List of poets
This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.
A
Ab–Ak
- Aarudhra,, Indian Telugu poet
- Jonathan Aaron, American poet
- Chris Abani, Nigerian poet
- Henry Abbey, American poet
- Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, American poet, novelist and short story writer
- Siôn Abel, Welsh balladeer
- Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and literary critic
- Arthur Talmage Abernethy, American journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
- Sam Abrams, American poet
- Seth Abramson, American poet, editor and critic
- Kosta Abrašević, Serbian poet
- Dannie Abse, Welsh poet in English
- Kathy Acker, American experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
- Diane Ackerman, American author, poet, and naturalist
- Duane Ackerson, American writer of speculative poetry and fiction
- Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright
- Harold Acton, English writer, scholar and dilettante
- János Aczél, Hungarian poet and provost
- Tamás Aczél, Hungarian poet
- Gilbert Adair, Scottish novelist, poet and critic
- Virginia Hamilton Adair, American poet
- Helen Adam, Scottish-American poet, collagist and photographer
- Draginja Adamović, Serbian poet
- John Adams, American poet
- Léonie Adams, American poet
- Ryan Adams, American singer-songwriter and writer
- Hendrik Adamson, Estonian poet
- Fleur Adcock, poet and New Zealand native who has spent most of life in England
- Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Kim Addonizio American poet, novelist
- Artur Adson, Estonian poet
- Endre Ady, Hungarian poet
- Mariska Ady, Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus, Athenian tragedian
- Lucius Afranius, Roman comic poet
- John Agard, Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
- James Agee, American novelist, screenwriter and poet
- Deborah Ager, American poet, editor
- István Ágh, Hungarian poet
- Kelli Russell Agodon, American poet
- Dritëro Agolli, Albanian poet
- Delmira Agustini, Uruguayan poet
- Ai, American poet
- Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
- Conrad Aiken, American poet and author
- Aganice Ainianos, Greek poet
- Akazome Emon, Japanese poet and historian
- Mark Akenside, English poet and physician
- Rachel Akerman, Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
- Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet
- Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet
- Jan Nisar Akhtar, Indian Urdu poet
- Javed Akhtar, Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
- Salman Akhtar, Indian American professor and poet writing in English and Urdu
Al–Am
- Luigi Alamanni, Italian poet and statesman
- Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, Scottish poet in Gaelic
- Ave Alavainu, Estonian poet
- Gillebríghde Albanach, Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
- Alcaeus, Athenian comic poet in Greek
- Alcaeus of Messene, Greek writer of verse epigrams
- Alcaeus of Mytilene, Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi, Indian Telugu poet
- Guru Amar Das, Punjabi poet and Sikh guru
- Ammiel Alcalay, American poet, scholar and critic
- Alcman, Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Amos Bronson Alcott, American poet and teacher
- Richard Aldington, English poet and writer
- Vasile Alecsandri, Romanian poet
- Tudur Aled, Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Claribel Alegría, Central American poet writing in Spanish
- Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977
- Josip Murn Aleksandrov, Slovene symbolist poet
- Sherman Alexie, American poet and writer
- Felipe Alfau, Catalan American novelist and poet
- Agha Shahid Ali Indian, Kashmiri and American poet
- Dante Alighieri, Italian poet
- James Alexander Allan, Australian poet
- August Alle, Estonian poet
- William Allegrezza, American poet, professor and editor
- Dick Allen, American poet, critic and academic
- Donald Allen, American poet, editor and translator
- Elizabeth Akers Allen, American author and poet
- Ron Allen, American poet and playwright
- Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet
- William Allingham, Irish poet and man of letters
- Washington Allston, American painter and poet
- Damaso Alonso, Spanish poet, philologist and critic
- Alta, American poet and writer
- Natan Alterman, Israeli poet, journalist and translator
- Alurista, Chicano poet and activist
- Al Alvarez, English poet
- Julia Alvarez, Dominican-American poet, novelist and essayist
- Betti Alver, Estonian poet
- Moniza Alvi, Pakistani-British poet and writer
- Amara Sinha, Sanskrit grammarian and poet
- Ambroise, Norman-French poet of Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet
- Indran Amirthanayagam, Sri Lankan American poet, essayist and translator
- Kingsley Amis, English author and poet
- A. R. Ammons, American author and poet
An–Aq
- Anacreon, Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch, German writer and publisher
- Guda Anjaiah, Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist, and writer from the state of Telangana
- Ana Paula Arendt, Brazilian classical poet
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish poet and children's writer
- Victor Henry Anderson, American poet, kahuna, and teacher of the Feri Tradition
- Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet
- Mário de Andrade, Brazilian poet, novelist and critic
- Bernard André, French Augustinian poet, poet laureate to Henry VII of England
- Peter Andrej, Slovenian poet and musician
- Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portuguese poet and writer
- Bruce Andrews, American Language poet
- Kevin Andrews, Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist
- Ron Androla, American poet
- Guru Angad, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Aneirin, Brythonic epic poet
- Ralph Angel, American poet and translator
- Maya Angelou, American poet
- James Stout Angus, Shetland poet writing mainly in Shetland dialect
- Marion Angus, Scottish poet writing in Scots
- J. K. Annand, Scots poet best known for children's poems
- Mika Antić, Serbian poet
- David Antin, American poet and critic
- Antler, American poet
- Susanne Antonetta, American poet and author
- Brother Antoninus, American poet
- Chairil Anwar, Indonesian poet
- Johannes Anyuru, Swedish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet
- Apollonius of Rhodes, poet and librarian at Library of Alexandria
- Maja Apostoloska, Macedonian poet
- Philip Appleman, American poet and professor
- Lajos Áprily, Hungarian poet and translator
- Pawlu Aquilina, Maltese poet
Ar
- Louis Aragon, French poet, novelist and editor
- János Arany, Hungarian poet
- Archilochus, ancient Greek lyric poet
- Walter Conrad Arensberg, American Dadaist, critic and poet
- Tudor Arghezi, Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto, Italian poet
- Aristophanes, Greek dramatic poet
- Guru Arjan, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Rae Armantrout, American Language poet
- Simon Armitage, English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Richard Armour, American poet and author
- Ernst Moritz Arndt, German author and poet
- Bettina von Arnim, German writer, composer and visual artist
- Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet and novelist
- Craig Arnold, American poet and professor
- Matthew Arnold, English poet and cultural critic
- Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld, Icelandic skald
- Jean Arp, German-French sculptor, painter, and poet
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa, Polish poet
- Antonin Artaud, French playwright, poet and essayist
As–Az
- M. K. Asante, American author, poet and professor
- John Ashbery, American poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Cliff Ashby, English poet and novelist
- Renée Ashley, American poet and novelist.
- Anton Aškerc, Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
- Adam Asnyk, Polish poet and dramatist
- Herbert Asquith, English poet
- Mina Assadi, Iranian poet, author and songwriter
- Vishnu Raj Atreya, Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
- Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
- W. H. Auden, Anglo-American poet, essayist
- Imre Augustich, Slovenian/Hungarian poet
- Joseph Auslander, American poet, anthologist and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
- Ausonius, Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala
- Paul Auster, American poet, playwright, and essayist
- James Avery, American actor, poet, and screenwriter
- Margaret Avison, Canadian poet
- Krayem Awad, Vienna painter, sculptor, and poet of Syrian origin
- Gennady Aygi, Russian poet
- Ayo Ayoola-Amale, Nigerian poet
- Pam Ayres, English humorous poet
- Robert Aytoun, Scottish poet
- Maryam Jafari Azarmani, Iranian poet, essayist, critic, translator
- Jody Azzouni, American philosopher and poet
B
Bab–Ban
- Mihály Babits, Hungarian poet and translator
- Ken Babstock, Canadian poet
- Jimmy Santiago Baca, American poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
- Bacchylides, Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Bellamy Bach, pseudonym of group of fiction and poetry writers
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Hindi poet
- Joseph M. Bachelor, American author, poet and educator
- Simon Bacher, Hebrew poet in Hungary
- Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian poet and author
- Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, Indonesian poet
- George Bacovia, Romanian poet
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Polish poet and soldier
- Julio Baghy, Hungarian actor and Esperanto author and poet
- Bai Juyi, Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Joanna Baillie, Scottish poet and dramatist
- József Bajza, Hungarian poet and critic
- Józef Baka, Polish-Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
- Vyt Bakaitis, Lithuanian-American translator, editor and poet
- David Baker, American poet
- Bâkî, Ottoman poet
- John Balaban, American poet and translator
- Bálint Balassi, Hungarian poet
- Béla Balázs, Hungarian poet and critic
- Edward Balcerzan, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Stanisław Baliński, Polish poet and diplomat
- Jesse Ball, American poet and novelist
- Zsófia Balla, Hungarian poet from Romania
- Addie L. Ballou, American poet and suffragist
- Konstantin Balmont, Russian symbolist poet and translator
- Russell Banks, American fiction writer and poet
- Anne Bannerman, Scottish poet
- Amiri Baraka , American writer, poet and dramatist
- Marcin Baran, Polish poet and journalist
- Stanisław Barańczak, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet, essayist and children's author
