet
• Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
• Avetik Isahakyan (1875–1957), Armenian lyric poet
• Sabit Ince (born 1954), Turkish lyric poet
• Inge Israel (1927–2019), Canadian poet and playwright
• Wacław Iwaniuk (1912–2001), Polish poet and journalist
• Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (Eleuter, 1894–1980), Polish poet, dramatist and translator
• Sergey Izgiyaev (1922–1972), Russian poet, playwright and translator of Mountain Jewish descent

J

• FP Jac (1955–2008), Danish poet
• Violet Jacob (1863–1946), Scottish poet in Scots
• Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994), Norwegian poet and writer
• Ada Jafarey (1924–2015), Pakistani poet in Urdu
• Richard Jago (1715–1781), English poet
• Đura Jakšić (1832–1878), Serbian poet, painter and dramatist
• James I, King of Scots (1394–1437), author of The Kingis Quair
• James VI and I (1566–1625), King of Scots and of England and Ireland
• Christine James (born 1954), Welsh poet and academic
• Clive James (1939–2019), Australian author, poet and memoirist
• Ernst Jandl (1925–2000), Austrian writer, poet and translator
• Klemens Janicki (1516–1543), Polish poet in Latin
• Janus Pannonius (1434–1472), Hungarian/Slavonian poet in Latin
• Patricia Janus (1932–2006), US poet and artist
• Mark F. Jarman (born 1952), US poet and critic
• Randall Jarrell (1914–1965), US poet, children's author and novelist; US Poet Laureate
• Bruno Jasieński (1901–1938), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
• Mieczysław Jastrun (1903–1983), Polish poet and essayist
• László Jávor (1903–1992), Hungarian poet
• Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), US poet
• Vojin Jelić (1921–2004), Croatian Serb poet and writer
• Rod Jellema (1927–2018), US poet, teacher and translator
• Simon Jenko (1835–1869), Slovene poet, lyricist and writer
• Elizabeth Jennings (1926–2001), English poet
• Jia Dao (779–843), Chinese poet active under the Tang dynasty
• John of the Cross (1542–1591), Spanish mystic and poet
• Edmund John (1883–1917), English poet
• Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880–1966), US poet
• Helene Johnson (1906–1995), African-US poet
• James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), US author, poet and folklorist
• Lionel Johnson (1867–1902), English poet, essayist and critic
• Emily Pauline Johnson (in Mohawk: Tekahionwake) (1861–1913), Canadian writer, performer and poet marking First Nations heritage
• Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), English poet, essayist and lexicographer
• George Benson Johnston (1913–2004), Canadian poet, translator and academic
• Anna Jókai (1932–2017), Hungarian poet and prose writer
• David Jones (1895–1974), English artist and poet
• Edward Smyth Jones (1881–1968), African-American poet
• Richard Jones (living), English US poet
• Ben Jonson (1573–1637), English poet and dramatist
• June Jordan (1936–2002), US poet and educator
• Anthony Joseph (born 1966), British/Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician
• Jenny Joseph (1932–2018), English poet
• Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (1833–1904), Serbian poet, physician
• James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist and poet
• Attila József (1905–1937), Hungarian poet
• Frank Judge (1946–2021), US editor, poet and film critic
• Ferenc Juhász (1928–2015), Hungarian poet
• Gyula Juhász (1883–1937), Hungarian poet
• Jamal Jumá, Iraqi poet and researcher
• Donald Justice (1925–2004), US poet
• Juvenal (fl. 1st c. – 2nd c. CE), Roman poet and satirist
• Jumoke Verissimo (born 1979), Nigerian poet
• Jaydeep Sarangi (born 1973), Indian poet in English

K

Ka–Kh

• Abhay K (born 1980), Indian poet and diplomat
• Kabir (1440–1518), mystic poet and sant of India
• Margit Kaffka (1880–1918), Hungarian poet and novelist
• Kālidāsa (fl. c. 4th c.), Sanskrit poet
• Kambar (c. 1180–1250), Tamil poet
• Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, translator and critic
• Kannadasan (1927–1981), Tamil poet, author and lyricist
• Jim Kacian (born 1953), US haiku poet and editor
• Uuno Kailas (1901–1933), Finnish poet, author and translator
• Chester Kallman (1921–1975), US poet, librettist and translator
• László Kálnoky (1912–1985), Hungarian poet and translator
• Kálmán Kalocsay (1891–1976), Hungarian and Esperanto poet
• Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, writer and critic
• Ilya Kaminsky (born 1977), Russian-US poet, critic and translator
• Orhan Veli Kanik (1914–1950), Turkish poet
• Sándor Kányádi (1929–2018), Hungarian poet and translator from Romania
• Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021), Estonian poet, philosopher and critic
• Adeena Karasick (born 1965), Canadian/US poet, media artist and essayist
• Vim Karenine (born 1933), US poet, essayist and novelist
• György Károly (1953–2018), Hungarian poet and critic
• Franciszek Karpiński (1741–1825), Polish poet
• Mary Karr (born 1955), US poet, essayist and memoirist
• Siavash Kasrai (1927–1996), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Julia Kasdorf (born 1962), US poet
• Laura Kasischke (born 1961), US poet and fiction writer
• Jan Kasprowicz (1860–1926), Polish poet, playwright and critic
• Lajos Kassák (1887–1967), Hungarian poet, novelist and painter
• Erich Kästner (1899–1974), German author, poet and satirist
• József Katona (1791–1830), Hungarian playwright and poet
• Bob Kaufman (1925–1986), US beat poet and surrealist
• Shirley Kaufman (1923–2016), US poet and translator
• Rupi Kaur (born 1992), Indo-Canadian poet and photographer
• Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967), Irish poet and novelist
• Nikos Kavvadias (1910–1975), Greek poet
• Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976), Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary
• John Keats (1795–1821), English Romantic poet
• Weldon Kees (1914–1955), US poet, novelist and critic
• Isabella Kelly (1759–1857), Scottish poet and novelist
• Arthur Kelton (died 1549/1550), rhymer on Welsh history
• Miranda Kennedy (born 1975), US poet
• Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), English poet
• Walter Kennedy (c. 1455–1518), Scottish makar
• X. J. Kennedy (born 1929), US poet, anthologist and children's writer
• Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), US poet and translator
• Géza Képes (1909–1989), Hungarian poet and translator
• Khwaju Kermani (1290–1349), Persian poet
• Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), US novelist and poet
• Sidney Keyes (1922–1943), English poet killed in action in World War II
• Keorapetse Kgositsile (1938–2018), South African poet
• Mimi Khalvati (born 1944), Iranian-born British poet
• Dilwar Khan (1937–2013), Bangladeshi poet
• Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689), Pashtun Afghan poet, warrior and tribal chief
• Omar Khayyám (1048–1122), Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet
• Khaqani (1120–1199), Persian poet
• Kherdian, David (born 1931), Armenian-American writer, poet, and editor
• Vladislav Khodasevich (1886–1939), Russian poet and literary critic
• Talib Khundmiri (1938–2011), Indian poet and humorist in Urdu
• Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow (1253–1325), Sufi poet, scholar and musician

Ki–Ky

• Saba Kidane (born 1978), Eritrean poet
• Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), Danish philosopher and poet
• Emelihter Kihleng, Pohnpeian poet and academic
• Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski (born 1954), Polish poet and politician
• Takarai Kikaku (1661–1707), Japanese haikai poet and disciple of Matsuo Bashō
• Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), US writer and poet
• Edward King (1612–1637), Irish-born subject of Milton's Lycidas
• Henry King (1592–1669), English poet and bishop
• William King (1663–1712), English poet
• Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703), Danish bishop, poet and hymnist
• Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), German poet and revolutionary
• Galway Kinnell (1927–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
• John Kinsella (born 1963), Australian poet, novelist and essayist
• Thomas Kinsella (1928–2021), Irish poet, translator and editor
• Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), English fiction writer and poet
• Easterine Kire (born 1959), Naga poet and novelist
• Danilo Kiš (1935–1989), Serbian fiction writer and poet
• Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet, novelist and playwright
• Atala Kisfaludy (1836–1911), Hungarian poet
• Iya Kiva (born 1984), Ukrainian poet
• Eila Kivikk'aho (1921–2004), Finnish poet
• Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
• Sarah Klassen (born 1932), Canadian poet and fiction writer
• August Kleinzahler (born 1949), US poet
• Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), German poet
• Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1750–1807), Polish poet and Jesuit
• Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), African-US poet
• Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), Japanese haikai poet
• Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish Renaissance poet
• Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), US poet, playwright and professor
• Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish poet
• Petar Kočić (1877–1916), Bosnian Serb writer
• István Koháry (1649–1731), Hungarian poet
• Ferenc Kölcsey (1790–1838), Hungarian poet
• Aladár Komját (1891–1937), Hungarian poet
• Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1947), US poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
• Béla Kondor (1931–1972), Hungarian poet, prose writer and painter
• Faik Konitza (1875–1942), Albanian poet
• Halina Konopacka (1900–1989), Polish poet and athlete
• Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910), Polish poet, novelist and children's writer
• Ted Kooser (born 1939), US poet; US Poet Laureate 2004–2006
• Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski (1876–1901), Polish poet and translator
• Julian Kornhauser (born 1946), Polish poet, novelist and critic
• Apollo Korzeniowski (1820–1869), Polish expressionist poet
• József Kossics (Jožef Košič, 1788–1867), Hungarian/Slovenian poet and priest
• Laza Kostić (1841–1910), Serbian poet, writer and polyglot
• Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936), Hungarian poet and prose writer
• Gopi Kottoor (born 1956), Indian poet, playwright and editor
• Urszula Kozioł (born 1931), Polish poet
• Taja Kramberger (born 1970), Slovenian poet, translator and anthropologist
• Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Polish poet and novelist
• Zygmunt Krasiński (1812–1859), Polish poet
• Zlatko Krasni (1951–2008), Serbian poet
• Ruth Krauss (1901–1993), US poet and children's book author
• Krayem Awad (born 1948), Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor and poet
• Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (born 1946), US writer; Poet Laureate of Virginia
• Katarzyna Krenz (born 1953), poet, novelist and painter
• Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981), Croatian/Yugoslav poet and novelist
• Antjie Krog (born 1952), South African poet, academic and writer
• Józef Krupiński (1930–1998), Polish poet
• Ryszard Krynicki (born 1943), Polish poet and translator
• Marilyn Krysl (born 1942), US poet and fiction writer
• Andrzej Krzycki (1482–1537), Polish poet and archbishop

