List of poets
This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.
A
Ab–Ak
- Aarudhra (born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry), (1925–1968), Indian Telugu poet
- Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), American poet
- Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet
- Henry Abbey (1842–1911), American poet
- Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), American poet, novelist and short story writer
- Siôn Abel (fl. 18th c.), Welsh balladeer
- Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic
- Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), American journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
- Sam Abrams (born 1935), American poet
- Seth Abramson (born 1976), American poet, editor and critic
- Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet
- Dannie Abse (1923–2014), Welsh poet in English
- Kathy Acker (1947–1997), American experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
- Diane Ackerman (born 1948), American author, poet, and naturalist
- Duane Ackerson (born 1942), American 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), American poet
- Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-American poet, collagist and photographer
- Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet
- John Adams (1704–1740), American poet
- Léonie Adams (1899–1988), American poet
- Ryan Adams (born 1974), American singer-songwriter and writer
- Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet
- Fleur Adcock (born 1934), poet and New Zealand native who has spent most of life in England
- Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Kim Addonizio (born 1954) American poet, novelist
- Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet
- Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
- Mariska Ady (1888–1977), Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus (525–456 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BC), Roman comic poet
- John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
- James Agee (1909–1955), American novelist, screenwriter and poet
- Deborah Ager (born 1977), American poet, editor
- István Ágh (born 1938), Hungarian poet
- Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), American poet
- Dritëro Agolli (born 1931), Albanian poet
- Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet
- Ai (Florence Anthony, 1947–2010), American poet
- Ama Ata Aidoo (born 1940), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
- Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), American 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
- 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 American professor and poet writing in English and Urdu
Al–Am
- Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556), Italian poet and statesman
- Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), Scottish poet in Gaelic
- Ave Alavainu (born 1942), Estonian poet
- Gillebríghde Albanach (fl. 1200–1230), Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
- Alcaeus (4th c. BC), Athenian comic poet in Greek
- Alcaeus of Messene (fl. late 3rd/early 2nd c. BC), Greek writer of verse epigrams
- Alcaeus of Mytilene (7th–6th c. BC), Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet
- Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), Punjabi poet and Sikh guru
- Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956), American poet, scholar and critic
- Alcman (fl. 7th c. BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), American 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 American 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), American poet and writer
- Felipe Alfau (1902–1999), Catalan American novelist and poet
- Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001) Indian, Kashmiri and American poet
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Italian poet
- James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet
- August Alle (1899–1952), Estonian poet
- William Allegrezza (born 1974), American poet, professor and editor
- Dick Allen (born 1939), American poet, critic and academic
- Donald Allen (1912–2004), American poet, editor and translator
- Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911), American author and poet
- Ron Allen (1947–2010), American 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), American painter and poet
- Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist and critic
- Alta (Alta Gerrey; born 1942), American poet and writer
- Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist and translator
- Alurista (born 1947), Chicano poet and activist
- Al Alvarez (born 1929), English poet
- Julia Alvarez (born 1950), Dominican-American poet, novelist and essayist
- Betti Alver (1906–1989), Estonian poet
- Moniza Alvi (born 1954), Pakistani-British poet and writer
- Amara Sinha (fl. c. AD 375), Sanskrit grammarian and poet
- Ambroise (fl. c. 1190), Norman-French poet of Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet
- Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960), Sri Lankan American poet, essayist and translator
- Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), English author and poet
- A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), American author and poet
An–Aq
- Anacreon (570 BC–488 BC), Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), German writer and publisher
- Guda Anjaiah (1955–2016), Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist, and writer from the state of Telangana
- Ana Paula Arendt (born 1980), Brazilian classical poet
- Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish poet and children's writer
- Victor Henry Anderson (1917–2001), American 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), American Language poet
- Kevin Andrews (1924–1989), Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist
- Ron Androla (born 1954), American poet
- Guru Angad (1504–1552), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Aneirin (6th c.), Brythonic epic poet
- Ralph Angel (born 1951), American poet and translator
- Maya Angelou (1928–2014), American poet
- James Stout Angus (1830–1923), Shetland poet writing mainly in Shetland dialect
- Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet writing in Scots
- J. K. Annand (1908–1993), Scots poet best known for children's poems
- Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet
- David Antin (born 1932), American poet and critic
- Antler (born 1946), American poet
- Susanne Antonetta (born 1956), American poet and author
- Brother Antoninus (1912–1994), American poet
- Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), Indonesian poet
- Johannes Anyuru (born 1979), Swedish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), French poet
- Apollonius of Rhodes (270 – post–245 BC), poet and librarian at Library of Alexandria
- Maja Apostoloska (born 1976), Macedonian poet
- Philip Appleman (born 1926), American 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 BC), ancient Greek lyric poet
- Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), American Dadaist, critic and poet
- Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), Italian poet
- Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC), Greek dramatic poet
- Guru Arjan (1563–1606), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Rae Armantrout (born 1947), American Language poet
- Simon Armitage (born 1963), English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Richard Armour (1906–1989), American 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), American poet and professor
- Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), English poet and cultural critic
- Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls, c. 1012 – 1070s), Icelandic skald
- Jean Arp (1886–1966), German-French sculptor, painter, and poet
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa (1865–1942), Polish poet
- Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), French playwright, poet and essayist
As–Az
- M. K. Asante (born 1982), American author, poet and professor
- John Ashbery (born 1927), American poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist
- Renée Ashley, American poet and novelist.
- Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
- Adam Asnyk (1838–1897), Polish poet and dramatist
- Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), English poet
- Mina Assadi (born 1942), Iranian poet, author and songwriter
- Vishnu Raj Atreya (born 1944), Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
- W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-American poet, essayist
- Imre Augustich (Imre Augustič, 1837–1879), Slovenian/Hungarian poet
- Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), American poet, anthologist and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
- Ausonius (c. 310–395), Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala (Bordeaux)
- Paul Auster (born 1947), American poet, playwright, and essayist
- James Avery (born 1948), American actor, poet, and screenwriter
- Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Vienna 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, essayist, critic, translator
- Jody Azzouni (born 1954), American philosopher and poet
B
Bab–Ban
- Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet and translator
- Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet
- Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), American poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
- Bacchylides (fl. 5th c. BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Bellamy Bach (fl. 1980s), pseudonym of group of fiction and poetry writers
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan (20th c.), Hindi poet
- Joseph M. Bachelor (aka Joseph Morris, 1889–1947), American 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
- Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian actor and Esperanto author and poet
- Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist
- József Bajza (1804–1858), Hungarian poet and critic
- Józef Baka (1706 or 1707–1788), Polish-Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
- Vyt Bakaitis (born 1940), Lithuanian-American translator, editor and poet
- David Baker (born 1954), American poet
- Bâkî (1526–1600), Ottoman poet (pseudonym of Mahmud Abdülbâkî)
- John Balaban (born 1943), American 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), American poet and novelist
- Zsófia Balla (born 1949), Hungarian poet from Romania
- Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), American poet and suffragist
- Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian symbolist poet and translator
- Russell Banks (born 1940), American fiction writer and poet
- Anne Bannerman (1765–1829), Scottish poet
- Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) (1934–2014), American writer, poet and dramatist
- Marcin Baran (born 1963), Polish poet and journalist
- Stanisław Barańczak (1946–2014), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist and children's author
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob (1883–1942), Colombian poet and writer
- John Barbour (c. 1320–1395), Scottish poet, the first major named literary figure to write in Scots
- Alexander Barclay (c. 1476–1552), English/Scottish poet
- George Barker (1913–1991), English poet and author
- Les Barker (born 1947), English poet
- Coleman Barks (born 1937), American poet
- Mihály Barla (Miháo Barla, c. 1778–1824), Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
- Mary Barnard (1909–2001), American poet, biographer and translator
- Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), American writer
- William Barnes (1801–1886), English writer, poet and philologist
- Catherine Barnett (born 1960), American poet and educator
- Richard Barnfield (1574–1620), English poet
- Willis Barnstone (born 1927), American poet and literary translator
- Laird Barron (born 1970), American poet, author
- Sándor Barta (1897–1938), Hungarian poet executed in the Soviet Union
- Bernard Barton (1784–1849), English poet and Quaker
- Bertha Hirsch Baruch (late 18th to early 19th c.), American writer, poet and suffragist
- Todd Bash (born 1965), American avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
- Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japanese renku and haiku poet
- Michael Basinski (born 1950), American text, visual and sound poet
- Ellen Bass (born 1947), American poet
- Arlo Bates (1850–1918), American author, poet and educator
- David Bates (1809–1870), American poet
- Joseph Bathanti (born 1953), American poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
- János Batsányi (1763–1845), Hungarian poet
- Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), American poet, journalist and educator
- Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet, essayist and translator
- Eric Baus (born 1975), American poet
- Cirilo Bautista (born 1941), Filipino poet, writer and critic
- Charles Baxter (born 1947), American writer and poet
- James K. Baxter (1926–1972), New Zealand poet
Be
- Jan Beatty (born 1952), American poet
- Francis Beaumont (1584–1616), English poet and dramatist
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist and poet
- Joshua Beckman (living), American poet
- Matija Bećković (born 1939), Serbian writer and poet
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish poet and short-story writer
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849), English poet, dramatist and physician
- Patricia Beer (1919–1999), English poet and critic
- Aphra Behn (1640–1689), English Restoration dramatist, among the first professional female writers
- Ferenc Békássy (1893–1915), Hungarian poet
- Erin Belieu (born 1967), American poet
- Marvin Bell (born 1937), American poet and teacher, first Poet Laureate of State of Iowa
- Gioconda Belli (born 1948), Nicaraguan poet and novelist
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791–1863), Italian poet known for sonnets in Romanesco
- Xuan Bello (born 1965), Asturian language poet
- Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), Anglo-French writer and historian
- Andrei Bely (1880–1934), Russian novelist, poet and critic
- Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), American author, poet and fiction writer
- William Rose Benét (1886–1950), American 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-American writer and poet
- Jim Bennett (born 1951), English poet known for work in Liverpool punk era
- Richard Berengarten (born 1943) English poet, writer and translator
- Bo Bergman (1869–1967), Swedish writer, critic and Swedish Academy member
- İlhan Berk (1918–2008), Turkish poet
- Charles Bernstein, (born 1950), American poet and scholar
- Béroul (12th c.), Norman poet of the episodic Tristan
- Daniel Berrigan (born 1921), American poet, priest and peace activist
- Ted Berrigan (1934–1983), American poet
- James Berry (born 1924), Jamaican poet based in England
- Wendell Berry (born 1934), American man of letters, critic and farmer
- John Berryman (1914–1972), American 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. 1815–30), English poet, writer and entertainer
- Helen Bevington (1906–2001), American 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), American 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), American Navajo poet
- Paul Blackburn (1926–1971) American poet
- Richard Palmer Blackmur (1904–1965), American 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), American poet, journalist, writer and speaker
- Adrian Blevins (born 1964), American poet
- Mathilde Blind (1841–1896), German-born English poet and writer