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and writer
- John Barbour, Scottish poet, the first major named literary figure to write in Scots
- Alexander Barclay, English/Scottish poet
- George Barker, English poet and author
- Les Barker, English poet
- Coleman Barks, American poet
- Mihály Barla, Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
- Mary Barnard, American poet, biographer and translator
- Djuna Barnes, American writer
- William Barnes, English writer, poet and philologist
- Catherine Barnett, American poet and educator
- Richard Barnfield, English poet
- Willis Barnstone, American poet and literary translator
- Laird Barron, American poet, author
- Sándor Barta, Hungarian poet executed in the Soviet Union
- Bernard Barton, English poet and Quaker
- Bertha Hirsch Baruch, American writer, poet and suffragist
- Todd Bash, American avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
- Matsuo Bashō, Japanese renku and haiku poet
- Michael Basinski, American text, visual and sound poet
- Ellen Bass, American poet
- Arlo Bates, American author, poet and educator
- David Bates, American poet
- Joseph Bathanti, American poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
- János Batsányi, Hungarian poet
- Dawn-Michelle Baude, American poet, journalist and educator
- Charles Baudelaire, French poet, essayist and translator
- Eric Baus, American poet
- Cirilo Bautista, Filipino poet, writer and critic
- Charles Baxter, American writer and poet
- James K. Baxter, New Zealand poet
Be
- Jan Beatty, American poet
- Francis Beaumont, English poet and dramatist
- Samuel Beckett, Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist and poet
- Joshua Beckman, American poet
- Matija Bećković, Serbian writer and poet
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Spanish poet and short-story writer
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, dramatist and physician
- Patricia Beer, English poet and critic
- Aphra Behn, English Restoration dramatist, among the first professional female writers
- Ferenc Békássy, Hungarian poet
- Erin Belieu, American poet
- Marvin Bell, American poet and teacher, first Poet Laureate of State of Iowa
- Gioconda Belli, Nicaraguan poet and novelist
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, Italian poet known for sonnets in Romanesco
- Xuan Bello, Asturian language poet
- Hilaire Belloc, Anglo-French writer and historian
- Andrei Bely, Russian novelist, poet and critic
- Stephen Vincent Benét, American author, poet and fiction writer
- William Rose Benét, American poet, writer and editor
- Elizabeth Benger, English poet, biographer and novelist
- Gottfried Benn, German essayist, novelist and expressionist poet
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett, African-American writer and poet
- Jim Bennett, English poet known for work in Liverpool punk era
- Richard Berengarten English poet, writer and translator
- Bo Bergman, Swedish writer, critic and Swedish Academy member
- İlhan Berk, Turkish poet
- Charles Bernstein,, American poet and scholar
- Béroul, Norman poet of the episodic Tristan
- Daniel Berrigan, American poet, priest and peace activist
- Ted Berrigan, American poet
- James Berry, Jamaican poet based in England
- Wendell Berry, American man of letters, critic and farmer
- John Berryman, American poet and scholar
- Dániel Berzsenyi, Hungarian poet
- Mary Ursula Bethell, New Zealand poet and social worker
- John Betjeman, English poet, writer and broadcaster
- Elizabeth Beverley, English poet, writer and entertainer
- Helen Bevington, American poet, prose writer and educator
- L. S. Bevington, English anarchist poet and essayist
Bh–Bl
- Subramanya Bharathi, Tamil writer, poet and Indian independence activist
- Sujata Bhatt, Indian poet in Gujarati
- Źmitrok Biadula, Jewish Belarusian poet, prose writer and independence activist
- Miron Białoszewski, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zbigniew Bieńkowski, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Biernat of Lublin, Polish poet and fabulist
- Laurence Binyon, English poet, dramatist and art scholar
- Earle Birney, Canadian poet, fiction writer and dramatist
- Nevin Birsa, Slovene poet
- Balázs Birtalan, Hungarian poet and publicist
- Elizabeth Bishop, American poet and short-story writer; US Poet Laureate
- Ram Prasad Bismil, poet and revolutionary writing in Urdu and Hindi
- bill bissett, Canadian anti-conventional poet
- Sherwin Bitsui, American Navajo poet
- Paul Blackburn American poet
- Richard Palmer Blackmur, American literary critic and poet
- Lucian Blaga, Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright
- Lewis Blake, English poet
- William Blake, English painter, poet and printmaker
- Don Blanding, American poet, journalist, writer and speaker
- Adrian Blevins, American poet
- Mathilde Blind, German-born English poet and writer
- Alexander Blok, Russian lyrical poet
- Benjamin Paul Blood, American philosopher and poet
- Robert Bloomfield, English laboring-class poet
- Roy Blumenthal, South African poet
- Edmund Blunden, English poet, author and literary critic
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, English poet and writer
- Robert Bly, American poet, author and leader of mythopoetic men's movement
Bo–Bri
- Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian author and poet
- Jean Bodel, Old French poet
- Ádám Bodor, Hungarian poet from Romania
- Louise Bogan, American poet; fourth US Poet Laureate
- Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian Renaissance poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, French poet and critic
- Michelle Boisseau, American poet
- Eavan Boland, Irish poet
- Alan Bold, Scottish poet, biographer, and journalist
- Christian Bök, experimental Canadian poet
- Heinrich Böll, German novelist
- Edmund Bolton, English historian and poet
- Nozawa Bonchō, Japanese haikai poet
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German poet and Lutheran theologian
- Arna Wendell Bontemps, American poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance
- Luke Booker, English poet, cleric and antiquary
- Kurt Boone, American poet
- Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist and poet
- Tadeusz Borowski, Polish writer and journalist
- Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and revolutionary
- Gordon Bottomley, English poet and verse dramatist
- David Bottoms, American poet; Georgia Poet Laureate
- Cathy Smith Bowers, American poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010–2012
- Edgar Bowers, American poet and Bollingen Prize in Poetry winner
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet and mercenary
- Kay Boyle, American writer, educator and political activist
- Alison Brackenbury, English poet from Lincolnshire
- Anne Bradstreet America's first published poet
- Di Brandt, Canadian poet and literary critic
- Giannina Braschi, American poet born in Puerto Rico
- Kamau Brathwaite, Barbadian writer
- Richard Brautigan, American novelist, poet and short story writer
- Bertolt Brecht, German playwright, poet and lyricist
- Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero, Dutch poet and playwright
- Radovan Brenkus, Slovak writer and poet
- Christopher Brennan, Australian poet and scholar
- Joseph Payne Brennan, American poet and writer of fantasy and horror fiction
- Clemens Brentano, German poet and novelist
- André Breton, French writer, poet and founder of Surrealism
- Nicholas Breton, English poet and novelist
- Ken Brewer, American poet and scholar; Utah Poet Laureate
- Robert Bridges, English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Robert Bringhurst, Canadian poet, typographer and author
Bro–By
- Geoffrey Brock, American poet and translator
- Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet and essayist
- Wladyslaw Broniewski, Polish poet and soldier
- William Bronk, American poet
- Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet, youngest of the three Brontë sisters
- Charlotte Brontë, English novelist and poet, eldest of the three Brontë sisters
- Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet
- Rupert Brooke, English poet
- Gwendolyn Brooks, African-American poet; 30th US Poet Laureate
- Hans Adolph Brorson, Danish poet and Pietist bishop
- Joan Brossa, Catalan poet, playwright and artist
- Nicole Brossard, French Canadian formalist poet and novelist
- Olga Broumas, Greek poet living in United States
- Flora Brovina, Kosovar Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist
- Petrus Brovka , Soviet Belarusian poet
- George Mackay Brown, Scottish poet, author and dramatist
- James Brown known as J. B. Selkirk, Scottish poet and essayist
- Sterling Brown, African-American academic writer and poet
- Thomas Edward Brown, Manx poet, scholar and theologian
- Frances Browne, Irish poet and novelist
- William Browne, English poet
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet
- Robert Browning, English poet and playwright
- William Cullen Bryant, American romantic poet and journalist
- Colette Bryce, Northern Irish poet
- Bryher , English novelist, poet and memoirist
- Valeri Bryusov, Russian poet, novelist and critic
- Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet and children's writer
- Dugald Buchanan , Scottish poet writing in Scots and Scottish Gaelic
- Robert Williams Buchanan, Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
- Georg Büchner, German writer, poet and dramatist
- August Buchner, German Baroque poet and professor
- Vincent Buckley, Australian poet, essayist and critic
- David Budbill, American poet, and playwright
- Andrea Hollander Budy, American poet
- Teodor Bujnicki, Polish poet
- Charles Bukowski, American poet, novelist and short story writer
- Ivan Bunin Russian poet and novelist
- Basil Bunting, English modernist poet
- Anthony Burgess, English writer, poet and playwright
- Robert Burns, Scottish poet and a lyricist
- Stanley Burnshaw, American poet
- John Burnside, Scottish poet and writer, winner of T. S. Eliot and Forward poetry prizes
- William S. Burroughs, American novelist, poet and essayist
- Andrzej Bursa, Polish poet and writer
- Yosa Buson, Japanese haikai poet and painter
- Raegan Butcher, American poet and singer
- Ray Buttigieg, poet, composer and musician
- Ignazio Buttitta, Sicilian language poet
- Anthony Butts,, American poet
- Kathryn Stripling Byer, American poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005–09
- Witter Bynner, American poet, writer and scholar
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron, English poet and literary figure
C
Cab–Cav