• Žofia Kubini (fl. 17th c.), Hungarian poet in early Czech
• Paweł Kubisz (1907–1968), Polish poet and journalist
• Péter Kuczka (1923–1999), Hungarian poet and critic
• Anatoly Kudryavitsky (born 1954), Russian/Irish novelist, poet and translator
• Endre Kukorelly (born 1951), Hungarian poet and journalist
• Maxine Kumin (1925–2014), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
• Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
• Yanka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus poet
• Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010), US counterculture poet and author
• Jalu Kurek (1904–1983), Polish poet and prose writer
• Momoko Kuroda (黒田杏子, born 1938), Japanese haiku poet
• Mira Kuś (born 1958), Polish poet
• Kusumagraj (1912–1999), Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
• Onat Kutlar (1936–1995), Turkish writer and poet
• Stephen Kuusisto (born 1955), US poet
• Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642), English poet

L

La

• Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), French fabulist
• Ilmar Laaban (1921–2000), Estonian poet
• Pierre Labrie (born 1972), Canadian poet in French
• László Ladányi (1907–1992), Hungarian-Israeli poet and writer
• Jules Laforgue (1860–1887), Franco-Uruguayan poet
• Abolqasem Lahouti (1887–1957), Persian poet
• Jarkko Laine (1947–2006), Finnish poet, writer and playwright
• Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996), Serbian poet
• Philip Lamantia (1927–2005), US poet and lecturer
• Kendrick Lamar (born 1987), US poet and hip-hop artist
• Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), French writer, poet and politician
• Charles Lamb (1775–1834), English essayist and poet
• Peter Lampe (born 1954), German scholar, writer and poet
• Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) (1802–1838), English poet and novelist
• Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864), English writer and poet
• Antoni Lange (1863–1929), Polish poet, philosopher and translator
• William Langland (c. 1332 – c. 1386), probable English author of dream-vision Piers Plowman
• Emilia Lanier (1569–1645), English poet
• Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos (c. 1510–1556), Hungarian poet and historian
• Laozi (Lau-tzu) (fl. 6th c. BCE), Chinese philosopher and poet
• Alda Lara (1930–1962), Angolan poet
• Rebecca Hammond Lard (1772–1855), US poet
• Bruce Larkin (born 1957), US children's author and poet
• Philip Larkin (1922–1985), English poet and novelist
• Claudia Lars (1899–1974), Salvadoran poet
• Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945), German poet and playwright
• Lasus of Hermione (6th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
• Evelyn Lau (born 1971), Canadian poet and novelist
• James Laughlin (1914–1997), US poet and publisher
• Ann Lauterbach (born 1942), US poet, essayist and professor
• Comte de Lautréamont (1846–1870), Uruguayan/French poet
• Dorianne Laux (born 1952), US poet
• Christine Lavant (1915–1973), Austrian poet and novelist
• D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist, poet and critic
• Henry Lawson (1867–1922), Australian writer and poet; son of Louisa Lawson
• Louisa Lawson (1848–1920), Australian poet and feminist
• Robert Lax (1915–2000), US poet
• Laxmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepalese poet and scholar
• Henryka Łazowertówna (1909–1942), Polish poet

Le

• Edward Lear (1812–1888), English poet, artist and illustrator
• Stanisław Jerzy Lec (1909–1966), Polish poet and aphorist
• Joanna Lech (born 1984), Polish poet and novelist
• Jan Lechoń (1899–1956), Polish poet, critic and diplomat
• Francis Ledwidge (1887–1917), Irish war poet
• David Lee (born 1966), US poet
• Dennis Lee (born 1939), Canadian poet, editor and critic
• David Lehman (born 1948), US poet and editor
• Ágnes Lehóczky (born 1976), Hungarian poet, academic and translator
• Eino Leino (1878–1926), Finnish poet and journalist
• Brad Leithauser (born 1953), US poet, novelist and essayist
• Alexander Lenard (1910–1972), Hungarian writer and poet
• Sue Lenier (born 1957), English poet and playwright
• Lalitha Lenin (born 1946), Indian poet
• Krystyna Lenkowska (born 1957), Polish poet and translator
• Charlotte Lennox (c. 1730–1804), Scottish poet and novelist
• John Leonard (born 1965), Australian poet
• Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), Italian poet, essayist and philologist
• Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), Russian writer, poet and painter
• Ben Lerner (born 1979), US poet, novelist and critic
• Bolesław Leśmian (1877–1937), Polish poet and artist
• Rika Lesser (born 1953), US poet and translator
• Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German writer, philosopher and dramatist
• Denise Levertov (1927–1997), British-born US poet
• Dana Levin (born 1965), US poet and teacher
• Philip Levine (1928–2015), US poet; 2011–2012 US Poet Laureate
• Larry Levis (1946–1996), US poet
• D. A. Levy (1942–1968), US poet, artist and publisher
• William Levy (1939–2019), US poet, fiction writer and editor
• Oswald LeWinter (1931–2013), poet
• Alun Lewis (1915–1944), Welsh poet in English
• C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), Northern Irish novelist, poet and essayist
• Gwyneth Lewis (born 1959), Welsh poet; inaugural National Poet of Wales
• J. Patrick Lewis (born 1942), US children's poet
• Saunders Lewis (1893–1985), Welsh poet, dramatist and critic
• Wyndham Lewis (1884–1957), English painter and author

Li–Ly

• Li Houzhu (937–978), Chinese poet and ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom (961–975 CE)
• José Lezama Lima (1910–1976), Cuban writer and poet
• Tim Liardet (born 1959), English poet, critic and professor
• Li Bai (701–762), Chinese Tang dynasty poet
• Jerzy Liebert (1904–1931), Polish poet
• Li Jiao, poet under the Tang and Zhou dynasties
• Li Qingzhao (1084–1151), Chinese Song dynasty writer and poet
• Li Shangyin (813–858), Chinese late Tang-dynasty poet
• Tim Lilburn (born 1950), Canadian poet and essayist
• Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001), US author and aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
• Jack Lindeman (fl. late 20th c.), US poet and critic
• Sarah Lindsay (born 1958), US poet
• Rossy Evelin Lima (born 1986), Mexican poet
• Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931), US poet
• Ewa Lipska (born 1945), Polish poet
• László Listi (1628–1662), Hungarian poet
• Alun Llywelyn-Williams (1913–1988), Welsh poet and critic
• Józef Łobodowski (1909–1988), Polish poet and political thinker
• Terry Locke (born 1946), New Zealand poet, anthologist and academic
• Thomas Lodge (1558–1625), English dramatist and writer
• Iain Lom (c. 1624 – c. 1710), Scottish Gaelic poet
• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), US poet and educator
• Michael Longley (born 1939), Northern Irish poet
• Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), Spanish poet, dramatist and stage director
• Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-US writer, poet and librarian
• Richard Lovelace (1618–1658), English Cavalier poet
• Amy Lowell (1874–1925), US poet
• James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), US poet, critic and diplomat
• Robert Lowell (1917–1977), US poet; 1947 US Poet Laureate
• Maria White Lowell (1821–1853), US poet and abolitionist
• Solomon Löwisohn (1788–1821), Hungarian Jewish poet and historian in Hebrew and German
• Mina Loy (1882–1966), English poet, playwright and novelist
• Lu You (1125–1209), Chinese Song dynasty poet
• Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski (1642–1702), Polish poet, writer and politician
• Gherasim Luca (1913–1994), Romanian poet and surrealist
• Lucan (39–65 CE), Roman poet
• Edward Lucie-Smith (born 1933), English writer, poet and broadcaster
• Gaius Lucilius (fl. 2nd c. BCE), Roman satirist
• Lucilius Junior (fl. 1st c. CE), poet and Procurator of Sicily
• Lucretius (c. 99 BCE – c. 55 BCE), Roman poet and philosopher
• Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836–1870), US author, journalist and explorer
• Edith Gyömrői Ludowyk (1896–1987), Hungarian poet and politician
• Luo Binwang (640–684), Chinese Tang-dynasty writer and poet
• Thomas Lux (1946–2017), US poet
• Mario Luzi (1914–2005), Italian poet
• John Lydgate (1370–1450), English monk and poet
• John Lyly (1553–1606), English writer, poet and dramatist
• Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (c. 1490 – c. 1555), Scottish Lord Lyon and poet
• Sandford Lyne (1945–2007), US poet, educator and editor
• George Lyttelton (1709–1773), English poet, statesman and arts patron