- Alexander Blok (1880–1921), Russian lyrical poet
- Benjamin Paul Blood (1832–1919), American 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 (born 1926), American poet, author and leader of mythopoetic men's movement
Bo–Bri
- 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), American poet; fourth US Poet Laureate
- Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440 or 1441–1494), Italian Renaissance poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), French poet and critic
- Michelle Boisseau (1955–2017), American poet
- Christian Bök (born 1966), experimental Canadian poet
- Osbern Bokenam (c. 1393 – c. 1464), English poet and friar
- Eavan Boland (born 1944), 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), American poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance
- Luke Booker (1762–1835), English poet, cleric and antiquary
- Kurt Boone (born 1959), American poet
- Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), Argentine short-story 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), American poet; Georgia Poet Laureate
- Cathy Smith Bowers (born 1949), American poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010–2012
- Edgar Bowers (1924–2000), American 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), American writer, educator and political activist
- Alison Brackenbury (born 1953), English poet from Lincolnshire
- Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672) America's first published poet
- Di Brandt (born 1952), Canadian poet and literary critic
- Giannina Braschi (born 1953), American poet born in Puerto Rico
- Kamau Brathwaite (born 1930), Barbadian writer
- Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), American novelist, poet and short story writer
- 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), American 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), American poet and scholar; Utah Poet Laureate
- 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), American poet and translator
- Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), Russian poet and essayist
- Wladyslaw Broniewski (1897–1962), Polish poet and soldier
- William Bronk (1918–1999), American poet
- Anne Brontë (1820–1849), English novelist and poet, youngest of the three Brontë sisters
- Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist and poet, eldest of the three Brontë sisters
- Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English novelist and poet
- Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), English poet
- Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), African-American poet; 30th 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 living 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-American 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), American 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 writing in Scots and Scottish Gaelic
- Robert Williams Buchanan (1841–1901), Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
- Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German writer, poet and dramatist
- August Buchner (1591–1661), German Baroque poet and professor
- Vincent Buckley (1927–1988), Australian poet, essayist and critic
- David Budbill (born 1940), American poet, and playwright
- Andrea Hollander Budy (born 1947), American poet
- Teodor Bujnicki (1907–1944), Polish poet
- Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), American 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 a lyricist
- Stanley Burnshaw (1906–2005), American poet
- John Burnside (born 1955), Scottish poet and writer, winner of T. S. Eliot and Forward poetry prizes
- William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), American 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), American poet and singer
- Ray Buttigieg (born 1955), poet, composer and musician
- Ignazio Buttitta (1899–1997), Sicilian language poet
- Anthony Butts, (born 1969), American poet
- Kathryn Stripling Byer (born 1944), American poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005–09
- Witter Bynner (also Emanuel Morgan, 1881–1968), American poet, writer and scholar
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet and literary figure
C
Cab–Cav
Luís de Camões, one of the best-known poets of the 16th century
- Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Dilys Cadwaladr (1902–1979), Welsh poet and fiction writer writing 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), American 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), dramatist, poet and writer of Spanish Golden Age
- Musa Cälil (1906–1944), Soviet Tatar poet and resistance fighter
- Barry Callaghan (born 1937), Canadian author, poet and anthologist
- Michael Feeney Callan (born 1955), Irish poet, novelist and biographer
- Callimachus (c. 305 – c. 240 BC), 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, living), Scottish poet, novelist, broadcaster and actor
- David Campbell (1915–1979), Australian poet and wartime pilot, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for service in New Guinea
- 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 (born 1929), son of Jan; Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion (1567–1619), English composer, poet and physician
- Matilde Camus (born 1919), Spanish poet and researcher
- Melville Henry Cane (1879–1980), American 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 (AD 155–220), Chinese poet and warlord
- Cao Pi (formally Emperor Wen of Wei) (AD 187–226), Chinese poet and first emperor of state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
- Cao Zhi (AD 192–232), Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
- Vahni Capildeo (born 1973), Trinidadian poet
- Ernesto Cardenal (born 1925), 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-American poet associated with Confederation Poets
- Fern G. Z. Carr (born 1956), Canadian poet, translator, teacher and lawyer
- Jim Carroll (1949–2009), American author, poet and punk musician
- Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832–1898), English writer, mathematician and photographer
- Hayden Carruth (1921–2008), American 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), American 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), American poet and professor
- Catullus (c. 84 – 54 BC), 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
- Thomas Centolella (living), American poet
- Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), French poet and author
- 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 in Grand Siècle
- Arthur Chapman (1873–1935), American cowboy poet and columnist
- George Chapman (1559–1634), English dramatist, translator and poet
- Fred Chappell (born 1936), American 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), American writer, poet and Franciscan priest
- Susana Chávez (1974–2011), Mexican poet and human rights activist
- Syl Cheney-Coker (born 1945), Sierra Leonean poet and novelist
- Andrea Cheng (1957–2015), Hungarian-American poet and children's author
- Kelly Cherry (born 1940), American author and poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia 2010–2012
- G. K. Chesterton, (1874–1936), English writer and poet
- Choe Chiwon (born 857), Korean (Silla) poet
- Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703–1775), female Japanese haiku poet of 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 and trouvère
- Ralph Chubb (1892–1960), poet, painter and printer
- Charles Churchill (1732–1764), English poet and satirist
- John Ciardi, (1916–1986) Italian-American poet, translator and etymologist
- Colley Cibber (1671–1757), English playwright and Poet Laureate
- Jovan Ćirilov (born 1931), Serbian drama expert, writer and poet
- Carson Cistulli (born 1979), American poet, essayist and English professor
- Hélène Cixous (born 1937), French feminist writer, poet and playwright
- Amy Clampitt (1920–1994), American 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 university professor
- Gillian Clarke (born 1937), (born 1937), Welsh poet and playwright writing 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
- Brian P. Cleary (born 1959), American humorist, poet, and author
- Jack Clemo (1916–1994), English Christian poet
- Michelle Cliff (born 1946), Jamaican-American author of short stories, 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), American 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, (born 1952), Puerto Rican poet and author
- Leonard Cohen, (born 1934), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
- Wanda Coleman (born 1946), African-American 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-American poet
- Billy Collins (born 1941), American poet; United States 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 (born 1917), Anglo-American historian and poet
- Henry Constable (1562–1613), English poet
- David Constantine (born 1944), English poet and translator.
Coo–Cz
- Clark Coolidge (born 1939), American poet
- Wendy Cope (born 1945), English poet
- Robert Copland (fl. 1515), English printer, author and translator
- Denys Corbet (1826–1909), Guernsey poet writing in Guernésiais
- Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), French poet
- Cid Corman (1924–2004), American poet, translator and editor
- Alfred Corn (born 1943), American poet and essayist
- Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet; wife of F. M. Cornford
- 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), American Beat poet
- Jayne Cortez (born 1936), American 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), American 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), American modernist poet
- Stephen Crane (1871–1900), American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), English Metaphysical poet
- Robert Creeley (born 1926), American 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), American poet
- Necati Cumalı (1921–2001), Turkish writer of fiction writer, essayist, and poet
- E. E. Cummings (1894–1962), American poet, essayist and playwright
- Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), Scottish poet and author
- James Vincent Cunningham (1911–1985), American 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), Salvadoran poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono (born 1940), Indonesian poet
- Samuel Daniel (1562–1619), English poet and historian
- David Daniels (1933–2008), American visual poet
- Jeffrey Daniels, African-American poet
- Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet writing in Old French
- Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843–1925), French-born poet, writer and film executive
- Rubén Darío (1867–1916), Nicaraguan poet who initiated modernismo
- Keki Daruwalla (born 1937), Indian poet and short story 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
- 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), American writer, translator and illustrator
- Donald Davidson (1893–1968) American poet, essayist and critic
- John Davidson (1857–1909), Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
- Lucretia Maria Davidson (1808–1825), American poet
- Donald Davie (1922–1995), English poet and critic
- Alan Davies (born 1951), American 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, American poet
- Edward Davison (1898–1970), Scottish-American poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
- Peter Davison, (1928–2004), American 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
- Aurora de Albornoz (1926–1990), Spanish poet
- 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), American poet and author
- Madeline DeFrees (born 1919), American 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, writing 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), American poet, critic and commentator
- Évariste de Parny (1753–1814), French poet
- Regina Derieva (born 1949), Russian poet and writer
- Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw (1863–1919), Dutch poet and philosopher
- Toi Derricotte (born 1941), African-American poet
- Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), medieval French poet
- Lord de Tabley (1835–1895), poet and botanist
- Babette Deutsch (1895–1982), American 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 and 16th cc.), Telugu language poet
Di–Dr
- Souéloum Diagho (living), Tuareg poet
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco (1949–2019), Italian-Canadian poet; second Poet Laureate of Toronto
- Jennifer K Dick, (born 1970), American poet
- James Dickey (1923–1997), American poet and novelist, 18th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
- Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), American poet
- Matthew Dickman (born 1975), American poet, twin of Michael Dickman
- Michael Dickman (born 1975), American poet, twin of Matthew Dickman
- Blaga Dimitrova (1922–2003), Bulgarian poet and politician
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908–1974), Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
- Diane di Prima (born 1934), American poet
- Paul Dirmeikis (born 1954), French poet
- Vladislav Petković Dis (1880–1917), Serbian poet
- Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008), American poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos (1950–1990), American poet
- Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921), English poet and essayist
- Stephen Dobyns (born 1941), American author, novelist, and poet
- Lajos Dóczi (1845–1918), Hungarian poet and journalist
- 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
- John Donne (1572–1631), English poet, satirist and Anglican cleric
- H.D., Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), American Imagist poet
- Edward Dorn (1929–1999), American poet and teacher
- Mark Doty (born 1953), American poet and memoirist
- Sarah Doudney (1841–1926), English poet and children's writer
- Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), English poet, writer, and traveller
- Alice May Douglas, (1865–1943), American poet and author
- Gavin Douglas (1474–1522), Scottish bishop, makar, and translator
- Keith Douglas (1920–1944), English war poet
- Rita Dove (born 1952), American poet and author; US Poet Laureate
- Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), English poet, novelist, and short-story writer
- Lajos Dóczi (1845–1918), Hungarian playwright, poet and politician
- 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 Restoration English poet, critic and playwright
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), American writer and activist
- Norman Dubie (born 1945), American poet
- Jovan Dučić (1871–1943), Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
- Du Fu (712–770), Chinese poet of Tang Dynasty
- Du Mu (803–852), Chinese poet of late Tang Dynasty
- Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), Scottish poet and playwright; first female and first Scottish Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Alan Dugan (1923–2003), American poet
- Sasha Dugdale (born 1974), English poet, playwright and translator
- Richard Duke (1658–1711), English clergyman and poet
- Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), African-American poet, novelist and playwright
- William Dunbar (c. 1460 – c. 1520), Scots makar
- Robert Duncan (1919–1988), American poet
- Camille Dungy (born 1972), American poet, academic and essayist
- Douglas Dunn (born 1942), Scottish poet, academic and critic
- Stephen Dunn (born 1939), American poet
- Helen Dunmore (born 1952), 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), American poet, writer
- Sir Edward Dyer (1543–1607), English courtier and poet.
- Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer-songwriter, writer and Nobel prizewinner
E
- Joan Adeney Easdale (1913–1998), English poet
- Richard Eberhart (1904–2005), American poet
- Russell Edson (born 1935), American poet, novelist, and illustrator
- Terry Ehret (born 1955), American poet
- 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), American-English publisher, playwright, and critic
- Ebenezer Elliott ("Corn Law rhymer", 1781–1849), English poet
- Royston Ellis (born 1941), English poet
- Paul Éluard (1895–1952), French poet
- Odysseus Elytis (1911–1996) Greek poet
- Claudia Emerson (born 1957), American poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), American 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 author of fantasy, poetry and children's literature
- Leszek Engelking (born 1955), Polish, poet, fiction writer and translator
- Paul Engle (1908–1991), American poet, novelist and playwright
- Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BC), considered 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), American novelist, poet, and children's book writer, featuring Native American heritage
- Haydar Ergülen (born 1956), Turkish poet
- Max Ernst (1891–1976), German poet and artist
- Errapragada Erranna, 14th-century Telugu poet (also shown as Yerrapragada)
- Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1170 – c. 1220), German Minnesinger poet and knight
- Clayton Eshleman (born 1935), American poet, translator and editor
- Martín Espada (born 1957), American poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca (1894–1930), Portuguese poet
- Salvador Espriu (1913–1985), Catalan poet
- Jill Alexander Essbaum (born 1971), American poet
- Alter Esselin (1889–1974), Yiddish American poet and carpenter
- Claude Esteban (1935–2006), French poet
- Maggie Estep (born 1963), American slam poet and musician
- Jerry Estrin (1947–1993), American poet and editor
- Euripides (480–406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Margiad Evans (1909–1958), English poet and novelist
- Mari Evans (born 1923), African-American poet
- William Everson (Brother Antoninus) (1912–1994), American poet and critic
- Gavin Ewart (1916–1995), English poet
F
Fa–Fn
- Frederick William Faber (1814–1863), English poet, hymn writer, and theologian
- Kinga Fabó (born 1953), Hungarian poet and essayist
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911–1984), Indian/Pakistani 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, CBE (1929–2009), English poet
- Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), English children's writer, playwright and poet
- J. P. Farrell (born 1968), American poet and musician
- Elaine Feinstein (born 1930), 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 (born 1931), Northern Irish linguist and poet writing 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), Scots poet who influenced Robert Burns
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born 1919), American 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), American poet, librettist, and translator
- Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), Scottish poet, writer, and gardener
- Roy Fisher (born 1930), English poet and jazz pianist
- Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), English poet and translator of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985), American 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), Jacobean era English playwright and poet
- John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950), 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, poet, and corporate lawyer
- Theodor Fontane (1819–1898), German novelist, poet, and realist writer
- John Forbes (1950–1998), Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché (born 1950), American 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), American 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), American poet
- Veronica Franco (1546–1591), Italian poet and courtesan
- G S Fraser (1915–1980), Scots poet, critic and academic
- Gregory Fraser (born 1963), American poet, editor, and professor
- Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), Albanian poet and writer; seen as national poet of Albania
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette (1839–1908), Canadian poet, politician and playwright
- Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876), Polish poet and playwright
- Grace Beacham Freeman (1916–2002), American poet and short story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1985–86
- 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), American poet; four times Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner
- Gene Frumkin (1928–2007), American 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), American 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), American 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), American novelist, poet, and essayist
- Raymond Garlick (1926–2011), Anglo-Welsh poet and first editor of Anglo-Welsh Review
- Richard Garnett (1835–1906), English scholar, biographer, and poet
- Jean Garrigue (1914–1972), American 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 associated with 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), American writer, poet, and cartoonist
- Juan Gelman (born 1930), Argentinian poet, writer and translator
- Stefan George (1868–1933), German poet, editor and translator
- Dan Gerber (born 1940), American 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 writing in Urdu and Persian
- Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) (born 1946), American children's author, poet, and feature writer
- Reginald Gibbons (born 1947), American poet, fiction writer, and critic
- Khalil Gibran (1883–1931), Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer
- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878–1962), English Georgian poet
- Jack Gilbert (born 1925), American poet
- W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), English poet
- Zuzanna Ginczanka (Sara Ginzburg, 1917–1945), Polish poet
- Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), American poet of Beat Generation
- Dana Gioia (born 1950), American writer, critic, and poet
- Nikki Giovanni (born 1943), American 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), American poet; US Poet Laureate
- Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), Indian poet writing in Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.
- Cyprian Godebski (1765–1809), Polish poet and novelist
- Gérald Godin (1938–1994), Quebec poet in French and politician
- Patricia Goedicke (1931–2006), American 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, 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), American 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), American 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), American 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 American poet and teacher
- Günter Grass (born 1927), 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 (born 1945) American poet
- Horace Gregory (1898–1982), American 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), American 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
- 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-American playwright and poet
- Charlotte Forten Grimké (1835–1914), African-American poet and activist
- Rufus W. Griswold (1815–1857), American 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), American poet and prose stylist
- Edgar Guest (1881–1959), English-born American poet
- Paul Guest (living), American quadriplegic 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-American poet
- Lee Gurga (born 1949), American haiku poet
- Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), English composer and poet
- Lars Gustafsson (born 1936), Swedish poet, novelist, and scholar
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 1950), Cuban novelist and poet
- Beth Gylys (born 1964), American poet and professor
- István Gyöngyösi (1620–1704), Hungarian poet
- Géza Gyóni (1884–1917), Hungarian poet
- Brion Gysin (1916–1986), English writer, sound poet, and performance artist
- Gabor G. Gyukics (born 1958), Hungarian-American poet and translator (also in English)
H
Ha
- Rafey Habib (living), Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
- Marilyn Hacker (born 1942), American poet, translator, and critic
- Hadraawi (born 1943), Somali poet and songwriter
- Hafez (1315–1390), Persian poet
- Hai Zi (1964–1989), Chinese poet
- John Haines (1924–2011), American poet and educator
- Donald Hall (born 1928), American poet, writer, and critic; 2006 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 under Tang dynasty
- Hanshan (fl. 9th c.), Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English novelist and poet
- Charles Harpur (1813–1868), Australian poet
- Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (born 1921), Guyanese poet, novelist, and essayist
- Jim Harrison (born 1937), American poet, novelist and essayist
- Tony Harrison (born 1937), English poet and playwright
- Carla Harryman (born 1952), American 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 (born 1933), 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), American poet; former Poet Laureate
- 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), Scots poet and translator writing in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots, and English
- Gilbert Hay (fl. 15th c.), Scottish poet and translator writing in Middle Scots
- Robert Hayden (1913–1980), American poet, essayist and educator; 1976 US Poet Laureate
- William Hayley (1745–1820), English writer
- Tony Haynes (born 1960), American poet, songwriter, and lyricist
He
- Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), Irish poet, playwright, and translator; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Josephine D. Heard (1861 – c. 1921), American teacher and poet
- John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006), English poet and translator
- Anne Hébert (1916–2000), Canadian poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht (1923–2004), American poet
- Jennifer Michael Hecht (born 1965), American poet, historian, and philosopher
- Allison Hedge Coke (born 1958), American 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), American 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), American 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 religious philosopher; brother of George Herbert
- George Herbert (1593–1633), public orator and poet
- Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621), (née Sidney) among first English women to achieve a major reputation for literary works
- Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998), Polish poet, essayist, and drama writer
- Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), German philosopher, theologian, and literary critic
- Miguel Hernández (1910–1942), Spanish poet and playwright associated with Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
- Herodas or Herondas (3rd c. BC), Greek poet and author of short 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 BC), 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 Ireland-born poet
- William Heyen (born 1940), American 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), American poet and teacher
- Nâzım Hikmet (1902–1963), Turkish poet, playwright, and novelist
- Geoffrey Hill (born 1932), English poet and professor
- Hilda Hilst (1930–2004), Brazilian poet, playwright, and novelist
- Ellen Hinsey (born 1960), American poet
- Hipponax (6th c. BC), of Ephesus, Ancient Greek iambic poet
- Hirato Renkichi (1893–1922), Japanese avant-garde poet
- Rozalie Hirs, (born 1965), Dutch poet
- Jane Hirshfield, (born 1953), American poet
- George Parks Hitchcock (1914–2010), American poet, playwright, and painter
- H. L. Hix (born 1960), American poet and academic
- Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (c. 1368–1426), English poet and clerk
- Michael Hofmann (born 1957), German-born poet and translator writing 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 (born 1933), American author
- John Hollander (born 1929), Jewish-American poet and literary critic
- Matthew Hollis (born 1971), English poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), American poet, professor, and author
- Homer (fl. 8th c. BC), 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 BC), Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton (1797–1884), African-American poet
- Joan Houlihan, American poet
- A. E. Housman (1859–1936), English poet and classicist
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547), English Renaissance poet
- Richard Howard (born 1929), American poet, critic, and essayist
- Fanny Howe (born 1940), American poet, novelist, and short story writer
- Susan Howe (born 1937), American poet, scholar, and essayist
- Hrotsvitha (died c. 1002), poet and playwright from Lower Saxony; first known woman dramatist
- Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1949), Bangladeshi poet writing in Bengali
- John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Langston Hughes (1902–1967), American poet, novelist and playwright
- Ted Hughes (1930–1998), English poet and children's writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Richard Hugo (1923–1982), American poet
- Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French poet, novelist, and dramatist
- Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), Chilean poet
- Lynda Hull (1954–1994), American poet
- 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
- Helen von Kolnitz Hyer (1896–1983), American poet and writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1974–83