- Lydia Cabrera, Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Dilys Cadwaladr, Welsh poet and fiction writer writing in Welsh
- Cædmon, earliest Northumbrian poet known by name
- Maoilios Caimbeul, Scots poet and children's writer
- Scott Cairns, American poet, memoirist and essayist
- Alison Calder, Canadian poet and educator
- Angus Calder, Scots poet, academic and educator
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño, dramatist, poet and writer of Spanish Golden Age
- Musa Cälil, Soviet Tatar poet and resistance fighter
- Barry Callaghan, Canadian author, poet and anthologist
- Michael Feeney Callan, Irish poet, novelist and biographer
- Callimachus, Hellenistic poet, critic and scholar at Library of Alexandria
- Robert Calvert, South African writer, poet and musician
- Norman Cameron, Scottish poet
- Luís de Camões, early Portuguese poet
- Angus Peter Campbell, Scottish poet, novelist, broadcaster and actor
- David Campbell, Australian poet and wartime pilot, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for service in New Guinea
- Roy Campbell, South African poet and satirist
- Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet
- Jan Campert, Dutch poet and journalist
- Remco Campert, son of Jan; Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion, English composer, poet and physician
- Matilde Camus, Spanish poet and researcher
- Melville Henry Cane, American poet and lawyer
- Ivan Cankar, Slovene playwright, essayist and poet
- May Wedderburn Cannan, English poet
- Edip Cansever, Turkish poet
- Cao Cao, Chinese poet and warlord
- Cao Pi , Chinese poet and first emperor of state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
- Cao Zhi, Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
- Vahni Capildeo, Trinidadian poet
- Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan Roman Catholic poet and priest
- Giosuè Carducci, Italian poet and teacher
- Thomas Carew, English Cavalier poet
- Henry Carey, English poet, dramatist and songwriter
- Robert Carliell, English didactic poet
- Bliss Carman, Canadian-American poet associated with Confederation Poets
- Fern G. Z. Carr, Canadian poet, translator, teacher and lawyer
- Jim Carroll, American author, poet and punk musician
- Lewis Carroll , English writer, mathematician and photographer
- Hayden Carruth, American poet and literary critic
- Ann Elizabeth Carson, Canadian poet, artist and feminist
- Anne Carson, Canadian poet, essayist and translator
- Elizabeth Carter, English poet and bluestocking
- Jared Carter, American poet and editor
- William Cartwright, English dramatist and churchman
- Neal Cassady, figure in 1950s Beat Generation and 1960s psychedelic movement
- Cyrus Cassells, American poet and professor
- Catullus, Latin poet under the Roman Republic
- Charles Causley, Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer
- C. P. Cavafy, Greek poet, journalist and civil servant
- Guido Cavalcanti, Florentine poet and friend of Dante Alighieri
- Nick Cave, Australian writer, musician and actor
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English writer, aristocrat and scientist
Ce–Cl
- Paul Celan, Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator
- Thomas Centolella, American poet
- Blaise Cendrars, French poet and author
- Anica Černej, Slovene author and poet
- Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet and literary critic
- Aimé Césaire, French poet, author and politician from Martinique
- Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos, Portuguese surrealist poet
- Úrsula Céspedes, Cuban poet
- Ashok Chakradhar, Hindi author and poet
- John Chalkhill, English poet
- Jean Chapelain, French poet and critic in Grand Siècle
- Arthur Chapman, American cowboy poet and columnist
- George Chapman, English dramatist, translator and poet
- Fred Chappell, American author and poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1997–2002
- René Char, French poet
- Charles, Duke of Orléans, poet
- Craig Charles, English writer, poet and comedian
- Thomas Chatterton, English poet and forger of medieval poetry
- Geoffrey Chaucer, poet, philosopher and alchemist
- Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Reverend Fr. Fray Angelico Chavez, American writer, poet and Franciscan priest
- Susana Chávez, Mexican poet and human rights activist
- Syl Cheney-Coker, Sierra Leonean poet and novelist
- Andrea Cheng, Hungarian-American poet and children's author
- Kelly Cherry, American author and poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia 2010–2012
- G. K. Chesterton,, English writer and poet
- Choe Chiwon, Korean poet
- Fukuda Chiyo-ni, female Japanese haiku poet of Edo period
- Henri Chopin, avant-garde poet and musician
- Jean Chopinel , French writer
- Chrétien de Troyes, French poet and trouvère
- Ralph Chubb, poet, painter and printer
- Charles Churchill, English poet and satirist
- John Ciardi, Italian-American poet, translator and etymologist
- Colley Cibber, English playwright and Poet Laureate
- Jovan Ćirilov, Serbian drama expert, writer and poet
- Carson Cistulli, American poet, essayist and English professor
- Hélène Cixous, French feminist writer, poet and playwright
- Amy Clampitt, American poet and author
- Kate Clanchy, Scottish poet and writer
- John Clanvowe, Anglo-Welsh poet and diplomat
- John Clare, English poet
- Elizabeth Clark, Scottish poet and playwright