M

Ma

• Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), Anglo-Scottish poet and historian
• George MacBeth (1932–1992), Scottish poet and novelist
• Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), Scottish poet
• Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (1864–1922), Canadian poet and writer
• Hugh MacDiarmid (1892–1978), Scottish poet
• George MacDonald (1824–1905), Scottish poet and novelist
• Sorley MacLean (1911–1996), Scottish Gaelic poet
• Gwendolyn MacEwen (1941–1987), Canadian writer and poet
• Antonio Machado (1875–1939), Spanish poet
• Arthur Machen (1863–1947), Welsh author and mystic
• Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972), Scottish writer, memoirist and poet
• Archibald MacLeish (1892–1987), US modernist poet and writer
• Aonghas MacNeacail (born 1942), writer in Scottish Gaelic
• Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), Irish poet and playwright
• Hector Macneill (1746–1818), Scottish poet and songwriter
• James Macpherson (1736–1796), Scottish writer and poet
• Haki R. Madhubuti (born 1942), African-US writer, poet and educator
• Jayanta Mahapatra (born 1928), Indian English poet
• John Gillespie Magee Jr. (1922–1941), US poet and aviator
• Eric Magrane (born 1975), US poet and geographer
• Derek Mahon (1941–2020), Northern Irish poet
• Rudolf Maister (1874–1934), Slovene poet and activist
• Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar (1919–1977), Marathi and Hindi poet and playwright
• János Majláth (1786–1855), Hungarian historian and poet
• Clarence Major (born 1936), US poet, painter and novelist
• Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993), Serbian poet and professor
• Mahsati (13th-century), Persian poet
• Majeed Amjad (1914–1974), Indian/Pakistani poet in Urdu
• Antoni Malczewski (1793–1826), Polish poet
• Marcin Malek (born 1975), Polish poet, writer and playwright
• Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan) (1898–1982), Indian Urdu poet
• Madayyagari Mallana (fl. 15th c.), Telugu poet
• Stephane Mallarme (1842–1898), French poet and critic
• David Mallet (c. 1705–1765), Scottish dramatist and poet
• Thomas Malory (1405–1471), English author of Le Morte d'Arthur
• Goffredo Mameli (1827–1849), Italian patriot, poet and writer
• Osip Mandelstam (also Mandelshtam, 1891–1938), Russian poet
• James Clarence Mangan (1803–1849), Irish poet
• Bill Manhire (born 1946), New Zealand poet and fiction writer; New Zealand Poet Laureate
• Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st c. CE), Roman poet and astrologer
• Maurice Manning (born 1966), US poet
• Ruth Manning-Sanders (1895–1988), Welsh-born English poet and author
• Robert Mannyng (1275–1340), English chronicler and monk in Middle English, French and Latin
• Manuchehri (1031-?), Persian poet
• Chris Mansell (born 1953), Australian poet and publisher
• Jakobe Mansztajn (born 1982), Polish poet and blogger
• Manuchehri (Abu Najm Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Qaus Manuchehri; 11th c.), royal poet in Persia
• Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet and novelist
• Sándor Márai (1900–1989), Hungarian/US poet and novelist
• Ausiàs March (1397–1459), Valencian poet and knight
• Morton Marcus (1936–2009), US poet and author
• Mareez (1917–1983), Indian poet in Gujarati
• Paul Mariani (born 1940), US poet and academic
• Marie de France (fl. 12th c.), poet probably French-born and resident in England
• Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944), Italian poet and editor
• Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), Italian poet
• E. A. Markham (1939–2008), Montserrat poet, playwright and novelist
• Edwin Markham (1852–1940), US poet
• Đorđe Marković Koder (1806–1891), Serbian poet
• Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator
• Clément Marot (1496–1544), French Renaissance poet
• Don Marquis (1878–1937), US novelist, poet and playwright
• Edward Garrard Marsh (1783–1862), English poet and cleric
• John Marston (1576–1634), English playwright, poet and satirist
• José Martí (1853–1895), Cuban poet and writer
• Martial (40 – c. 102 CE), Roman epigrammatist
• Camille Martin (born 1956), Canadian poet and collage artist
• Harry Martinson (1904–1978), Swedish sailor, author and poet
• Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), English metaphysical poet and politician
• John Masefield (1878–1967), English poet and writer; UK Poet Laureate (1930–1967)
• Masud Sa'd Salman (1046–1121), Persian poet
• Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), US poet, biographer and dramatist
• Dafydd Llwyd Mathau (fl. earlier 17th c.), Welsh poet in Welsh
• János Mattis-Teutsch (1884–1960), Hungarian-Romanian poet and artist
• Glyn Maxwell (born 1962), British poet, playwright and librettist
• Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930), Russian/Soviet poet and playwright
• Karl May (1842–1912), German writer, poet and musician
• Bernadette Mayer (born 1945), US poet and prose writer
• Ben Mazer (born 1964), US poet and editor

Mc–Me

• James McAuley (1917–1976), Australian poet and critic
• Susan McCaslin (born 1947), Canadian/US poet and critic
• J. D. McClatchy (1945–2018), US poet and critic
• Michael McClure (1932–2020), US poet, playwright and novelist
• John McCrae (1872–1918), Canadian poet, physician and artist
• Walt McDonald (1934–2022), US poet; Poet Laureate of Texas
• Dermit McEncroe (fl. early 18th century), Irish doctor and poet
• Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet and comedian
• William Topaz McGonagall (1825–1902), Scottish writer of doggerel
• Roger McGough (born 1937), English comedian and poet
• Campbell McGrath (born 1962), US poet
• Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet and novelist
• Thomas McGrath (1916–1990), US poet
• Heather McHugh (born 1948), US poet, translator and educator
• Duncan Ban McIntyre (1724–1812), Scottish poet in Scottish Gaelic
• James McIntyre (1827–1906), Canadian writer of doggerel
• Claude McKay (1889–1948), Jamaican-US writer and poet
• Don McKay (born 1942), Canadian poet, editor and educator
• Rod McKuen (1933–2015), US poet, composer and singer
• James McMichael (born 1939), US poet
• Ian McMillan (born 1956), English poet, playwright and broadcaster
• Meera (1498–1546), Indian Hindu mystic poet and Krishna devotee
• Narsinh Mehta (c. 1414 – c. 1481), Indian poet-saint of Gujarat
• Mei Yaochen (1002–1060), Chinese Song dynasty poet
• Peter Meinke (born 1932), US poet and fiction writer
• Cecília Meireles (1901–1964), Brazilian poet
• Herman Melville (1819–1891), US fiction writer and poet
• Meng Haoran (689 or 691–740), Chinese Tang dynasty poet
• George Meredith (1828–1909), English poet and novelist
• Kersti Merilaas (1913–1986), Estonian poet
• Alda Merini (1931–2009), Italian writer and poet
• Stuart Merrill (1863–1915), US poet writing mainly in French
• James Merrill (1926–1995), US poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• Thomas Merton (1915–1968), US writer and Trappist monk
• W. S. Merwin (1927–2019), US poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2010 US Poet Laureate
• Sarah Messer (born 1966), US poet and writer
• Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), English poet
• Henry Meyer (1840–1925), US poet writing in Pennsylvania Dutch
• Ferenc Mező (1885–1961), Hungarian poet

Mi–Mo

• Henri Michaux (1899–1984), Belgian/French poet, writer and painter
• Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564), Italian poet and sculptor
• Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918), Polish poet and playwright
• Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), Polish poet, essayist and publicist
• Veronica Micle (1850–1889), Austrian/Romanian poet
• Christopher Middleton (c. 1560–1628), English poet and translator
• Christopher Middleton (c. 1690–1770), Royal Navy officer and navigator
• Christopher Middleton (1926–2015), English poet
• Thomas Middleton (1580–1627), English poet and playwright
• Agnes Miegel (1879–1964), German writer and poet
• Josephine Miles (1911–1985), US poet and critic
• Jennifer Militello, US poet and professor
• Branko Miljković (1934–1961), Serbian poet
• Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950), US lyric poet, playwright and feminist
• Alice Duer Miller (1874–1942), US writer and poet
• Grazyna Miller (1957–2009), Italian/Polish poet and translator
• Jace Miller, US poet
• Jane Miller (born 1949), US poet
• Joaquin Miller (1837–1913), US poet
• Leslie Adrienne Miller (born 1956), US poet
• Thomas Miller (1807–1874), English poet
• Vassar Miller (1924–1998), US writer and poet
• Spike Milligan (1918–2002), Irish comedian, poet and musician
• Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), Polish poet; 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature
• John Milton (1608–1674), English poet and polemicist
• Sima Milutinović Sarajlija (1791–1847), Serbian adventurer, writer and poet
• Marijane Minaberri (1926–2017), French/Basque poet and radio broadcaster
• Robert Minhinnick (born 1952), Welsh poet, essayist and novelist
• Matthew Minicucci (born 1981), US poet and teacher
• Mir Taqi Mir (1725–1810), Indian poet in Urdu
• Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957), Chilean poet and feminist; 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008), English poet, novelist and playwright
• Silas Weir Mitchell (1829–1914), US physician and writer
• Stephen Mitchell (born 1943), US poet, translator and anthologist
• Waddie Mitchell (born 1950), US poet
• Ndre Mjeda (1866–1937), Albanian Gheg poet
• Stanisław Młodożeniec (1895–1959), poet
• Anis Mojgani (born 1977), US spoken-word poet and visual artist
• Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1622–1673), French playwright
• Atukuri Molla (1440–1530), Indian Telugu poet
• Aja Monet, Black American poet
• Harold Monro (1879–1932), English poet
• Harriet Monroe (1860–1936), US scholar, critic and poet
• John Montague (1929–2016), Irish poet
• Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1661–1715), English poet and statesman
• Eugenio Montale (1896–1981), Italian poet, writer and translator; 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Alexander Montgomerie (c. 1550–1598), Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
• Alan Moore (born 1960), Irish writer and poet
• Marianne Moore (1887–1972), US poet and writer
• Merrill Moore (1903–1957), US psychiatrist and poet
• Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Irish poet, singer and songwriter
• Dom Moraes (1938–2004), Goan writer, poet and columnist
• Kelly Ana Morey (born 1968), New Zealand novelist and poet
• Edwin Morgan (1920–2010), Scottish poet and translator
• J. O. Morgan (born 1978), Scottish poet
• John Morgan (1688–1733), Welsh clergyman, scholar and poet
• Lorin Morgan-Richards (born 1975), US poet and author
• Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914), German author and poet
• Eduard Mörike (1804–1875), German poet
• William Morris (1834–1896), English writer, poet and designer
• Jim Morrison (1943–1971), US songwriter and poet
• Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621–1693), Polish poet
• Zbigniew Morsztyn (c. 1628–1689), Polish poet
• Valzhyna Mort (born 1981), Belarus poet
• Viggo Mortensen (born 1958), US poet, actor and musician
• Moschus (fl. 2nd c. BCE), Greek bucolic poet
• Howard Moss (1922–1987), US poet, dramatist and critic
• Andrew Motion (born 1952), English poet, novelist and biographer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1999–2009
• Enrique Moya (born 1958), Venezuelan poet, fiction writer and critic

Mu–My

• Micere Githae Mugo (1942–2023), Kenyan playwright, author and poet
• Erich Mühsam (1878–1934), German-Jewish essayist, poet and, playwright
• Edwin Muir (1887–1959), Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist and translator
• Paul Muldoon (born 1951), Irish poet
• Lale Müldür (born 1956), Turkish poet and writer
• Laura Mullen (born 1958), US poet
• Anthony Munday (1553–1633), English playwright and writer
• George Murnu (1868–1957), Romanian archeologist, historian and poet
• Sheila Murphy (born 1951), US text and visual poet
• George Murray (born 1971), Canadian poet
• Joan Murray (born 1945), US poet, writer and playwright
• Les Murray (1938–2019), Australian poet, anthologist and critic
• Richard Murphy (1927–2018), Irish poet
• Susan Musgrave (born 1951), Canadian poet and children's writer
• Lukijan Mušicki (1777–1837), Serbian poet, prose writer and polyglot
• Nikola Musulin (fl. 19th c.), Serbian poet
• Togara Muzanenhamo (born 1975), Zimbabwean poet
• Christopher Mwashinga (born 1965), Tanzanian poet, author and Christian minister
• Lam Quang My (born 1944), Vietnamese poet in Polish and Vietnamese