I
- Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828–1906), Norwegian playwright, director, and poet
- Ibycus (fl. later 6th c. BC), 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
- Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), Indian poet writing in Urdu and Persian
- Avetik Isahakyan (1875–1957), Armenian lyric poet
- Sabit Ince (born 1954), Turkish lyric poet
- 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 writing in Scots
- Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994), Norwegian poet and writer
- Ada Jafarey (born 1924) Pakistani poet writing 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), American poet and artist
- Mark F. Jarman (born 1952), American poet and critic
- Randall Jarrell (1914–1965), American 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 (1903–1956), Hungarian poet ("Gloomy Sunday")
- Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), American poet
- Vojin Jelić (1921–2004), Croatian Serb poet and writer
- Rod Jellema (born 1927), American 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 Tang Dynasty
- John of the Cross (1542–1591), Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John (1883–1917), English poet
- Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880–1966), American poet
- Helene Johnson (1906–1995), African-American poet
- James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), American 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 celebrating her 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
- Richard Jones, English American poet
- Ben Jonson (1573–1637), English poet and dramatist
- June Jordan (1936–2002), American poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph (living), British-Trinidadian poet, novelist, and musician
- Jenny Joseph (born 1932), 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 (born 1946), American 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), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1980
- Juvenal (fl. 1st c. – 2nd c. CE), Roman poet and satirist
- Jumoke Verissimo (1979), Nigerian poet
- Jaydeep Sarangi 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), American haiku poet and editor
- Uuno Kailas (1901–1933), Finnish poet, author, and translator
- Chester Kallman (1921–1975), American poet, librettist, and translator
- László Kálnoky (1912–1985), Hungarian poet and translator
- Kálmán Kalocsay (1891–1976), Hungarian poet in Hungarian and Esperanto
- Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, writer, and critic
- Ilya Kaminsky (born 1977), Russian-American poet, critic, and translator
- Orhan Veli Kanik (1914–1950), Turkish poet
- Sándor Kányádi (1929–2018), Hungarian poet and translator from Romania
- Jaan Kaplinski (born 1941), Estonian poet, philosopher, and critic
- Adeena Karasick (born 1965), New York-based Canadian poet, media artist, and essayist
- Vim Karenine (born 1933), American poet, essayist, and novelist
- György Károly (1953–2018), Hungarian poet and critic
- Franciszek Karpiński (1741–1825), Polish poet
- Mary Karr (born 1955), American poet, essayist, and memoirist
- Julia Kasdorf (born 1962), American poet
- Laura Kasischke (born 1961), American 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), American Beat poet and surrealist
- Shirley Kaufman (born 1923), American 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), American poet, novelist, and critic
- Isabella Kelly (1759–1857), Scottish poet and novelist
- Arthur Kelton (died 1549/1550), rhymster about Welsh history
- Miranda Kennedy (born 1975), American poet
- Walter Kennedy (c. 1455–1518), Scottish makar
- X. J. Kennedy (born 1929), American poet, anthologist, and children's writer
- Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), American poet and translator
- Géza Képes (1909–1989), Hungarian poet and translator
- Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), American novelist and poet
- Sidney Keyes (1922–1943), English poet killed in action in World War II
- Keorapetse Kgositsile (1938–2018), South African poet and political activist
- 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
- Vladislav Khodasevich (1886–1939), Russian poet and literary critic
- Talib Khundmiri (1938–2011), Indian poet and humorist writing 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 a disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), American 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 hymn-writer
- Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), German poet and revolutionary
- Galway Kinnell (born 1927), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
- John Kinsella (born 1963), Australian poet, novelist, and essayist
- Thomas Kinsella (born 1928), Irish poet, translator, and editor
- Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), English short-story writer, poet, and novelist
- Danilo Kiš (1935–1989), Serbian novelist, short story writer, and poet
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet, novelist, and playwright
- Atala Kisfaludy (1836–1911), Hungarian poet
- Eila Kivikk'aho (1921–2004), Finnish poet
- Carolyn Kizer (born 1925), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
- Sarah Klassen (born 1932), Canadian poet and writer of short fiction
- August Kleinzahler (born 1949), American poet
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), German poet
- Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1750–1807), Polish poet and Jesuit
- Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), African-American poet
- Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish Renaissance poet
- Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), American poet, playwright, and professor
- Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish poet
- Petar Kočić (1877–1916), Bosnian Serb writer and politician
- István Koháry (1649–1731), Hungarian poet and politician
- Ferenc Kölcsey (1790–1838), Hungarian poet and politician
- Aladár Komját (1891–1937), Hungarian poet and politician
- Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1948), American 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), American poet; U.S. 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 poet, playwright and translator (father of Joseph Conrad)
- Srečko Kosovel (1904–1926), Slovene expressionist poet
- József Kossics (Jožef Košič, 1788–1867), Hungarian/Slovene poet and priest
- Laza Kostić (1841–1910), Serbian poet, writer, and polyglot
- Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936), Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Urszula Kozioł (born 1931), Polish poet
- Taja Kramberger (born 1970), Slovene 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), American poet and children's book author
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor, and poet
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (born 1940), American 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), American poet and short story writer
- Andrzej Krzycki (1482–1537), Polish poet and archbishop
- Žofia Kubini (17th c.), Hungarian poet writing 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 (born 1925), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
- Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
- Yanka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus poet
- Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010), American 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
- Onat Kutlar (1936–1995), Turkish writer and poet
- Stephen Kuusisto (born 1955), American poet
- Kusumagraj (1912–1999), Indian Marathi poet, writer, and humanist
- Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642), English poet, lawyer, and politician
- Kyoshi Takahama, known as Kyoshi (1874–1959), Japanese poet
L
La
- Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), French fabulist
- Ilmar Laaban (1921–2000), Estonian poet
- Pierre Labrie (born 1972), Canadian poet writing in French
- László Ladányi (1907–1992), Hungarian-Israeli poet and writer
- Jules Laforgue (1860–1887), Franco-Uruguayan poet
- Jarkko Laine (1947–2006), Finnish poet, writer, and playwright
- Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996), Serbian poet
- Philip Lamantia (1927–2005), American poet and lecturer
- Kendrick Lamar (born 1987), American poet and hip-hop artist
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), French writer, poet, and politician
- Charles Lamb (1775–1834), English essayist 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. BC), Chinese philosopher and poet of history of ancient China
- Alda Lara (1930–1962), Angolan poet
- Rebecca Hammond Lard (1772–1855), American poet
- Bruce Larkin (born 1957), American 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. BC), Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
- Evelyn Lau (born 1971), Canadian poet and novelist
- James Laughlin (1914–1997), American poet and publisher
- Ann Lauterbach (born 1942), American poet, essayist and professor
- Comte de Lautréamont (1846–1870), Uruguayan-born French poet
- Dorianne Laux (born 1952), American 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; mother of Henry Lawson
- Robert Lax (1915–2000), American 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), American poet
- Dennis Lee (born 1939), Canadian poet, editor, and critic
- David Lehman (born 1948), American poet and editor
- Ágnes Lehóczky (born 1976), Hungarian poet, academic and translator
- Eino Leino (1878–1926), Finnish poet and journalist
- Brad Leithauser (born 1953), American poet, novelist, and essayist
- Alexander Lenard (1910–1972) Hungarian writer and poet in several languages
- 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), American poet, novelist, and critic
- Bolesław Leśmian (1877–1937), Polish poet and artist
- Rika Lesser (born 1953), American poet and translator
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German writer, philosopher, and dramatist
- Denise Levertov (1927–1997), British-born American poet
- Dana Levin (born 1965), American poet and teacher
- Philip Levine (born 1928), American poet; 2011–12 US Poet Laureate, 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Larry Levis (1946–1996), American poet
- D. A. Levy (1942–1968), American poet, artist, and alternative publisher
- William Levy (born 1939), American poet, short story writer, and editor
- Oswald LeWinter (1931–2013), poet
- Alun Lewis (1915–1944), Welsh poet in English, of World War II
- 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), American poet; Children's Poet Laureate (2011–13)
- Saunders Lewis (1893–1985), Welsh poet, dramatist, and critic
- Wyndham Lewis (1884–1957), English painter and author
Li–Ly
- Li Houzhu (937–978), poet and last ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom (961–975)
- 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 and official under 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), American author and aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
- Jack Lindeman, American poet and critic
- Sarah Lindsay, American poet
- Rossy Evelin Lima (born 1986), Mexican poet
- Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931), American poet
- Ewa Lipska (born 1945), Polish poet
- László Listi (1628–1662), Hungarian poet and counterfeiter of coins
- 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), American poet and educator
- Michael Longley (born 1939), Northern Irish poet
- Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), Spanish poet, dramatist, and theater director
- Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-American writer, poet, and librarian
- Richard Lovelace (1618–1658), English Cavalier poet
- Amy Lowell (1874–1925), American poet; 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), American poet, critic, and diplomat
- Robert Lowell (1917–1977), American poet; 1947 and 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 1947 US Poet Laureate
- Maria White Lowell (1821–1853), American 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 AD), Roman poet
- Edward Lucie-Smith (born 1933), English writer, poet, and broadcaster
- Gaius Lucilius (fl. 2nd c. BC), Roman satirist
- Lucilius Junior (fl. 1st c. AD), poet and procurator of Sicily
- Lucretius (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC), Roman poet and philosopher
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836–1870), American author, journalist, and explorer
- Edith Gyömrői Ludowyk (1896–1987), Hungarian poet and politician
- Luo Binwang (640–684), Chinese early Tang-dynasty writer and poet
- Thomas Lux (born 1946), American 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
- George Lyttelton (1709–1773), English poet, statesman, and arts patron
M
Ma
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), Anglo-Scottish poet, historian, and politician
- George MacBeth (1932–1992), Scottish poet and novelist
- Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), Scottish poet
- Hugh MacDiarmid (1892–1978), Scottish poets
- 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)
- Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972), Scottish writer, memoirist, and poet
- Archibald MacLeish (1892–1987), American Modernist poet and writer of many books; three Pulitzer Prizes
- 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-American writer, poet, and educator
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922–1941), American poet and aviator
- Derek Mahon (born 1941), Northern Irish poet
- Rudolf Maister (1874–1934), Slovene military officer, 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), American poet, painter and novelist
- Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993), Serbian poet and professor