- Austin Clarke, Irish poet
- George Elliott Clarke, Canadian poet and university professor
- Gillian Clarke,, Welsh poet and playwright writing in English
- Paul Claudel, French poet, dramatist and diplomat
- Claudian, Latin poet at court of Emperor Honorius
- Matthias Claudius, German poet
- Brian P. Cleary, American humorist, poet, and author
- Jack Clemo, English Christian poet
- Michelle Cliff, Jamaican-American author of short stories, prose poems and literary criticism
- Lucille Clifton, educator and Poet Laureate of Maryland
- Arthur Hugh Clough, English poet, educationalist, and assistant to Florence Nightingale
Coa–Con
- Grace Stone Coates, American poet and story writer
- Robbie Coburn, Australian poet
- Alison Cockburn, Scottish poet, wit, and socialite
- Jean Cocteau, French writer
- Judith Ortiz Cofer,, Puerto Rican poet and author
- Leonard Cohen,, Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
- Wanda Coleman, African-American poet
- Hartley Coleridge, English poet, biographer and essayist
- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, English novelist, essayist, and poet
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet
- Edward Coletti,, Italian-American poet
- Billy Collins, American poet; United States Poet Laureate 2001–2003
- William Collins, English poet
- William Congreve, English playwright and poet
- Stewart Conn, Scottish poet and playwright
- Paul Conneally,, English poet, artist and musician
- Robert Conquest, Anglo-American historian and poet
- Henry Constable, English poet
- David Constantine, English poet and translator.
Coo–Cz
- Clark Coolidge, American poet
- Wendy Cope, English poet
- Robert Copland, English printer, author and translator
- Denys Corbet, Guernsey poet writing in Guernésiais
- Tristan Corbière, French poet
- Cid Corman, American poet, translator and editor
- Alfred Corn, American poet and essayist
- Frances Cornford, English poet; wife of F. M. Cornford
- F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet; husband of Frances Cornford
- Joe Corrie, Scottish miner, poet and playwright
- Gregory Corso, American Beat poet
- Jayne Cortez, American poet and performance artist
- George Coșbuc, Romanian poet, translator and teacher
- Charles Cotton, English poet, author and translator
- Abraham Cowley, English poet
- Malcolm Cowley, American novelist, poet and critic
- William Cowper, English poet and hymnist
- George Crabbe, English poet, naturalist and clergyman
- Hart Crane, American modernist poet
- Stephen Crane, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- Richard Crashaw, English Metaphysical poet
- Robert Creeley, American poet
- Octave Crémazie, French Canadian poet
- Ann Batten Cristall, English poet
- Charles Cros, French poet and inventor
- Aleister Crowley, English occultist and poet
- Andrew Crozier, English poet
- György Csanády, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Sándor Csoóri, Hungarian poet, essayist and politician
- Cui Hao, Tang Dynasty Chinese poet
- Countee Cullen, American poet
- Necati Cumalı, Turkish writer of fiction writer, essayist, and poet
- E. E. Cummings, American poet, essayist and playwright
- Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author
- James Vincent Cunningham, American poet, literary critic, and teacher
- Allen Curnow, New Zealand poet and journalist
- Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet, songwriter, and humorist
- Józef Czechowicz, Polish poet
- Gergely Czuczor, Hungarian poet, monk and academic
- Tytus Czyżewski, Polish poet, playwright and painter
D
Da–Dh
- Dalpatram,, Indian Gujarati language poet
- Roque Dalton, Salvadoran poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono, Indonesian poet
- Samuel Daniel, English poet and historian
- David Daniels, American visual poet
- Jeffrey Daniels, African-American poet
- Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet writing in Old French
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian poet, journalist, novelist, and dramatist
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy, French-born poet, writer and film executive
- Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet who initiated modernismo
- Keki Daruwalla, Indian poet and short story writer in English
- Erasmus Darwin, English poet and herbalist
- Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet and author
- Elizabeth Daryush, English poet; daughter of Robert Bridges
- Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet and author
- Petter Dass, Norwegian poet
- René Daumal, French para-surrealist writer and poet
- Jean Daurat, French poet, scholar and 'La Pléiade'' member
- William Davenant, English poet and playwright
- Guy Davenport, American writer, translator and illustrator
- Donald Davidson American poet, essayist and critic
- John Davidson, Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
- Lucretia Maria Davidson, American poet
- Donald Davie, English poet and critic
- Alan Davies, American poet, critic and editor
- Hugh Sykes Davies, English poet, novelist and communist
- Sir John Davies, English poet, lawyer and politician
- W. H. Davies, Welsh poet and writer
- Jon Davis, American poet
- Edward Davison, Scottish-American poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
- Peter Davison,, American poet, essayist and editor; son of poet Edward Davison