N

• Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian novelist and poet in Russian and English
• Daniel Naborowski (1573–1640), Polish poet
• Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), Spanish nun, mystic, writer, and poet
• Ágnes Nemes Nagy (1922–1991), Hungarian poet and translator
• Gáspár Nagy (1949–2007), Hungarian poet
• Lajos Parti Nagy (born 1953), Hungarian poet, playwright and critic
• László Nagy (1925–1978), Hungarian poet and translator
• Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539), first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
• Nannaya (c. 11th c.), earliest known Telugu author
• Philip Nanton (living), Vincentian poet
• Adam Naruszewicz (1733–1796), Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
• Ogden Nash (1902–1971), US poet known for light verse
• Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), English playwright, poet and satirist
• Nasir Khusraw (1004–1088), Persian poet
• Imadaddin Nasimi (died c. 1417), Azerbaijani poet
• Momčilo Nastasijević (1894–1938), Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist
• Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), Japanese novelist and poet
• Gellu Naum (1915–2001), Romanian poet, dramatist and children's writer
• Nedîm (c. 1681–1730), Ottoman poet
• John Neal (1793–1876), US writer, critic, activist and poet
• Henry Neele (1798–1828), English poet and scholar
• Walela Nehanda, Black American poet
• John Neihardt (1881–1973), US poet, historian and ethnographer
• Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Quebec poet
• Marilyn Nelson (born 1946), US poet, translator and children's writer
• Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1963–1964
• István Péter Németh (born 1960), Hungarian poet and literary historian
• Condetto Nénékhaly-Camara (1930–1972), Guinean poet and playwright
• Jan Neruda (1834–1891), Czech journalist, writer and poet
• Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), Chilean poet and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
• Neşâtî (died 1674), Ottoman Sufi poet
• Henry John Newbolt (1862–1938), English historian and poet
• John Henry Newman (1801–1890), writer, poet and hymnist
• Aimee Nezhukumatathil (born 1974), Asian US poet
• Nguyễn Du (1766–1820), Vietnamese poet in ancient Chữ Nôm script
• B. P. Nichol (bpNichol, 1944–1988), Canadian poet
• Nicholas I of Montenegro (1841–1921), poet and king of Montenegro
• Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese poet
• Norman Nicholson (1914–1987), English poet
• Lorine Niedecker (1903–1970), US poet
• Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1758–1841), Polish poet, playwright and statesman
• Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, poet and philologist
• Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (Migjeni) (1911–1938), Albanian poet and writer
• Nizami Aruzi (1110–1161), Persian poets
• Nisami (1141–1209), Persian poet
• Attar of Nishapur (1145–1221), Persian poet
• Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682), Japanese haikai poet
• Moeen Nizami (born 1965), Pakistani poet, scholar and writer
• Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813–1851), Serbian poet, playwright and prince-bishop
• Yamilka Noa (born 1980), Cuban–Costa Rican poet
• Gábor Nógrádi (born 1947), Hungarian poet, essayist and children's novelist
• Christopher Nolan (1965–2009), Irish poet and author
• Fan S. Noli (1882–1965), Albanian/US writer, diplomat and historian
• Olga Nolla (1938–2001), Puerto Rican poet, writer and professor
• Harry Northup (born 1940), US actor and poet
• Caroline Norton (1808–1877), English writer, feminist and reformer
• Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883), Polish poet, dramatist and artist
• Alice Notley (born 1945), US poet
• Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg) (1772–1801), German poet and novelist
• Franciszek Nowicki (1864–1935), Polish poet and conservationist
• Alfred Noyes (1880–1958), English poet
• Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993), first Aboriginal Australian published poet
• Julia Nyberg (1784–1854), Swedish poet and songwriter
• Naomi Shihab Nye (born 1952), Palestinian-US poet, songwriter and novelist
• Robert Nye (1939–2016), English poet, novelist and children's writer
• Niyi Osundare (born 1947), Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic

O

• Dositej Obradović (1742–1811), Serbian philosopher, writer and poet
• Sean O'Brien (born 1952), British poet, critic and playwright
• D. Michael O'Connor aka Damond Jiniya(Born 1974), North American singer, writer and poet
• Philip O'Connor (1916–1998), Anglo-French writer and poet
• Antoni Edward Odyniec (1804–1885), Polish poet
• Ron Offen (1930–2010), US poet, playwright and producer
• Dennis O'Driscoll (1954–2012), Irish poet
• Frank O'Hara (1926–1966), US writer, poet and art critic
• Hisashi Okuyama (born 1941), Japanese poet
• Porsha Olayiwola (born 1988), US poet
• Sharon Olds (born 1942), US poet
• Mary Oliver (1935–2015), US poet
• Charles Olson (1910–1970), US modernist poet
• Saishu Onoe (1876–1957), Japanese poet
• Onomacritus (c. 530–480 BCE), Attic poet, priest and seer
• George Oppen (1908–1984), US poet
• Artur Oppman (Or-Ot, 1867–1931), Polish poet
• Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II (1858–1923), US poet and painter
• Zaharije Orfelin (1726–1785), Serbian polymath and poet
• Władysław Orkan (1875–1930), Polish poet
• Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), US poet and actor; partner of Allen Ginsberg
• Gregory Orr (born 1947), US poet
• Agnieszka Osiecka (1936–1997), Polish poet, writer and screenplay author
• Alice Oswald (born 1966), English poet
• Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), Chinese Song dynasty historian, essayist and poet
• Ovid (43 BCE – 17 CE), Roman poet
• Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), English poet and soldier
• İsmet Özel (born 1944), Turkish poet and scholar

P

Pa

• Ruth Padel (born 1946), English poet, author and critic
• Ron Padgett (born 1942), US poet, writer and translator
• Padmanābha (15th century), Dingal (Old Gujarati) poet and historian
• Dan Pagis (1930–1986), Israeli poet and Holocaust survivor
• Grace Paley (1922–2007), US short story writer and poet
• Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897), English critic and poet
• Palladas (fl. 4th c.), Greek poet
• Michael Palmer (born 1943), US poet and translator
• Sima Pandurović (1883–1960), Serbian poet
• Sumitranandan Pant (1900–1977), Indian poet in Hindi
• William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymnist in Welsh
• Park Yong-rae (1925–1980), Korean poet
• Andrew Park (1807–1863), Scottish poet
• Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), US poet, fiction writer and satirist
• Amy Parkinson (1855–1938), British-born Canadian poet
• Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), Irish poet and clergyman
• Nicanor Parra (1914–2018), Chilean mathematician and poet
• Henry Parrot (fl. 1600–1626), English epigrammatist
• Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912), Italian poet
• Ámbar Past (born 1949), Mexican poet, visual artist
• Boris Pasternak (1890–1960), Russian poet, novelist and translator
• Leon Pasternak (1910–1969), Polish poet and satirist
• Benito Pastoriza Iyodo (born 1954), Puerto Rican poet and fiction and literature writer
• Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972), US poet and novelist
• Ravji Patel (1939–1968), Indian poet
• Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson) (1864–1941), Australian bush poet, journalist and author
• Don Paterson (born 1963), Scottish poet, writer and musician
• Coventry Patmore (1823–1896), English poet and critic
• Brian Patten (born 1946), English poet
• Lekhnath Paudyal (1885–1966), Nepalese poet
• Paul I, Prince Esterházy (1635–1713), Austro-Hungarian poet
• Cesare Pavese (1908–1950), Italian poet, novelist and critic
• Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891–1945), Polish poet and dramatist
• Octavio Paz (1914–1998), Mexican writer, poet and diplomat

Pe–Pl

• Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866), English poet and novelist
• Patrick Pearse (1879–1916), Irish poet and writer
• James Larkin Pearson (1879–1981), US poet and publisher
• Allasani Peddana (fl. 15th/16th cc.), Telugu poet
• Charles Péguy (1873–1914), French poet, essayist and editor
• Kathleen Peirce (born 1956), US poet
• Gabino Coria Peñaloza (1881–1975), Argentine poet and lyricist
• Sam Pereira (living), US poet
• Lucia Perillo (1958–2016), US poet
• Persius (34–62 CE), Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin
• Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), Portuguese poet, philosopher and critic
• Lenrie Peters (1932–2009), Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
• Robert Peters (1924–2014), US poet, scholar and playwright
• Pascale Petit (born 1953), French-Welsh poet and artist
• Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (1304–1374), Italian scholar and poet
• Kata Szidónia Petrőczy (1659–1708), Hungarian poet and prose writer
• Marine Petrossian (born 1960), Armenian poet, essayist and columnist
• Veljko Petrović (1884–1967), Serbian poet, prose writer and theorist
• Mirko Petrović-Njegoš (1820–1867), Serbian and Montenegrin poet, soldier and diplomat
• Mario Petrucci (born 1958), English poet, author and translator of Italian origin
• Ambrose Philips (1674–1749), English poet and politician
• Katherine Philips (1632–1664), Anglo-Welsh poet
• Savitribai Phule (1831–1897), Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra
• Pi Rixiu (c. 834–883), Tang dynasty poet
• Tom Pickard (born 1946), English poet and film maker
• Pindar (522–443 BCE), Theban lyric poet in Greek
• Robert Pinsky (born 1940), US poet, critic and translator; 1997–2000 US Poet Laureate
• Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), English poet
• Christine de Pizan (c. 1365 – c. 1430), Venetian historian, poet and philosopher
• Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), US poet and novelist
• William Plomer (1903–1973), South African novelist, poet and editor in English

Po–Pu

• Jacek Podsiadło (born 1964), Polish poet, translator and essayist
• Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), US author, poet and critic
• Suman Pokhrel (born 1967), Nepalese poet, playwright and artist
• Wincenty Pol (1807–1872), Polish poet and geographer
• Margaret Steuart Pollard (1904–1996), English poet
• Edward Pollock (1823–1858), US poet
• John Pomfret (1667–1702), English poet and clergyman
• Marie Ponsot (1921–2019), US poet, critic and essayist
• Vasko Popa (1922–1991), Serbian poet of Romanian descent
• Alexander Pope (1688–1744), English poet
• Antonio Porchia (1885–1968), Italian Argentinian poet
• Judith Pordon (born 1954), US poet, writer and editor
• Peter Porter (1929–2010), Australian poet based in England
• Halina Poświatowska (1935–1967), Polish poet and writer
• Roma Potiki (born 1958), New Zealand poet and playwright
• Wacław Potocki (1621–1696), Polish poet and moralist
• Ezra Pound (1885–1972), US expatriate poet and critic
• Alishetty Prabhakar (1952–1993), Telugu poet
• Tapan Kumar Pradhan (born 1972), Indian poet, translator and activist
• Adélia Prado (born 1935), Brazilian writer and poet
• Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839), English politician and poet
• Jaishankar Prasad (1889–1937), Indian poet in Hindi
• E. J. Pratt (1882–1964), Canadian poet
• Petar Preradović (1818–1872), Croatian poet, writer and general
• France Prešeren (1800–1849), Carniolan Romantic poet
• Jacques Prévert (1900–1977), French poet and screenwriter
• Richard Price (born 1966), Scottish poet, novelist and translator
• Robert Priest (born 1951), English-born Canadian poet, children's author and singer-songwriter
• F. T. Prince (1912–2003), English poet and academic
• Matthew Prior (1664–1721), English poet and diplomat
• Bryan Procter (1787–1874), English poet
• Sextus Propertius (50 or 45–15 BCE), Latin elegiac poet
• Kevin Prufer (born 1969), US poet, academic and essayist
• J. H. Prynne (born 1936), English poet
• Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865–1940), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
• Zenon Przesmycki (Miriam, 1861–1944), Polish poet, translator and critic
• Jeremi Przybora (1915–2004), Polish poet, writer and singer
• Luigi Pulci (1432–1484), Italian poet known for Morgante
• Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Russian poet, novelist and playwright