- Majeed Amjad (1914–1974), Indian/Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Antoni Malczewski (1793–1826), Polish poet
- Marcin Malek (born 1975), Polish poet, writer and playwright
- Madayyagari Mallana (15th c.), Telugu poet
- Stephane Mallarme (1842–1898), French poet and critic
- David Mallet (c. 1705–1765), Scottish dramatist and poet
- Sir 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 short story writer; inaugural New Zealand Poet Laureate
- Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st c. AD), Roman poet and astrologer
- Maurice Manning (born 1966), American poet
- Ruth Manning-Sanders (1895–1988), Welsh-born English poet and author
- Robert Mannyng (1275–1340), English chronicler and monk writing in Middle English, French, and Latin
- 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, novelist
- Sándor Márai (1900–1989), Hungarian poet, novelist and U.S. exile
- Ausiàs March (1397–1459), Valencian poet and knight
- Morton Marcus (1936–2009), American poet and author
- Mareez (1917–1983), Indian poet writing in Gujarati
- Paul Mariani (born 1940), American poet and a professor at Boston College
- Marie de France (fl. 12th c.), medieval poet probably born in France 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), American 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), American novelist, poet, and playwright
- Edward Garrard Marsh (1783–1862), English poet and Anglican cleric
- John Marston (1576–1634), English poet, playwright, and satirist
- José Martí (1853–1895), Cuban poet and writer
- Martial (40 – c. 102 AD), 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)
- Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), American poet, biographer, and dramatist
- Dafydd Llwyd Mathau (fl. earlier 17th c.), Welsh poet writing 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), American poet and prose writer
- Ben Mazer (born 1964), American poet and editor
Mc–Me
- James McAuley (1917–1976), Australian poet and critic
- Susan McCaslin (born 1947), Canadian/American poet and critic
- J. D. McClatchy (born 1945), American poet and critic
- Michael McClure (born 1932), American poet, playwright, and novelist
- John McCrae (1872–1918), Canadian poet, physician, and artist
- Walt McDonald (born 1934), American poet; Poet Laureate of Texas
- Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet and stand-up comedian
- William Topaz McGonagall (1825–1902), Scottish writer of doggerel
- Roger McGough (born 1937), English comedian and poet
- Campbell McGrath (born 1962), American poet
- Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet and novelist
- Thomas McGrath (1916–1990), American poet
- Heather McHugh (born 1948), American poet, translator, and educator
- Duncan Ban McIntyre (1724–1812), Scottish poet in Scots Gaelic
- James McIntyre (1827–1906), Canadian writer of doggerel
- Claude McKay (1889–1948), Jamaican-American writer and poet
- Don McKay (born 1942), Canadian poet, editor and educator
- Rod McKuen (born 1933), American poet, composer and singer
- James McMichael (born 1939), American poet
- Ian McMillan (born 1956), English poet, playwright, and broadcaster
- Meera (1498–1546), Indian Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna
- Narsinh Mehta (c. 1414 – c. 1481), Indian poet-saint of Gujarat; bhakta
- Mei Yaochen (1002–1060), Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Peter Meinke (born 1932), American poet and fiction writer; first Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, FL
- Cecília Meireles (1901–1964), Brazilian poet
- Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist, short story 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), American poet writing mainly in French
- James Merrill (1926–1995), American poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Thomas Merton (1915–1968), American writer and Trappist monk
- W. S. Merwin (born 1927), American poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2010 US Poet Laureate
- Sarah Messer, (born 1966), American poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), English poet
- Henry Meyer (1840–1925), American poet writing in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Ferenc Mező (1885–1961), Hungarian poet
Mi–Mo
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- 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), Austria/Romanian poet
- Christopher Middleton (c. 1560–1628), English poet and translator
- Christopher Middleton (born 1926), English poet and translator from Germany
- Thomas Middleton (1580–1627), English poet and playwright
- Agnes Miegel (1879–1964), German writer and poet
- Josephine Miles (1911–1985), American poet and critic
- Jennifer Militello, American poet and professor
- Branko Miljković (1934–1961), Serbian poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950), American lyric poet, playwright, and feminist; 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Alice Duer Miller (1874–1942), American writer and poet
- Grazyna Miller (1957–2009), Italian/Polish poet and translator
- Jane Miller (born 1949), American poet
- Joaquin Miller (1837–1913), American poet
- Leslie Adrienne Miller (born 1956), American poet
- Thomas Miller (1807–1874), English poet
- Vassar Miller (1924–1998), American 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, polemicist, and civil servant
- Sima Milutinović Sarajlija (1791–1847), Serbian adventurer, writer, and poet
- Robert Minhinnick (born 1952), Welsh poet, essayist, and novelist
- Matthew Minicucci (born 1981), American poet and teacher
- 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), American physician and writer
- Stephen Mitchell, (born 1943) American poet, translator, and anthologist
- Waddie Mitchell (born 1950), American poet
- Ndre Mjeda (1866–1937), Albanian Gheg poet
- Stanisław Młodożeniec (1895–1959), poet
- Anis Mojgani (born 1977), American spoken-word poet and visual artist
- Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1622–1673), French playwright
- Atukuri Molla (1440–1530), Telugu poet
- Harold Monro (1879–1932), English poet
- Harriet Monroe (1860–1936), American scholar, critic, and poet
- John Montague (born 1929), 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
- Lenore Montanaro (born 1990), American poet
- Alexander Montgomerie (c. 1550–1598), Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
- Alan Moore (born 1960), Irish writer and poet
- Marianne Moore (1887–1972), American poet and writer
- Merrill Moore (1903–1957), American psychiatrist and poet
- Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Irish poet, singer, and songwriter
- Dom Moraes (1938–2004)), Goan writer, poet, and columnist
- 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), American 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), American 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), American poet, actor, and musician
- Moschus (fl. 2nd c. BC), ancient Greek bucolic poet
- Howard Moss (1922–1987), American 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 (born 1942), Kenyan playwright, author, and poet
- Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920), Somali poet and religious leader
- Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011), Palestinian poet
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (born 1951), Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
- Erich Mühsam (1878–1934), German-Jewish antimilitarist, anarchist essayist, poet and, playwright
- Edwin Muir (1887–1959), Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist, and translator
- Paul Muldoon (born 1951), Irish poet; 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Lale Müldür (born 1956), Turkish poet and writer
- Laura Mullen (born 1958), American poet
- Anthony Munday (1553–1633), English playwright and writer
- George Murnu (1868–1957), Romanian archaeologist, historian, and poet
- Sheila Murphy (born 1951), American text and visual poet
- George Murray (born 1971), Canadian poet
- Joan Murray (born 1945), American poet, writer, and playwright
- Les Murray (1938–2019), Australian poet, anthologist, and critic
- Richard Murphy (born 1927), 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 writing in Russian and English
- Daniel Naborowski (1573–1640), Polish 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
- Adam Naruszewicz (1733–1796), Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
- Ogden Nash (1902–1971), American poet known for light verse
- Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), English playwright, poet, and satirist
- Imadaddin Nasimi, (died c. 1417), Azerbaijani poet
- Momčilo Nastasijević (1894–1938), Serbian poet, novelist, and dramatist
- Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), Japanese novelist and poet of Meiji period
- Gellu Naum (1915–2001), Romanian poet, dramatist, and children's writer
- Nedîm (c. 1681–1730), Ottoman poet
- John Neal (1793–1876), American writer, critic, activist, and poet
- Henry Neele (1798–1828), English poet and scholar
- John Neihardt (1881–1973), American poet, historian, and ethnographer
- Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Quebec poet
- Marilyn Nelson (born 1946), American poet, translator, and children's writer
- Howard Nemerov (born 1920), American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate 1963–64 and 1988–90; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1978
- István Péter Németh (born 1960), Hungarian poet and literary historian
- 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 American poet
- Nguyễn Du (1766–1820), Vietnamese poet in the ancient writing script chữ nôm
- 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), American 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
- Nisami (1141–1209), 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, 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 American writer, diplomat, and historian
- Olga Nolla (1938–2001), Puerto Rican poet, writer, and professor
- Harry Northup (born 1940), American actor and poet
- Caroline Norton (1808–1877), English writer, feminist and social reformer
- Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883), Polish poet, dramatist, and artist
- Alice Notley (born 1945), American 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-American poet, songwriter, and novelist
- Robert Nye (born 1939), 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
- Philip O'Connor (1916–1998), Anglo-French writer and poet
- Antoni Edward Odyniec (1804–1885), Polish poet
- Ron Offen (1930–2010), American poet, playwright and producer
- Dennis O'Driscoll (born 1954), Irish poet
- Frank O'Hara (1926–1966), American writer, poet, and art critic
- Sharon Olds (born 1942), American poet
- Mary Oliver (born 1935), American poet; 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Charles Olson (1910–1970), American modernist poet
- Saishu Onoe (1876–1957), Japanese poet
- Onomacritus (c. 530 – 480 BC), Attica poet, priest, and seer
- George Oppen (1908–1984), American poet and political activist
- Artur Oppman (Or-Ot, 1867–1931), Polish poet
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II (1858–1923), American poet, painter, and army officer
- Zaharije Orfelin (1726–1785), Serbian polymath and poet
- Władysław Orkan (1875–1930), Polish poet
- Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), American poet and actor; partner of Allen Ginsberg
- Gregory Orr (born 1947), American poet
- Agnieszka Osiecka (1936–1997), Polish poet, writer and author of screenplays
- Alice Oswald (born 1966), English poet; 2002 T. S. Eliot Prize
- Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), Chinese Song Dynasty historian, essayist, and poet
- Ovid, (43 BC – 17 AD), 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), American poet, writer, and translator
- Dan Pagis (1930–1986), Israeli poet, Holocaust survivor
- Grace Paley (1922–2007), American short story writer, poet, and political activist
- Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897), English critic and poet
- Palladas (fl. 4th c.), Greek poet
- Michael Palmer (born 1943), American poet and translator
- Sima Pandurović (1883–1960), Serbian poet
- Sumitranandan Pant (1900–1977), Indian poet in Hindi
- Daniele Pantano (born 1976), Swiss poet, literary translator, editor, and scholar
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymn writer in Welsh
- Park Yong-rae (1925–1980), Korean poet
- Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), American poet, short story writer, and satirist
- Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), Irish poet and clergyman
- Nicanor Parra (1914–2018), Chilean mathematician and poet
- 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 author of poetry, fiction and literary articles
- Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972), American 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, writer, and political activist; leader of Easter Rising
- James Larkin Pearson (1879–1981), American poet and publisher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1953–1981
- Allasani Peddana (15th and 16th cc.), Telugu poet, foremost of the Astadiggajas
- Charles Péguy (1873–1914), French poet, essayist, and editor
- Kathleen Peirce (born 1956), American poet
- Gabino Coria Peñaloza (1881–1975), Argentine poet and lyricist
- Sam Pereira (living), American poet
- Lucia Perillo (1958–2016), American poet
- Persius (AD 34–62), 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 (born 1924), American poet, scholar, and playwright
- Pascale Petit (born 1953), French-Welsh poet, artist
- Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (1304–1374), Italian scholar and poet; "Father of Humanism"