Q

• Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher
• Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (born 1951), Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
• Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri (1909–1985), Indian poet, writer and politician
• Aref Qazvini (1882–1934), Iranian poet, lyricist and musician, Persian poet
• Qatran Tabrizi (11th-century), Persian poet
• Qu Yuan (343–278 BCE), Chinese poet
• Francis Quarles (1592–1644), English Christian poet
• Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature

R

Ra–Re

• Rabia Balkhi (10th-century), Persian poet, She is the first known female poet to write in Persian
• Jean Racine (1639–1699), French dramatist
• Branko Radičević (1824–1853), Serbian lyric poet
• Leetile Disang Raditladi (1910–1971), poet from Botswana
• Sam Ragan (1915–1996), US poet, journalist and writer
• Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006), Bangladeshi poet and columnist
• Craig Raine (born 1944), English poet
• Kathleen Raine (1908–2003), English poet, critic and scholar
• Samina Raja (born 1961), Pakistani poet, writer and broadcaster
• Milan Rakić (1876–1938), Serbian poet
• Carl Rakosi (1903–2004), US Objectivist poet
• Martin Rakovský (c. 1535–1579), Hungarian poet and scholar
• Zsuzsa Rakovszky (born 1950), Hungarian poet and translator
• Maraea Rakuraku (living), New Zealand Māori poet, playwright and short story writer
• Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554–1618), English writer, poet and explorer
• Tenali Rama (16th c., CE), Telugu poet
• Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu (16th c., CE), Telugu poet
• Ramarajabhushanudu (mid 16th c. CE), Telugu poet and musician
• Guru Ram Das (1534–1581), Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
• Simón Darío Ramírez (1930–1992), Venezuelan poet
• Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Scottish poet, playwright and publisher
• Dudley Randall (1914–2000), African-US poet and publisher
• Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist
• John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974), US poet, essayist and editor
• Addepalli Ramamohana Rao (1936–2016), Telugu poet and literary critic
• Ágnes Rapai (born 1952), Hungarian poet, writer and translator
• Noon Meem Rashid (1910–1975), Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
• Stephen Ratcliffe (born 1948), US poet and critic
• Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005), Israeli poet and translator
• Tom Raworth (1938–2017), British poet and visual artist
• Herbert Read (1893–1968), English anarchist, poet and arts critic
• Peter Reading (1946–2011), English poet
• Angela Readman (born 1973), English poet
• James Reaney (1926–2008), Canadian poet, playwright and professor
• Malliya Rechana (mid-10th c. CE), Telugu poet
• Peter Redgrove (1932–2003), English poet
• Beatrice Redpath (1886–1937), Canadian poet and short story writer
• Henry Reed (1914–1986), English poet, translator and radio dramatist
• Ishmael Reed (born 1938), US poet, playwright and novelist
• Ennis Rees (1925–2009), US poet, professor and translator
• James Reeves (1909–1978), English poet, children's writer and writer on song
• Abraham Regelson (1896–1981), Israeli Hebrew poet, author and children's author
• Christopher Reid (born 1949), Hong Kong-born English poet, essayist and cartoonist
• James Reiss (1941–2016), US poet
• Mikołaj Rej (1505–1569), Polish poet and prose writer
• Robert Rendall (1898–1967), Orkney Scottish poet and amateur naturalist
• Pierre Reverdy (1889–1960), French poet of Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
• Jacobus Revius (born Jakob Reefsen) (1586–1658), Dutch poet, theologian and church historian
• Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), US poet, translator and critical essayist
• Sydor Rey (1908–1979), Polish poet and novelist
• Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976), US Objectivist poet
• Raees Warsi (born 1963), Pakistani poet, writer and lyricist writing in Urdu

Ri–Ry

• Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira (1925–2009), Ecuadorian poet
• Anne Rice (1941–2021), US fiction writer
• Stan Rice (1943–2002), US poet and artist; husband of Anne Rice
• Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), US poet, essayist and feminist
• John Richardson (1817–1886), English Lake District poet
• Edgell Rickword (1898–1982), English poet, critic and journalist
• Lola Ridge (1873–1941), Irish-born US anarchist poet and editor
• Laura Riding (1901–1981), US poet, critic and novelist
• Anne Ridler (1912–2001), English poet and editor
• James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916), US writer and poet
• John Riley (1937–1978), English poet of British Poetry Revival
• Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet
• Gopal Prasad Rimal (1918–1973), Nepali poet and playwright
• Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French symbolist poet of Decadent movement
• Alberto Ríos (born 1952), US poet and professor
• Khawar Rizvi (1938–1981), Pakistani poet and scholar in Urdu and Persian
• Emma Roberts (1794–1840), English travel writer and poet
• Michael Roberts (1902–1948), English poet, writer and editor
• Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935), US poet
• Mary Robinson (1757–1800), English poet and novelist
• Peter Robinson (born 1953), English poet
• Roland Robinson (1912–1992), Australian poet and writer
• Georges Rodenbach (1855–1898), Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist
• W R Rodgers (1909–1969), Northern Irish poet, essayist and Presbyterian minister
• José Luis Rodríguez Pittí (born 1971), Panamanian poet and artist
• Theodore Roethke (1908–1963), US poet
• Samuel Rogers (1763–1855), English poet
• Rognvald Kali Kolsson (c. 1103–1158), Earl of Orkney and saint
• Matthew Rohrer (born 1970), US poet
• Géza Röhrig (born 1967), Hungarian poet and actor
• Radoslav Rochallyi (born 1980), Slovak writer
• David Romtvedt (living), US poet
• Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585), French poet
• Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), Austrian poet
• Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), US poet, artist and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
• Penelope Rosemont (born 1942), US poet, writer and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
• Michael Rosen (born 1946), UK children's poet and former children's poet laureate
• Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918), English poet
• Barbara Rosiek (1959–2020), Polish poet, writer and psychologist
• Alan Ross (1922–2001), English poet, cricket writer and editor
• Christina Rossetti (1830–1894), English poet
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), English poet, illustrator and painter
• Andrus Rõuk (born 1957), Estonian artist and poet
• Raymond Roussel (1877–1933), French poet, novelist and playwright
• Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718), English dramatist, poet and miscellanist; UK Poet Laureate 1715
• Samuel Rowlands (c. 1573–1630), English poet and pamphleteer
• Susanna Roxman (1946–2015), English poet born in Sweden
• Istvan Rozanich (1912–1984), Hungarian poet exiled in Venezuela
• Tadeusz Różewicz (1921–2014), Polish poet and writer
• Ljubivoje Ršumović (born 1939), Serbian poet
• Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866), German poet, translator and academic
• Rudaki (858 – 940/41), Persian poet
• Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), US poet and political activist
• Zygmunt Rumel (1915–1943), Polish poet and partisan
• Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi Rumi (1207–1273), Persian Muslim poet, jurist and Sufi mystic
• Paul-Eerik Rummo (born 1942), Estonian poet
• Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), Finnish poet in Swedish
• Nipsey Russell (1918–2005), US poet and comedian
• Lucjan Rydel (1870–1918), Polish poet and playwright
• Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz (1935–2022), Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
• Ryōkan (1758–1831), Japanese calligrapher and poet

S

Sa–Se

• Sanai (1080–1131), Persian poet
• Umberto Saba (1883–1957), Italian poet and novelist
• Jaime Sabines (1926–1999), Mexican poet
• Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), Jewish German poet and playwright; 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex (1638–1706), English poet and courtier
• Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608), English statesman, poet and dramatist
• Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962), English author, poet and gardener
• Saib Tabrizi (1592–1676), Persian poets
• Saʿdī Shīrāzī (1184–1283/1291), Persian poet
• Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 1954), US poet, novelist and children's writer
• Ali Ahmad Said (Adunis) (born 1930), Syrian poet, essayist and translator
• Mellin de Saint-Gelais (c. 1491–1558), French Renaissance poet
• Akim Samar (1916–1943), Soviet poet and novelist seen as first Nanai language writer
• Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), African-US poet associated with Black Arts Movement
• Michal Šanda (born 1965), Czech writer and poet
• Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), US poet, writer and editor; three Pulitzer Prizes
• Jacopo Sannazaro (1458–1530), Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples
• Ann Sansom, English poet and writing tutor
• Aleksa Šantić (1868–1924), Bosnian Serb poet
• Taneda Santōka (1882–1940), Japanese free verse haiku poet
• Genrikh Sapgir (1928–1999), Russian poet and fiction writer
• Sappho (c. 630–612 – c. 570 BCE), ancient Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
• Jaydeep Sarangi (born 1973), Indian poet in English
• Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640), Polish poet in Latin
• William Saroyan (1908–1981), US author of Armenian descent
• Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), English war poet
• Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924–1995), Indonesian poet, fiction writer and literary critic
• Satsvarupa Das Goswami (born 1939), US poet and artist
• William Saunders (1806–1851), Welsh poet in Welsh
• Richard Savage (c. 1697–1743), English poet
• Leslie Scalapino (1944–2010), US poet, writer and playwright
• Maurice Scève (c. 1500–1564), French poet
• Hermann Georg Scheffauer (1876–1927), US poet, architect and fiction writer
• Georges Schehadé (1905–1989), Lebanese playwright and poet in French
• Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), German poet, philosopher and playwright
• Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), German author and translator
• Dennis Schmitz (1937–2019), US poet
• Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout (1910–1992), Surinamese poet and community leader, wrote in Sranan Tongo and English
• Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), Austrian author and dramatist
• Anton Schosser (1801–1849), Austrian dialect poet
• Philip Schultz (born 1945), US poet
• James Schuyler (1923–1991), US poet
• Delmore Schwartz (1913–1966), US poet and fiction writer
• Alexander Scott (c. 1520–1582/1583), Scottish poet
• Alexander Scott (1920–1989), Scottish poet and playwright
• Frederick George Scott (1861–1944), Canadian poet and author, father of F. R. Scott
• F. R. Scott (1899–1985), Canadian poet, academic and constitutional expert
• Tom Scott (1918–1995), Scottish poet
• Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet
• Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011), US soul musician and jazz poet
• George Bazeley Scurfield (1920–1991), English poet, novelist, author and politician
• Peter Seaton (1942–2010), US Language poet
• Władysław Sebyła (1902–1940), Polish poet
• Johannes Secundus (1511–1536), Dutch Neo-Latin poet
• Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (1639–1701), English poet, wit and dramatist
• George Seferis (pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs) (1900–1971), Greek poet and Nobel laureate
• Hugh Seidman (born 1940), US poet
• Rebecca Seiferle (living), US poet
• Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986), Czech writer, poet and journalist; 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Lasana M. Sekou (born 1959), Sint Maarten poet, essayist and journalist
• Semonides of Amorgos (c. 7th c. BCE), Greek iambic and elegiac poet
• Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001), Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist
• Robert W. Service (1874–1958), Scottish-Canadian poet
• Vikram Seth (born 1952), Indian author and poet
• Anne Sexton (1928–1974), US poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• John W. Sexton (born 1958), Irish poet, fiction and children's writer

Sh–Sj

• Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692), English poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1689–1692
• Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1565–1612), sultan of Golkonda and poet in Persian, Telugu and Urdu
• Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (1941–2001), Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
• Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar (1906–1988) Iranian poet (both Persian and Azerbaijani poet)
• Parveen Shakir (1952–1994), Pakistani poet, teacher and civil servant of the government of Pakistan
• William Shakespeare (c. 1564–1616), English poet and playwright
• Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), US rapper, actor and black activist
• Otep Shamaya (born 1979), US singer-songwriter, actress and poet
• Ahmad Shamlou (1925–2000), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Paata Shamugia (born 1983), Georgian poet
• Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), US playwright and poet
• Jo Shapcott (born 1953), English poet, editor and lecturer
• Karl Shapiro (1913–2000), US poet; US Poet Laureate, 1946–1947
• Sanu Sharma Nepalese Australian novelist, writer, poet, lyricist
• Brenda Shaughnessy (born 1970), US poet
• Luci Shaw (born 1928), English-born Christian poet
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), English Romantic poet
• William Shenstone (1714–1763), English poet
• Bhupi Sherchan (1935–1989), Nepalese poet
• Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), Ukrainian poet and artist
• Mustafa Sheykhoghlu (1340/1341 – 1410), Turkish poet and translator
• Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), Japanese author, poet and literary critic
• Hovhannes Shiraz (1915–1984), Armenian poet
• James Shirley (1596–1666), English dramatist
• Avraham Shlonsky (1900–1973), Israeli poet and editor
• Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), English poet, courtier and soldier
• Eli Siegel (1902–1978), Latvian-US poet, critic and philosopher
• Robert Siegel (1939–2012), US poet and novelist
• August Silberstein (1827–1900), Austro-Hungarian poet and writer in German
• Jon Silkin (1930–1997), English poet
• Hilda Siller (1861–1945), American poet and short story writer
• Ron Silliman (born 1946), US poet of Language poetry
• Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), US poet, musician and children's writer
• Simeon Simev (born 1949), Macedonian poet, essayist and journalist
• Charles Simic (born 1938), Serbian-US poet; US Poet Laureate, 2007–2008
• Simonides of Ceos (c. 556–468 BCE), Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
• Louis Simpson (1923–2012), Jamaican poet
• Bennie Lee Sinclair (1939–2000), US poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
• Burns Singer (1928–1964), US poet raised in Scotland
• Marilyn Singer (born 1948), US children's writer and poet
• Ervin Šinko (1898–1967), Croatian-Hungarian poet and prose writer
• Lemn Sissay (born 1967), English author and broadcaster
• Charles Hubert Sisson (1914–2003), English poet and translator
• Edith Sitwell (1887–1964), English poet and critic; eldest of three literary Sitwells
• Sjón (born 1962), Icelandic author and poet

Sk–Sp

• Egill Skallagrímsson (c. 910 – c. 990), Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer, protagonist of Egil's Saga
• John Skelton (1460–1529), English poet
• Sasha Skenderija (born 1968), Bosnian-US poet
• Ed Skoog (born 1971), US poet
• Jan Stanisław Skorupski (born 1938), Polish poet, essayist and esperantist
• Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912), Bulgarian poet
• Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), Bulgarian poet, publicist and folklorist
• Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971), Australian poet and journalist
• Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–1862), Slovene bishop, author and culture advocate
• Antoni Słonimski (1895–1976), Polish poet, playwright and artist
• Michaël Slory (1935–2018), Surinamese poet in Sranan Tongo, also in English, Dutch and Spanish
• Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), Polish Romantic poet
• Boris Slutsky (1919–1986), Russian poet
• Christopher Smart (1722–1771), English poet and playwright
• Hristo Smirnenski (1898–1923), Bulgarian poet and writer
• Bruce Smith (born 1946), US poet
• Charlotte Smith (1749–1806), English Romantic poet and novelist
• Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961), US poet, sculptor and author
• Margaret Smith (born 1958), US poet, musician and artist
• Patti Smith (born 1946), US singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist
• Stevie Smith (1902–1971), English poet and novelist
• Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–1975), Scottish poet in Braid Scots
• Tracy K. Smith (born 1972), US poet
• William Jay Smith (1918–2015), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1968–1970
• Tobias Smollett (1721–1771), Scottish poet and author
• William De Witt Snodgrass (1926–2009), US poet
• Gary Snyder (born 1930), US poet, essayist and environmentalist
• Edith Södergran (1892–1923), Finnish poet in Swedish
• Sōgi (1421–1502), Japanese waka and renga poet
• David Solway (born 1941), Canadian poet, educational theorist and travel writer
• Marie-Ange Somdah (born 1959), Burkinabe poet and writer
• William Somervile (1675–1742), English poet
• Sophocles (c. 496–406 BCE), Athenian tragedian
• Charles Sorley (1895–1915), English war poet
• Gary Soto (born 1952), Mexican-US author and poet
• William Soutar (1898–1943), Scottish poet in English and Braid Scots
• Caroline Anne Southey (1786–1854), English poet
• Robert Southey (1774–1843), English Romantic poet and UK Poet Laureate, 1813–1843
• Robert Southwell (1561–1595), English Catholic Jesuit priest, poet and clandestine missionary
• Wole Soyinka (born 1934), Nigerian poet and playwright and poet; 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Bernard Spencer (1909–1963), English poet, translator and editor
• Stephen Spender (1909–1995), English poet, novelist, and essayist; US Poet Laureate 1965–66
• Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), English poet

St–Sz

• Edward Stachura (1937–1979), poet, prose writer and translator
• Leopold Staff (1878–1957), Polish poet
• William Stafford (1914–1993), US poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–1971
• A. E. Stallings (born 1968), US poet and translator
• Jon Stallworthy (1935–2014), English academic, poet and literary critic
• Harold Standish (1919–1972), Canadian poet and novelist
• Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983), Romanian poet
• Ann Stanford (1916–1987), US poet
• Anna Stanisławska (1651–1701), Polish poet
• George Starbuck (1931–1996), US neo-Formalist poet
• Andrzej Stasiuk (born 1960), Polish poet and novelist
• Statius (c. 45–96, CE), Roman poet
• Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE (born 1932), New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
• Stesichorus (c. 640–555 BCE), Greek lyric poet
• Joseph Stefan (1835–1893), Carinthian Slovenes physicist, mathematician and poet in Austria
• Stefan Stefanović (1807–1828), Serbian poet
• Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), US modernist in prose and poetry
• Eric Stenbock (1860–1895), Baltic German poet and writer of fantastic fiction
• Mattie Stepanek (1990–2004), US poet and advocate
• George Stepney (1663–1707), English poet and diplomat
• George Sterling (1869–1926), US poet and playwright, author of "A Wine of Wizardry"
• Anatol Stern (1899–1968), Polish poet and art critic
• Gerald Stern (1925–2022), US poet
• Marinko Stevanović (born 1961), Bosnian poet
• C. J. Stevens (1927–2021), US writer of poetry, fiction and biography
• Wallace Stevens (1880–1955), US modernist poet
• Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer
• Margo Taft Stever, US poet
• Trumbull Stickney (1874–1904), US classical scholar and poet
• James Still (1906–2001), US poet, novelist and folklorist
• Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1828–1878), Serbian poet
• Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-US poet, writer and philosopher
• Donna J. Stone (1933–1994), US poet and philanthropist
• Ruth Stone (1915–2011), US poet, author and teacher
• Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet (born 1968), US poet and editor
• Edward Storer (1880–1944), English writer, translator and poet linked with Imagism
• Theodor Storm (1817–1888), German writer and poet
• Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Latin US Modernist poet
• Mark Strand (1934–2014), Canadian-born US poet, essayist and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–1991
• Botho Strauß (born 1944), German playwright, poet and novelist
• Joseph Stroud (born 1943), US poet
• Jesse Stuart (1907–1984), US writer of fiction and poetry
• Jacquie Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni) (1927–2009), New Zealand poet, fiction writer and librarian

• Su Shi (1037–1101), Song dynasty writer, poet and artist
• Su Xiaoxiao (died c. 501 CE), courtesan and poet under Southern Qi dynasty
• Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet
• Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), English poet and inventor of card game cribbage
• Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), Islamic poet and Ottoman ruler
• Robert Sullivan (born 1967), New Zealand Māori poet, academic and editor
• Jovan Sundečić (1825–1900), Serbian poet
• Cemal Süreya (1931–1990), Turkish poet and writer
• Abhi Subedi (born 1945), Nepalese poet, playwright and critic
• Pingali Surana (16th c.), Telugu poet
• Robert Sward (1933–2022), US and Canadian poet and novelist
• Cole Swensen (born 1955), US poet, translator and copywriter
• Karen Swenson (born 1936), US poet
• May Swenson (1913–1989), US poet and playwright
• Marcin Świetlicki (born 1961), Polish poet, prose writer and musician
• Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist and pamphleteer
• Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909), English poet, playwright and novelist
• Anna Świrszczyńska (also Anna Swir) (1909–1984), Polish poet
• Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
• Arthur William Symons (1865–1945), English poet, critic and editor
• John Millington Synge (1871–1909), Irish dramatist, poet and folklore collector
• Władysław Syrokomla (1823–1862), Polish poet and translator in Russian Empire
• Lőrinc Szabó (1900–1957), Hungarian poet and literary translator
• Fruzina Szalay (1864–1926), Hungarian poet and translator
• Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (c. 1550 – c. 1581), poet in Polish and Latin
• Arthur Sze (born 1950), Chinese US poet
• Bertalan Szemere (1812–1869), Hungarian poet and politician
• Gyula Szentessy (1870–1905), Hungarian poet
• George Szirtes (born 1948), Hungary-born British poet and translator
• Janusz Szpotański (1929–2001), Polish poet, satirist and translator
• Włodzimierz Szymanowicz (1946–1967), Polish poet and painter
• Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012), Polish poet, essayist and translator; 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Szymon Szymonowic (1558–1629), Polish poet