- 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
- Pi Rixiu (c. 834–883), Tang Dynasty poet
- Tom Pickard (born 1946), English poet and documentary film maker
- Pindar (522–443 BC), Theban lyric poet in Greek
- Robert Pinsky (born 1940), American poet, critic, and translator; 1997–2000 US Poet Laureate
- Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), English poet; first woman awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 1955
- Christine de Pizan (c. 1365 – c. 1430), Venetian historian, poet, and philosopher
- Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), American poet and novelist; 1982 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry as first posthumous recipient
- 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), American 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), American poet and lawyer
- John Pomfret (1667–1702), English poet and clergyman.
- Marie Ponsot (born 1921), American 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), American poet, writer, and editor
- Peter Porter (1929–2010), England-based Australian poet
- Halina Poświatowska (1935–1967), Polish poet and writer
- Wacław Potocki (1621–1696), Polish poet and moralist
- Ezra Pound (1885–1972), American expatriate poet and critic; promoted Imagism
- Alishetty Prabhakar (1952–1993), Telugu poet
- 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 BC), Latin elegiac poet of Augustan age
- Kevin Prufer (born 1969), American poet, academic, and essayist
- J H Prynne (born 1936), English poet; British Poetry Revival
- 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 best known for Morgante
- Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Russian poet, novelist, and playwright
Q
- Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), Syrian diplomat, poet, and publisher
- Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri (1909–1985), Indian poet, writer, and politician
- Aref Qazvini (1882–1934), Iranian poet, lyricist, and musician
- Qu Yuan (343–278 BC), Chinese poet of Warring States period
- Francis Quarles (1592–1644), English Christian poet
- Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature
R
Ra–Re
- Jean Racine (1639–1699), French dramatist
- Branko Radičević (1824–1853), Serbian lyric poet
- Sam Ragan (1915–1996), American poet, journalist, and writer; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1982–96
- Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006), Bangladeshi poet and columnist; key figure in Bengali literature
- Craig Raine (born 1944), English poet associated with Martian poetry
- 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), American Objectivist poet
- Martin Rakovský (c. 1535–1579), Hungarian poet and scholar
- Zsuzsa Rakovszky (born 1950), Hungarian poet and translator
- Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554–1618), English writer, poet, and explorer
- Tenali Rama (16th c., CE), Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas
- Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu (16th c., CE), Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas
- Ramarajabhushanudu (mid 16th c. CE), Telugu poet and notable musician, one of the Astadiggajas
- Guru Ram Das (1534–1581), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Scottish poet, playwright and publisher
- Dudley Randall (1914–2000), African-American poet and publisher
- Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist
- John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974), American poet, essayist, and magazine 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), American poet and critic
- Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005), Israeli poet, translator, and peace activist
- Tom Raworth (born 1938), British poet and visual artist; key figure in the British Poetry Revival
- Herbert Read (1893–1968), English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art
- Angela Readman (born 1973), English poet
- James Reaney (1926–2008), Canadian poet, playwright, and professor
- Malliya Rechana (mid 10th c, C.E.), Telugu poet
- Peter Redgrove (1932–2003), English poet
- Henry Reed (1914–1986), English poet, translator, and radio dramatist
- Ishmael Reed (born 1938), American poet, playwright and novelist
- Ennis Rees (1925–2009), American poet, professor, and translator; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1984–85
- James Reeves (1909–1978), English poet, children's writer, and writer on traditional 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 (born 1941), American 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 inspired by and influencing Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
- Jacobus Revius (born Jakob Reefsen) (1586–1658), Dutch poet, Calvinist theologian, and church historian
- Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), American poet, translator, and critical essayist
- Sydor Rey (1908–1979), Polish poet and novelist
- Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976), American Objectivist poet
- Raees Warsi (Born 1963), Pakistani poet, writer, and lyricist writing in Urdu
Ri–Ry
- Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira (1925–2009), Ecuadorian poet
- Stan Rice (1943–2002), American poet and artist; husband of author Anne Rice
- Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), American poet, essayist, and feminist
- John Richardson (1817–1886), English poet of the Lake District
- Edgell Rickword (1898–1982), English poet, critic, and journalist
- Lola Ridge (1873–1941), Irish-born American anarchist poet and editor
- Laura Riding (1901–1981), American poet, critic, and novelist
- Anne Ridler (1912–2001), English poet and editor
- James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916), American writer, poet; known as Hoosier Poet and Children's Poet
- John Riley (1937–1978), English poet associated with 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; part of Decadent movement
- Alberto Ríos (born 1952), American poet and professor
- Khawar Rizvi (1938–1981), Pakistani poet and scholar writing in Urdu and Persian
- Emma Roberts (1794–1840), English travel writer and poet
- Michael Roberts (1902–1948), English poet and writer, editor 1936 Faber Book of Modern Verse
- Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935), American poet; won three Pulitzer Prizes
- 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), American poet; 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Samuel Rogers (1763–1855), English poet
- Rognvald Kali Kolsson (c. 1103–1158), Earl of Orkney and saint
- Matthew Rohrer (born 1970), American poet
- Géza Röhrig (born 1967), Hungarian poet and actor
- David Romtvedt (living), American poet
- Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585), French poet
- Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), Austrian poet
- Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), American poet, artist, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Penelope Rosemont (born 1942), American poet, writer, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918), English poet of World War I
- Barbara Rosiek (born 1959), 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; co-founded Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
- 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 (living), English poet born in Sweden
- Istvan Rozanich (1912–1984), exiled Hungarian poet
- Tadeusz Różewicz (born 1921), Polish poet and writer
- Ljubivoje Ršumović (born 1939), Serbian poet
- Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866), German poet, translator, and professor
- Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), American poet and political activist
- Zygmunt Rumel (1915–1943), Polish poet and partisan
- Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi (1207–1273), Persian Muslim poet, jurist, and Sufi mystic
- Paul-Eerik Rummo (1942), Estonian poet
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), Finnish poet; national poet of Finland, wrote in Swedish
- Nipsey Russell (1918–2005), American comedian; regarded as "poet laureate of television"
- Lucjan Rydel (1870–1918), Polish poet and playwright
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz (born 1935), Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- Ryōkan (1758–1831), Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa–Se
- 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
- Saʿdī Shīrāzī (1184–1283/1291), medieval Persian poet
- Ahmad Shamloo (December 12, 1925 – July 24, 2000), Persian poet, writer, and journalist
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 1954), American 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; Poet Laureate of Francis I of France
- Akim Samar (1916–1943), Soviet poet and novelist regarded as first Nanai language writer
- Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), African-American poet; associated with Black Arts Movement
- Michal Šanda (born 1965), Czech writer and poet
- Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), American 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 BC), 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), American author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), English war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924–1995), Indonesian poet, short-story writer, and literary critic
- Satsvarupa Das Goswami (born 1939), American poet and artist; founded International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- William Saunders (1806–1851), Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Richard Savage (c. 1697–1743), English poet; subject of Samuel Johnson's Life of Savage
- Leslie Scalapino (1944–2010), American poet, writer, and playwright; associated with Language poets and Beat poets
- Maurice Scève (c. 1500–1564), French poet
- Hermann Georg Scheffauer (1876–1927), American poet, architect, and short story writer
- Georges Schehadé (1905–1989), Lebanese playwright and poet writing in French
- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), German poet, philosopher, and playwright
- Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), German author and translator
- Dennis Schmitz (born 1937), American poet
- Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), Austrian author and dramatist
- Philip Schultz (born 1945), American poet; 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Schuyler (1923–1991), American poet; 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The Morning of the Poem
- Delmore Schwartz (1913–1966), American poet and short story writer
- Alexander Scott (c. 1520–1582/83), 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, intellectual 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), American soul musician and jazz poet
- George Bazeley Scurfield (1920–1991), English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Peter Seaton (1942–2010), American 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, Nobel laureate, and Ambassador to UK
- Hugh Seidman (born 1940), American poet
- Rebecca Seiferle, American 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. BC), Greek iambic and elegiac poet
- Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001), Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist; first president of Senegal
- Robert W. Service (1874–1958), Scottish-Canadian poet; called "Bard of the Yukon"
- Vikram Seth (born 1952), Indian author and poet
- Anne Sexton (1928–1974), American poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- John W. Sexton (born 1958), Irish poet, short-story writer, and children's novelist
Sh–Sj
- Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692), English poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1689–92
- Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1565–1612), fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda, who wrote poetry in Persian, Telugu and Urdu
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (1941–2001), Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
- William Shakespeare (c. 1564–1616), English poet and playwright
- Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), American rapper, actor, and black activist
- Otep Shamaya (born 1979), American singer-songwriter, actress, and poet; lead singer of Otep
- Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), American playwright and poet
- Jo Shapcott (born 1953), English poet, editor, and lecturer
- Karl Shapiro (1913–2000), American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1946–47
- Brenda Shaughnessy (born 1970), American poet
- Luci Shaw (born 1928), English-born Christian poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), major English Romantic poet
- William Shenstone (1714–1763), English poet
- Bhupi Sherchan (1935–1989), Nepalese poet
- Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), Ukrainian poet and artist
- 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-American poet and critic; founded philosophy of Aesthetic Realism
- Robert Siegel (1939–2012), American poet and novelist
- August Silberstein (1827–1900), Austro-Hungarian poet and writer in German
- Jon Silkin (1930–1997), English poet
- Ron Silliman (born 1946), American poet; associated with Language poetry
- Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), American poet, musician, and children's writer
- Simeon Simev (born 1949), Macedonian poet, essayist, and journalist
- Charles Simic (born 1938), Serbian-American poet; 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, US Poet Laureate, 2007–2008
- Simonides of Ceos (c. 556–468 BC), Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
- Simiso Slashfire Sokhela (born 1991), South African Author, Poet and Public Speaker.