T

Ta–Te

• Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Bengali polymath; 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Judit Dukai Takách (Malvina, 1795–1836), Hungarian poet
• Bogi Takács (born 1983), Hungarian poet and fiction writer in US
• Kyoshi Takahama (1874–1959), Japanese poet
• Taliesin (fl. 6th c.), British poet of post-Roman period
• Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (1915–1983), Tamil poet, editor and critic
• Maxim Tank (1912–1996), Belarus poet
• Tao Qian (365–427), Chinese poet
• Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan (born 1976), Macedonian poet, essayist and literary critic
• Alain Tasso (born 1962), Franco-Lebanese poet, painter and critic
• Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), Italian poet
• Allen Tate (1899–1979), US poet, essayist and commentator; US Poet Laureate 1943–1944
• James Tate (1943–2015), US poet
• Emma Tatham (1829–1855), English poet
• Tracey Tawhiao (born 1967), New Zealand Maori poet and artist
• Apirana Taylor (born 1955), New Zealand poet, novelist and story-teller
• Edward Taylor (c. 1642–1729), colonial American poet, physician and pastor
• Emily Taylor (1795–1872), English poet and children's writer
• Henry Taylor (1800–1886), English poet and dramatist
• Henry S. Taylor (born 1942), US poet
• Jane Taylor (1783–1824), English poet and novelist
• Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), US lyric poet
• Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
• Telesilla (fl. 510 BCE), Greek poet
• Raipiyel Tennakoon (1899–1965), Sri Lankan poet
• William Tennant (1784–1848), Scottish scholar and poet
• Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1850–1892
• Vahan Terian (1885–1920), Armenian poet, lyricist and public activist
• Elaine Terranova (born 1939), US poet
• Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), African-US poet; author of oldest known work by African American
• A. S. J. Tessimond (1902–1962), English poet
• Neyzen Tevfik (1879–1953), Turkish poet, satirist and performer

Th–To

• Kálmán Thaly (1839–1909), Hungarian poet and politician
• Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), US writer and poet
• John Thelwall (1764–1834), English poet and essayist
• Theocritus (fl. 3rd c. BCE), Greek bucolic poet
• Antony Theodore (born 1954), German pastor poet and educator
• Jan Theuninck (born 1954), Belgian painter and poet
• Nandi Thimmana (15th – 16th cc.), Telugu poet
• Thiruvalluvar (around 31 BCE), Tamil poet and philosopher
• Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), Welsh poet and writer in English
• Edward Thomas (1878–1917), Welsh poet and essayist in English
• Lorenzo Thomas (1944–2005), US poet and critic
• R. S. Thomas (1913–2000), Welsh poet in English and Anglican priest
• John Thompson (1938–1976), English-born Canadian poet
• John Reuben Thompson (1823–1873), US poet, journalist, editor and publisher
• Francis Thompson (1859–1907), English poet and ascetic
• James Thomson (1700–1748), Scottish poet and playwright
• James Thomson (Bysshe Vanolis, 1834–1882), Scottish Victorian poet
• Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), US author, poet and philosopher
• Georg Thurmair (1909–1984), German poet and hymn writer
• Maria Luise Thurmair (1918–2005), German poet and hymn writer
• Joseph Thurston (1704–1732), English poet
• Anthony Thwaite (1930–2021), English poet and writer
• Tibullus (c. 54–19 BCE), Latin poet and elegy writer
• Chidiock Tichborne (1558–1586), English conspirator and poet
• Thomas Tickell (1685–1740), English poet and man of letters
• Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), German poet, translator, editor and critic
• Tikkana (1205–1288), Telugu poet, translator of Mahabharata
• Gary Tillery (born 1947), US writer, poet and artist
• Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade (1920–1973), Somali poet
• Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki (born 1962), Polish poet
• Nick Toczek (born 1950), English writer, poet and broadcaster
• Melvin B. Tolson (1898–1966), US Modernist poet, educator and columnist
• Charles Tomlinson (1927–2015), English poet and translator
• Jean Toomer (1894–1967), US poet and novelist
• Mihály Tompa (1819–1868), Hungarian poet and pastor
• Álvaro Torres-Calderón (born 1975), Peruvian poet
• Kálmán Tóth (1831–1881), Hungarian poet
• Krisztina Tóth (born 1967), Hungarian poet and translator
• Sándor Tóth (1939–2019), Hungarian poet and journalist
• Cyril Tourneur (1575–1626), English poetic dramatist
• Ann Townsend (born 1962), US poet and essayist

Tr–Tz

• Thomas Traherne (1636/1637–1674), English poet, clergyman and religious writer
• Georg Trakl (1887–1914), Austrian Expressionist poet
• Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese-American poet
• Elizabeth Treadwell (born 1967), US poet
• Roland Michel Tremblay (born 1972), French Canadian writer and poet
• William S. Tribell (born 1977), US poet
• Duško Trifunović (1933–2006), Serbian poet and writer
• Calvin Trillin (born 1935), US humorist, poet and novelist
• Geeta Tripathee (born 1972), Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist and scholar
• Suryakant Tripathi (1896–1961), Indian poet in Hindi and Bengali
• Quincy Troupe (born 1939), US poet, editor and professor
• Tõnu Trubetsky (Tony Blackplait) (born 1963), Estonian glam punk musician and poet
• Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), Russian/Soviet poet
• Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935), German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer
• Charlotte Maria Tucker (1821–1893), English poet and religious writer
• Tulsidas (1497/1532–1623), Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher
• Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869–1923), Armenian writer and public activist
• Ğabdulla Tuqay (1886–1913), Tatar poet, critic and publisher
• George Turberville (c. 1540 – c. 1597), English poet
• Charles Tennyson Turner (1808–1879), English poet, elder brother of Alfred Tennyson
• Julian Turner (born 1955), English poet and mental health worker
• Thomas Tusser (1524–1580), English poet and farmer
• Hone Tuwhare (1922–2008), New Zealand Māori poet
• Julian Tuwim (1894–1953), Polish poet of Jewish descent
• Jan Twardowski (1915–2006), Polish poet and priest
• Chase Twichell (born 1950), US poet, professor and publisher
• Pontus de Tyard (c. 1521–1605), French poet and priest
• Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873), Russian Romantic poet
• Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian and French avant-garde poet and performance artist

U

• Kornel Ujejski (1823–1897), Polish poet and political writer
• Erzsi Újvári (1899–1940), Hungarian poet
• Laura Ulewicz (1930–2007), US beat poet
• Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha (1885–1945), Telugu poet
• Jeff Unaegbu (born 1979), Nigerian writer, actor and documentary film maker
• Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), Spanish essayist, novelist and poet
• Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), Italian poet, critic and academic
• Abul Qasim Hasan Unsuri Balkhi (?-1039) Persian poet
• Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977), US poet, anthologist and critic; US Poet Laureate 1961–1962
• John Updike (1932–2009), US novelist, poet and critic
• Allen Upward (1863–1926), Irish-English Imagist poet and teacher
• Uthman Mukhtari (1074–1118), Persian poet
• Amy Uyematsu (1947–2023), Japanese-US poet

V

• János Vajda (1827–1897), Hungarian poet and journalist
• Paul Valéry (1871–1945), French Symbolist author and poet
• Alfonso Vallejo (1943–2021), Spanish artist, playwright and poet
• César Vallejo (1892–1938), Peruvian poet, writer and playwright
• Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955), French-Swiss poet and writer
• Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
• Cor van den Heuvel (born 1931), US haiku poet, editor and archivist
• Mona Van Duyn (1921–2004), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1992–1993
• Lin Van Hek (born 1944), Australian poet, writer and fashion designer
• Nikola Vaptsarov (1909–1942), Bulgarian poet
• Varand (born 1954), Armenian poet, writer and professor of literature
• Mahadevi Varma (1907–1987), Indian poet writing in Hindi
• Dimitris Varos (1949–2017), modern Greek poet, journalist and photographer
• Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet
• Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden (1509–1556), English poet
• Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877–1968), African-American poet, painter and sculptor
• Joana Vaz (c. 1500 – after 1570), Portuguese poet and courtier
• Vazha-Pshavela (aka Luka Razikashvili) (1861–1915), Georgian poet and writer
• Reetika Vazirani (1962–2003), US poet and educator
• Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright
• Attila Végh (born 1962), Hungarian poet and philosopher
• Maffeo Vegio (Latin: Maphaeus Vegius) (1407–1458), Italian poet in Latin
• Vemana (aka Kumaragiri Vema Reddy), Indian Telugu poet
• Gavril Stefanović Venclović (fl. 1680–1749), Serbian priest, writer, poet and illuminator
• Helen Vendler (born 1933), US poetry critic and professor
• Jacint Verdaguer (1845–1902), Catalan poet in Spain
• Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), French poet associated with Symbolist movement
• Paul Vermeersch (born 1973), Canadian poet
• Veturi (1936–2010), Telugu poet and songwriter
• Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864–1937), French symbolist poet
• Peter Viereck (1916–2006), US poet, professor and political thinker
• Gilles Vigneault (born 1928), Canadian Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
• Judit Vihar (born 1944), Hungarian poet and literary historian
• Jose Garcia Villa (1908–1997), Philippines poet, literary critic and painter
• Xavier Villaurrutia (1903–1950), Mexican poet and playwright
• François Villon (c. 1431–1464), French poet, thief and barroom brawler
• Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro; 70–19 BCE), ancient Roman poet
• Roemer Visscher (1547–1620), Dutch writer and poet
• Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805), Hungarian poet
• Mihailo Vitković (1778–1829), Hungarian poet in Serbian and lawyer
• Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 – c. 1230), celebrated Middle High German lyric poet
• Vincent Voiture (1597–1648), French poet
• Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694–1778), French Enlightenment writer
• Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679), Dutch playwright and poet
• Andrei Voznesensky (1933–2010), Soviet Russian poet
• Stanko Vraz (1810–1851), Croatian-Slovenian language poet
• Vyasa, considered author of Mahabharata and some Vedas