- Louis Simpson (1923–2012), Jamaican poet; 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Bennie Lee Sinclair (1939–2000), American poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
- Burns Singer (1928–1964), American poet usually identified with Scotland, where he was raised
- Marilyn Singer (born 1948), American 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 writer, best known as 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, the protagonist of Egil's Saga
- John Skelton (1460–1529), English poet
- Sasha Skenderija (born 1968), Bosnian-American poet
- Ed Skoog (born 1971), American 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 advocate of Slovenian culture
- Antoni Słonimski (1895–1976), Polish poet, playwright and artist
- Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), Polish Romantic poet; one of "Three Bards" of Polish literature
- 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), American poet
- Charlotte Turner Smith (1749–1806), English Romantic poet and novelist
- Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961), American poet, sculptor, and author
- Margaret Smith (born 1958), American poet, musician, and artist
- Patti Smith (born 1946), American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist
- Stevie Smith (1902–1971), English poet and novelist
- Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–1975), Scots poet in Lallans
- Tracy K. Smith (born 1972), American poet, 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- William Jay Smith (born 1918), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1968–1970
- Tobias Smollett (1721–1771), Scottish poet and author
- William De Witt Snodgrass (1926–2009), American poet; 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Gary Snyder (born 1930), American poet, essayist, and environmentalist; 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Edith Södergran (1892–1923), Swedish-speaking Finnish poet
- Sōgi (1421–1502), Japanese waka and renga poet
- David Solway (born 1941), Canadian poet, educational theorist, and travel writer
- William Somervile (1675–1742), English poet
- Sophocles, (c. 496 – 406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley (1895–1915), English war poet of World War I
- Gary Soto (born 1952), Mexican-American 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, Lake Poet and UK Poet Laureate (1813–43)
- 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 best known for The Faerie Queene
St–Sz
- Edward Stachura (1937–1979), poet, prose writer and translator
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957), Polish poet
- William Stafford (1914–1993), American poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–71
- A.E. Stallings (born 1968), American poet and translator
- Jon Stallworthy (born 1935), English academic, poet and literary critic
- Harold Standish (1919–1972), Canadian poet and novelist
- Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983), Romanian poet
- Ann Stanford (1916–1987), American poet
- Anna Stanisławska (1651–1701), Polish poet
- George Starbuck (1931–1996), American neo-formalist poet
- Andrzej Stasiuk (born 1960), Polish poet and novelist
- Statius (c. 45–96), Roman poet
- Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE (born 1932), New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
- Stesichorus (c. 640–555 BC), Greek lyric poet
- Joseph Stefan (1835–1893), Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician, and poet, living in Austria
- Stefan Stefanović (1807–1828), Serbian poet
- Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), American Modernist innovator in prose and poetry, and art collector
- Eric Stenbock (1860–1895), Baltic German poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction
- Mattie Stepanek (1990–2004), American poet and advocate
- George Stepney (1663–1707), English poet and diplomat
- Anatol Stern (1899–1968), Polish poet and art critic
- Gerald Stern (born 1925), American poet
- Marinko Stevanović (born 1961), Bosnian poet
- C. J. Stevens (born 1927), American writer of poetry, short stories, and biography
- Wallace Stevens (1880–1955), American Modernist poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer
- Margo Taft Stever, American poet
- Trumbull Stickney (1874–1904), American classical scholar and poet
- James Still (1906–2001), American poet, novelist and folklorist
- Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1828–1878), Serbian poet
- Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-American poet, writer, and philosopher
- Donna J. Stone (1933–1994), American poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone (1915–2011), American poet, author and teacher
- Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet (born 1968), American poet and editor
- Edward Storer (1880–1944), English writer, translator and poet, associated with Imagism
- Theodor Storm (1817–1888), German writer and poet
- Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Latin American Modernist poet
- Mark Strand (born 1934), Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–91
- Botho Strauß (born 1944), German playwright, poet, and novelist
- Joseph Stroud (born 1943), American poet
- Jesse Stuart (1907–1984), American writer known for short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia
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- Su Shi (1037–1101), Song dynasty writer, poet, and artist
- Su Xiaoxiao (died c. 501 AD), courtesan and poet under Southern Qi Dynasty
- Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), English poet and inventor of the card game cribbage
- Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), ruler of Ottoman Empire and Islamic poet
- 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, one of the Astadiggajas
- Robert Sward (born 1933), American and Canadian poet and novelist
- Cole Swensen (born 1955), American poet, translator, and copywriter; Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry 2006
- Karen Swenson (born 1936), American poet
- May Swenson (1913–1989), American poet and playwright
- Marcin Świetlicki (born 1961), Polish poet, prose writer and musician
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, and political pamphleteer
- Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909), English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Anna Świrszczyńska (aka Anna Swir) (1909–1984), Polish poet
- Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
- Arthur William Symons (1865–1945), English poet, critic and magazine editor
- John Millington Synge (1871–1909), Irish dramatist, poet, and collector of folklore
- Władysław Syrokomla (1823–1862), Polish poet and translator in the 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), Polish poet, also in Latin
- Arthur Sze (born 1950), Chinese American 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; Nobel Prize in Literature 1996
- 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 the U.S.
- 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), Belarusian poet
- Tao Qian (365–427), Chinese poet of Six Dynasties period
- 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; best known for Jerusalem Delivered
- Allen Tate (1899–1979), American poet, essayist, and social commentator; US Poet Laureate 1943–44
- James Tate (born 1943), American poet; 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Emma Tatham (1829–1855), English poet
- 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), American poet; 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Jane Taylor (1783–1824), English poet and novelist
- Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), American lyric poet
- Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Telesilla (fl. 510 BC), Greek 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), American poet
- Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), African-American 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 ney performer"
Th–To
- Kálmán Thaly (1839–1909), Hungarian poet and politician
- Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), American writer and poet
- John Thelwall (1764–1834), English poet and essayist
- Theocritus (fl. 3rd c. BC), Greek bucolic poet
- Jan Theuninck (born 1954), Belgian painter and poet
- Nandi Thimmana (15th to 16th cc.), Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas at court of King Krishnadevaraya
- Thiruvalluvar (31 BC), 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), American 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), American poet, journalist, editor, and publisher
- Francis Thompson (1859–1907), English poet and ascetic
- James Thomson (1700–1748), Scottish poet and playwright; lyrics of Rule, Britannia!