W

Wa–Wh

• Wace (c. 1110 – post-1174), Norman poet
• Sidney Wade (born 1951), US poet and professor
• John Wain (1925–1994), English poet, novelist and critic
• Diane Wakoski (born 1937), US poet linked with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
• Derek Walcott (1930–2017), Saint Lucia poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Anne Waldman (born 1945), US poet
• Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935), German-US poet, translator and publisher
• Arthur Waley (1889–1966), English orientalist and Sinologist, poet and translator
• Alice Walker (born 1944), US author, poet and activist
• Margaret Walker (1915–1998), African-US writer
• Edmund Waller (1606–1687), English poet and politician
• Martin Walser (born 1927), German writer
• Robert Walser (1878–1956), German-speaking Swiss writer
• Wan Shenzi (1856–1923), Chinese couplet writer
• Connie Wanek (born 1952), US poet
• Wang Wei (王維, 701–761), Tang dynasty Chinese poet, musician and painter
• Wang Wei (王微, 1597–1647), Chinese priestess and poet
• Emily Warn, US poet
• Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978), English novelist and poet
• Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), US poet, novelist and critic
• Lewis Warsh (1944–1920), US poet, writer and visual artist
• Thomas Warton (1728–1790), English literary historian, critic and poet
• Albert Wass (1908–1998), Hungarian poet and novelist exiled in US
• Aleksander Wat (1900–1967), Polish poet and memoirist
• Vernon Watkins (1906–1967), Welsh poet, translator and painter
• Thomas Watson (1555–1592), English lyric poet in English and Latin
• Samuel Wagan Watson (born 1972), Australian poet
• George Watsky (born 1986), US poet and rapper
• Barrett Watten (born 1948), US poet, editor and educator linked with Language poets
• Isaac Watts (1674–1748), English hymnist and logician
• Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832–1914), English critic and poet
• Tom Wayman (born 1945), Canadian poet, author and educator
• Adam Ważyk (1905–1982), Polish poet and essayist
• Francis Webb (1925–1973), Australian poet
• John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1634), English dramatist
• Rebecca Wee, US poet and professor
• Hannah Weiner (1928–1997), US Language poet
• Sándor Weöres (1913–1989), Hungarian poet and translator
• Wei Yingwu (737–792), Chinese poet
• Wen Yiduo (1899–1946), Chinese poet
• Marjory Heath Wentworth (born 1958), US poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate
• Charles Wesley (1707–1788), English Methodist leader and hymnist
• Gilbert West (1703–1756), English poet, translator and Christian apologist
• Philip Whalen (1923–2002), US poet, Zen Buddhist and figure in San Francisco Renaissance
• Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright and poet
• Johan Herman Wessel (1742–1785), Norwegian-Danish poet
• Mary Whateley (1738–1825), English poet and playwright
• Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), first African-US poet
• Billy Edd Wheeler (born 1932), US songwriter, performer and poet
• E.B. White (1899–1985), US essayist, author and humorist
• Henry Kirke White (1785–1806), English poet
• James L. White (1936–1981), US poet, editor and teacher
• Robert Whitehall (1624–1685), English poet
• Walt Whitman (1819–1892), US poet, essayist and humanist
• Isabella Whitney (fl. 1567–1573), English poet
• Reed Whittemore (1919–2012), US poet, biographer and critic
• John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), US poet

Wi–Wy

• Anna Wickham (Edith Alice Mary Harper) (1884–1947), English poet raised in Australia
• Les Wicks (born 1955), Australian poet, publisher and editor
• Ulrika Widström (1764–1841), Swedish poet and translator
• John Wieners (1934–2002), US lyric poet
• Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), Polish poet and journalist
• Richard Wilbur (1921–2017), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1987–1988
• Peter Wild (1940–2009), US poet and historian
• Jane Wilde (1826–1896), Irish poet and nationalist
• Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), Irish writer, playwright and poet
• John Wilkinson (born 1953), English poet
• William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (1071–1126), earliest troubadour poet whose work survives
• Aeneas Francon Williams (1886–1971), Anglo-Scottish poet, writer and missionary
• Emmett Williams (1925–2007), US poet and visual artist
• Jonathan Williams (1929–2008), US poet, publisher and essayist
• Heathcote Williams (1941–2017), English poet, political activist and dramatist
• Miller Williams (1930–2015), US poet, translator and editor
• Oscar Williams (1900–1964), Jewish Ukrainian-US anthologist and poet
• Saul Williams (born 1972), African-US singer, poet, writer and actor
• Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999), African-US poet, novelist and social critic
• Waldo Williams (1904–1971), Welsh poet in Welsh
• William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), poet and physician linked with modernism and imagism
• William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymnist
• Clive Wilmer (born 1945), English poet
• John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), English poet, courtier and satirist
• Eleanor Wilner (born 1937), US poet and editor
• Anne Elizabeth Wilson (1901–1946), US-born Canadian poet, writer, editor
• Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey, 1945–2022), US political and cultural writer, essayist and poet
• Christian Wiman (born 1966), US poet and editor
• David Wingate (1828–1892), Scottish poet
• Yvor Winters (1900–1968), US poet and literary critic
• George Wither (1588–1667), English poet, pamphleteer and satirist
• Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy, 1885–1939), Polish poet, writer and philosopher
• Stefan Witwicki (1801–1847), Polish poet
• Woeser (born 1966), Tibetan activist, poet and essayist
• Rafał Wojaczek (1945–1971), Polish poet
• Grażyna Wojcieszko (born 1957), Polish poet and essayist
• Christa Wolf (1929–2011), German literary critic, novelist and poet
• Charles Wolfe (1791–1823), Irish poet
• Hans Wollschläger (1935–2007), German writer, translator and historian
• Sholeh Wolpe (born 1962), Iranian-US poet, literary translator and playwright
• Maryla Wolska (Iwo Płomieńczyk, 1873–1930), Polish poet
• George Woodcock (1912–1995), Canadian poet and writer of biography and history
• Gregory Woods (born 1953), English poet who grew up in Ghana
• Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855), English author, poet and diarist; sister of William Wordsworth
• William Wordsworth (1770–1850), English Romantic poet
• Philip Stanhope Worsley (1835–1866), English poet
• Carolyn D. Wright (1949–2016), US poet
• Charles Wright (born 1935), US poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• David Wright (1920–1994), South African-born poet and author
• Franz Wright (1953–2015), US poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• James Wright (1927–1980), US poet, father of Franz Wright
• Jay Wright (born 1935), African-US poet, playwright and essayist
• Judith Wright (1915–2000), Australian poet and environmentalist
• Lady Mary Wroth (1587 – c. 1651), English poet
• Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542), English ambassador and lyric poet
• Józef Wybicki (1747–1822), Polish poet and national-anthem writer
• Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), US poet and novelist
• Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), Welsh poet in Welsh
• Edward Alexander Wyon (1842–1872), English architect and poet
• Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907), Polish poet, playwright and painter

X

• Xenokleides (4th c. BCE), Athenian poet
• Xin Qiji (1140–1207), Chinese poet
• Cali Xuseen Xirsi (also Yam Yam) (1946–2005), Somali poet active in 1960s
• Xu Pei (born 1966), Chinese-born German poet
• Xu Zhimo (1897–1931), Chinese poet
• Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (1947–2018), Uzbek poet

Y

• Jūkichi Yagi (1898–1927), Japanese religious poet
• Leo Yankevich (born 1961), US poet and editor
• Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914), Bulgarian Symbolist poet
• Raushan Yazdani (1918–1967), Bengali poet and researcher
• W. B. Yeats (1865–1939), Irish poet; 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), Russian lyrical poet
• Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017), Soviet Russian poet, dramatist and film director
• Yi Suhyeong (1435–1528), politician and Confucian scholar, writer, and poet
• Lin Yining (1655 – c. 1730), Chinese poet, painter and composer
• Akiko Yosano (1878–1942), Japanese poet, feminist and pacifist
• Nima Yooshij (1895–1960), Iranian poet, Persian poet
• Andrew Young (1885–1971), Scottish poet and clergyman
• Edward Young (1681–1765), English poet
• Ian Young (born 1945), English/Canadian poet
• Kevin Young (born 1970), US poet and teacher
• Marguerite Young (1908–1995), US author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction
• Simpson Charles Younger (1850–1943), baseball player, soldier during the American Civil War, civil rights campaigner, and poet
• A. W. Yrjänä (Aki Ville Yrjänä; born 1967), Finnish poet, musician and songwriter
• Yuan Mei (1716–1797), Chinese poet, scholar and gastronome

Z

• Tymon Zaborowski (1799–1828), Polish poet
• Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), Polish poet, novelist and essayist
• Józef Bohdan Zaleski (1802–1886), Polish poet
• Wacław Michał Zaleski (1799–1849), Polish poet, critic and politician
• Esperanza Zambrano (1901–1992), Mexican poet
• Alessio Zanelli (born 1963), Italian poet in English
• Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011), Italian poet
• Matthew Zapruder (born 1967), US poet, translator and professor
• Marya Zaturenska (1902–1982), US lyric poet
• Kazimiera Zawistowska (1870–1902), Polish poet and translator
• Abd al-Wahhab Abu Zayd (living), Saudi poet and translator
• Piotr Zbylitowski (1569–1649), Polish poet and courtier
• Katarzyna Ewa Zdanowicz-Cyganiak (born 1979), Polish poet and journalist
• Emil Zegadłowicz (1888–1941), Polish poet, playwright and translator
• Ludwig Zeller (1927–2019), Chilean poet
• Robert Zend (1929–1985), Hungarian-Canadian poet, fiction writer and artist
• Benjamin Zephaniah (1958–2023), English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
• Hristofor Zhefarovich (c. 1690–1753), Serbian painter, writer and poet
• Calvin Ziegler (1854–1930), German-US poet in Pennsylvania Dutch
• Narcyza Żmichowska (Gabryella, 1819–1876), Polish poet and novelist
• Radovan Zogović (1907–1986), Serbian/Montenegrin poet
• Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664), Hungarian poet and statesman
• Zuhayr ibn Abī Sūlmā (520–609), pre-Islamic Arabian poet
• Louis Zukofsky (1904–1978), US objectivist poets
• Jerzy Żuławski (1874–1915), Polish poet, novelist and philosopher
• Juliusz Żuławski (1910–1999), Polish poet, critic and translator
• Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), Swish poet, hymnist and Reformation leader
• Eugeniusz Żytomirski (1911–1975), Polish poet, playwright and novelist in Russia and Canada

References