- James Thomson (Bysshe Vanolis, 1834–1882), Scottish Victorian poet
- Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), American 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 (born 1930), English poet and writer
- Tibullus (c. 54–19 BC), Latin poet and writer of elegies
- 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), American 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), American Modernist poet, educator, and columnist
- Charles Tomlinson (born 1927), English poet and translator
- Jean Toomer (1894–1967), American poet and novelist; important figure in Harlem Renaissance
- 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) American poet and essayist
Tr–Tz
- Thomas Traherne (1636/37–1674), English poet, clergyman, and religious writer
- Georg Trakl (1887–1914), Austrian Expressionist poet
- Elizabeth Treadwell (born 1967), American poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay (born 1972), French Canadian writer and poet
- Duško Trifunović (1933–2006), Serbian poet and writer
- Calvin Trillin (born 1935), American humorist, poet, and novelist
- Geeta Tripathee (born 1972), Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist, literary critic and scholar
- Suryakant Tripathi (1896–1961), Indian poet in Hindi and Bengali
- Quincy Troupe (born 1939), American poet, editor, journalist 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; considered national poet of Armenia
- 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 poet of Māori ancestry
- Julian Tuwim (1894–1953), Polish poet of Jewish descent
- Jan Twardowski (1915–2006), Polish poet and priest
- Chase Twichell (born 1950), American poet, professor, and publisher
- Pontus de Tyard, (c. 1521–1605), French poet and priest; member of "La Pléiade"
- Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873), Russian Romantic poet
- Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian and French avant-garde poet and performance artist; a founder of Dada movement
U
- Kornel Ujejski (1823–1897) Polish poet and political writer
- Erzsi Újvári (1899–1940), Hungarian poet
- Laura Ulewicz (1930–2007), American Beat poet
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha (1885–1945), Telugu poet; sixth Peethadhipathi of Sri Viswa Viznana Vidya Adhyatmika Peetham
- 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; 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
- Unorthodox Australian Poet (born 1965), Australian poet
- Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977), American poet, anthologist, and critic; US Poet Laureate 1961–62
- John Updike (1932–2009), American novelist, poet, and literary critic
- Allen Upward (1863–1926), Irish-English poet, lawyer and teacher; Imagist poet
- Amy Uyematsu (born 1947), Japanese-American poet
V
- János Vajda (1827–1897), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Paul Valéry (1871–1945), French author and poet of the Symbolist school
- Alfonso Vallejo (born 1943), Spanish artist, playwright, and poet
- César Vallejo (1892–1938), Peruvian poet, writer, and playwright
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955), French-speaking Swiss poet and writer
- Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
- Cor Van den Heuvel (born 1931), American haiku poet, editor, and archivist
- Mona Van Duyn (1921–2004), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1992–93
- Lin Van Hek (born 1944), Australian poet, writer, and fashion designer
- Nikola Vaptsarov (1909–1942), Bulgarian Communist poet
- Varand, (born 1954), Armenian poet, writer, and professor of literature
- Mahadevi Varma (1907–1987), Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Dimitris Varos (born 1949), 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
- 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), American 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 who wrote in Latin
- Vemana (aka Kumaragiri Vema Reddy), Indian Telugu language poet
- Gavril Stefanović Venclović (fl. 1680–1749), Serbian priest, writer, poet, and illuminator
- Helen Vendler (born 1933), American poetry critic and professor
- Jacint Verdaguer (1845–1902), Catalan poet; a prominent figure in Renaixença
- Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), French poet associated with Symbolist movement
- Paul Vermeersch (born 1973), Canadian poet
- Veturi Sundararama Murthy (1936–2010), known as Veturi, Telugu poet and song-writer
- Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864–1937), French symbolist poet
- Peter Viereck (1916–2006), American poet, professor and political thinker
- Gilles Vigneault (born 1928), Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
- Judit Vihar (born 1944), Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Jose Garcia Villa (1908–1997), Filipino 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 BC), ancient Roman poet of Augustan period
- Roemer Visscher (1547–1620), Dutch salesman, 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, revered Hindu figure; considered the author of Mahabharata and some Vedas
W
Wa–Wh
- Wace (c. 1110–after 1174), Norman poet
- Sidney Wade (born 1951), American poet and professor
- John Wain (1925–1994), English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with The Movement
- Diane Wakoski (born 1937), American poet; associated with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
- Derek Walcott (born 1930), Saint Lucian poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Anne Waldman (born 1945), American poet
- Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935), German-American poet, translator, and publisher
- Arthur Waley (1889–1966), English orientalist and Sinologist; poet and translator
- Alice Walker (born 1944), American author, poet, and activist
- Margaret Walker (1915–1998), African-American writer
- Edmund Waller (1606–1687), English poet and politician
- Martin Walser (born 1927), German writer
- Robert Walser (1878–1956), German-speaking Swiss writer
- Connie Wanek (born 1952), American poet
- Aleksander Wat (1900–1967), Polish poet and memoirist
- 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, American poet
- Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978), English novelist and poet
- Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), American poet, novelist, and literary critic; a founder of New Criticism
- Thomas Warton (1728–1790), English literary historian, critic, and poet
- Albert Wass (1908–1998), Hungarian poet and novelist exiled to the U.S.
- Vernon Watkins (1906–1967), Welsh poet, translator, and painter
- Thomas Watson (1555–1592), English lyric poet writing in English and Latin
- Samuel Wagan Watson (born 1972), Australian poet
- George Watsky (born 1986), American poet and rapper
- Barrett Watten (born 1948), American poet, editor, and educator; associated 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, American poet, professor
- Hannah Weiner (1928–1997), American 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), American poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate
- Charles Wesley (1707–1788), English leader of Methodist movement, and prolific hymnist
- Gilbert West (1703–1756), English poet, translator and Christian apologist
- Philip Whalen (1923–2002), American 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-American poet
- Billy Edd Wheeler (born 1932), American songwriter, performer, and poet
- E.B. White (1899–1985), American essayist, author, and humorist
- Henry Kirke White (1785–1806), English poet
- James L. White (1936–1981), American poet, editor, and teacher
- Walt Whitman (1819–1892), American poet, essayist, and humanist
- Isabella Whitney (fl. 1567–1573), English poet
- Reed Whittemore (1919–2012), American poet, biographer, and critic
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), American poet
Wi–Wy
- Anna Wickham (Edith Alice Mary Harper) (1884–1947), English poet brought up in Australia
- Les Wicks (born 1955), Australian poet, publisher, and editor
- Ulrika Widström (1764–1841), Swedish poet and translator
- John Wieners (1934–2002), American lyric poet
- Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), Polish poet and journalist
- Richard Wilbur (born 1921), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1987–88, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1957 and 1989
- 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), best known as earliest troubadour whose works have survived
- Aeneas Francon Williams (1886–1971), British poet, writer and, missionary
- Emmett Williams (1925–2007), American poet and visual artist
- Jonathan Williams (1929–2008), American poet, publisher, and essayist
- Heathcote Williams (1941–2017), English poet, political activist, and dramatist
- Miller Williams (born 1930), American poet, translator, and editor
- Oscar Williams (1900–1964), Jewish Ukrainian-American anthologist and poet
- Saul Williams (born 1972), African-American singer, poet, writer, and actor
- Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999), African-American poet, novelist, and social critic
- Waldo Williams (1904–1971), Welsh language poet; pacifist and Welsh nationalist
- William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), poet and physician; associated 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), American poet and editor
- Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey, born 1945), American political and cultural writer, essayist, and poet
- Christian Wiman (born 1966), American poet and editor
- David Wingate (1828–1892), Scottish poet and collier
- Yvor Winters (1900–1968), American 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-American poet, literary translator, and playwright
- Maryla Wolska (Iwo Płomieńczyk, 1873–1930), Polish poet
- George Woodcock (1912–1995), Canadian writer of biography and history, anarchist thinker, and poet
- 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 (born 1949), American poet
- Charles Wright (born in 1935), American poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- David Wright (1920–1994), South African-born poet and author
- Franz Wright (born 1953), American poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Wright (1927–1980), American poet, father of Franz Wright; 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Jay Wright (born 1935), African-American poet, playwright, and essayist
- Judith Wright (1915–2000), Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights
- Lady Mary Wroth (1587–c. 1651), English poet of the Renaissance
- Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542), English ambassador and lyrical poet
- Józef Wybicki (1747–1822), Polish poet and national-anthem writer
- Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), American poet and novelist
- Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), Welsh language poet
- Edward Alexander Wyon (1842−1872), English architect and poet
- Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907), Polish poet, playwright and painter
X
- Xenokleides (4th c. BC), poet of Athens
- Xin Qiji (1140–1207), Chinese poet in Song dynasty
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi (aka Yam Yam) (1946–2005), Somali poet active in the 1960s
- Xu Zhimo (1897–1931), Chinese poet
- Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (born 1947), Uzbek poet; awarded title of People's Poet of Uzbekistan
Y
- Jūkichi Yagi (1898–1927), Japanese poet on modern religious themes
- Leo Yankevich (born 1961), American 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 (born 1933), Soviet Russian poet, dramatist, and film director
- Lin Yining (1655 – c. 1730), Chinese poet, painter, and composer
- Akiko Yosano (1878–1942), Japanese poet, feminist and pacifist
- Andrew Young (1885–1971), Scottish poet and clergyman
- Edward Young (1681–1765), English poet
- Kevin Young (born 1970), American poet and teacher
- Marguerite Young (1908–1995), American author of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction
- A. W. Yrjänä (Aki Ville Yrjänä; born 1967), Finnish poet, musician and songwriter with band CMX
- Yuan Mei (1716–1797), Chinese poet, scholar, and gastronome of Qing Dynasty
Z
- Tymon Zaborowski (1799–1828), Polish poet
- Adam Zagajewski (born 1945), Polish poet, novelist, and essayist
- Józef Bohdan Zaleski (1802–1886), Polish poet
- Wacław Michał Zaleski (1799–1849), Polish poet, critic and politician
- Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011), Italian poet
- Matthew Zapruder (born 1967), American poet, translator, and professor
- Marya Zaturenska (1902–1982), American lyric poet; 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Kazimiera Zawistowska (1870–1902), Polish 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 (born 1958), English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
- Hristofor Zhefarovich (c. 1690–1753), Serbian painter, writer and poet; proponent of Pan-Slavism
- Calvin Ziegler (1854–1930), German-American poet; wrote 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), American poet; one of the primary Objectivist poets
- Jerzy Żuławski (1874–1915), Polish poet, novelist and philosopher
- Juliusz Żuławski (1910–1999), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), leader of Reformation in Switzerland; poet, hymnist and author of Pestlied
- Eugeniusz Żytomirski (1911–1975), Polish poet, playwright and novelist in Russia and Canada
References
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