- Denis Davydov, Russian soldier-poet of Napoleonic Wars
- Dayaram, Gujarati language poet
- Gábor Dayka, Hungarian poet
- Cecil Day-Lewis, Anglo-Irish poet; UK Poet Laureate 1968–1972
- James Deahl, Canadian poet and publisher
- Aurora de Albornoz, Spanish poet
- Dulcie Deamer, Australian poet and novelist
- John F. Deane, Irish poet and novelist
- Aleš Debeljak, Slovenian critic, poet and essayist
- Jean Louis De Esque, American poet and author
- Madeline DeFrees, American poet
- Jacek Dehnel, Polish poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Dekker, English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet
- Baltasar del Alcázar, Spanish poet
- Walter de la Mare, English poet, short story writer and novelist
- Leconte de Lisle, French poet of Parnassian movement
- Christine De Luca, Scottish poet, writing in English and Shetland dialect
- François de Malherbe, French poet, critic, and translator
- Alfred de Musset, French poet
- Gérard de Nerval, French poet, essayist and translator
- Sir John Denham, English poet and courtier
- Tory Dent, American poet, critic and commentator
- Évariste de Parny, French poet
- Regina Derieva, Russian poet and writer
- Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw, Dutch poet and philosopher
- Toi Derricotte, African-American poet
- Eustache Deschamps, medieval French poet
- Lord de Tabley, poet and botanist
- Babette Deutsch, American poet, critic and novelist
- Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio, Spanish playwright and poet
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier and poet praised also for lost plays
- Alfred de Vigny, French poet, playwright and novelist
- Lakshmi Prasad Devkota, Nepali poet and essayist
- Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, South African poet and performance artist
- Imtiaz Dharker, Pakistan-born British poet, artist and filmmaker
- Dhurjati, Telugu language poet
Di–Dr
- Souéloum Diagho, Tuareg poet
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, Italian-Canadian poet; second Poet Laureate of Toronto
- Jennifer K Dick,, American poet
- James Dickey, American poet and novelist, 18th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
- Emily Dickinson, American poet
- Matthew Dickman, American poet, twin of Michael Dickman
- Michael Dickman, American poet, twin of Matthew Dickman
- Blaga Dimitrova, Bulgarian poet and politician
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
- Diane di Prima, American poet
- Paul Dirmeikis, French poet
- Vladislav Petković Dis, Serbian poet
- Thomas M. Disch, American poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos, American poet
- Henry Austin Dobson, English poet and essayist
- Stephen Dobyns, American author, novelist, and poet
- Lajos Dóczi, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Gojko Đogo, Serbian poet
- Pete Doherty,, English musician, songwriter, and poet
- Digby Mackworth Dolben, English poet
- Joe Dolce,, Australian songwriter, poet, and essayist
- John Donne, English poet, satirist and Anglican cleric
- H.D., Hilda Doolittle, American Imagist poet
- Edward Dorn, American poet and teacher
- Mark Doty, American poet and memoirist
- Sarah Doudney, English poet and children's writer
- Charles Montagu Doughty, English poet, writer, and traveller
- Alice May Douglas,, American poet and author
- Gavin Douglas, Scottish bishop, makar, and translator
- Keith Douglas, English war poet
- Rita Dove, American poet and author; US Poet Laureate
- Ernest Dowson, English poet, novelist, and short-story writer
- Lajos Dóczi, Hungarian playwright, poet and politician
- Jane Draycott, English poet
- Michael Drayton, English poet of Elizabethan era
- Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Albanian poet
- John Drinkwater, English poet and dramatist
- Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German poet
- William Drummond, Scottish poet
- William Henry Drummond, Irish-born Canadian poet
- Elżbieta Drużbacka, Polish poet
- John Dryden, English Restoration English poet, critic and playwright
Du–Dy
- Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, French Huguenot poet
- Joachim du Bellay, French poet, critic and La Pléiade member
- W. E. B. Du Bois, American writer and activist
- Norman Dubie, American poet
- Jovan Dučić, Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
- Du Fu, Chinese poet of Tang Dynasty
- Du Mu, Chinese poet of late Tang Dynasty
- Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and playwright; first female and first Scottish Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Alan Dugan, American poet
- Sasha Dugdale, English poet, playwright and translator
- Richard Duke, English clergyman and poet
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, African-American poet, novelist and playwright
- William Dunbar, Scots makar
- Robert Duncan, American poet
- Camille Dungy, American poet, academic and essayist
- Douglas Dunn, Scottish poet, academic and critic
- Stephen Dunn, American poet
- Helen Dunmore, English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish poet
- Lawrence Durrell, English novelist, poet and dramatist
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bengali poet and dramatist
- Stuart Dybek, American poet, writer
- Sir Edward Dyer, English courtier and poet.
- Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, writer and Nobel prizewinner
E
- Joan Adeney Easdale, English poet
- Richard Eberhart, American poet
- Russell Edson, American poet, novelist, and illustrator
- Terry Ehret, American poet
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, German poet and novelist
- Kristín Eiríksdóttir, Icelandic poet
- George Eliot , English novelist, journalist, and translator
- T. S. Eliot, American-English publisher, playwright, and critic
- Ebenezer Elliott, English poet
- Royston Ellis, English poet
- Paul Éluard, French poet
- Odysseus Elytis Greek poet
- Claudia Emerson, American poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, and poet
- Gevorg Emin, Armenian poet, essayist, and translator
- Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet, novelist, and journalist
- William Empson, English literary critic and poet
- Yunus Emre, Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
- Michael Ende, German author of fantasy, poetry and children's literature
- Leszek Engelking, Polish, poet, fiction writer and translator
- Paul Engle, American poet, novelist and playwright
- Ennius, considered father of Latin poetry in Rome
- D J Enright, English poet, novelist and critic
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger, German writer, poet and translator
- János Erdélyi, Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Louise Erdrich, American novelist, poet, and children's book writer, featuring Native American heritage
- Haydar Ergülen, Turkish poet
- Max Ernst, German poet and artist
- Errapragada Erranna, 14th-century Telugu poet
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, German Minnesinger poet and knight
- Clayton Eshleman, American poet, translator and editor
- Martín Espada, American poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca, Portuguese poet
- Salvador Espriu, Catalan poet
- Jill Alexander Essbaum, American poet
- Alter Esselin, Yiddish American poet and carpenter
- Claude Esteban, French poet
- Maggie Estep, American slam poet and musician
- Jerry Estrin, American poet and editor
- Euripides, Athenian tragedian
- Margiad Evans, English poet and novelist
- Mari Evans, African-American poet
- William Everson , American poet and critic
- Gavin Ewart, English poet
F
Fa–Fn
- Frederick William Faber, English poet, hymn writer, and theologian
- Kinga Fabó, Hungarian poet and essayist
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Indian/Pakistani poet
- Padraic Fallon, Irish poet
- Christian Falster, Danish poet and philologist
- Ferenc Faludi, Hungarian poet
- György Faludy, Hungarian poet and translator
- U. A. Fanthorpe, CBE, English poet
- Eleanor Farjeon, English children's writer, playwright and poet
- J. P. Farrell, American poet and musician
- Elaine Feinstein, English poet, novelist, and playwright
- Károly Fellinger Hungarian poet in Slovakia
- Fenggan, Chinese Zen monk poet under the Tang Dynasty
- Elijah Fenton, English poet, biographer and translator
- James Fenton, Northern Irish linguist and poet writing in Ulster Scots
- James Martin Fenton, English poet, journalist, and literary critic
- Ferdowsi, Persian poet
- Teréz Ferenczy, Hungarian poet
- Robert Fergusson, Scots poet who influenced Robert Burns
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American poet, painter, and activist
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín, Spanish dramatist, translator, and poet
- Jerzy Ficowski, Polish poet, writer and translator
- Henry Fielding, English novelist, dramatist, and poet
- Juan de Dios Filiberto, Argentine poet and musician
- Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, English nature poet
- Annie Finch, American poet, librettist, and translator
- Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, and gardener
- Roy Fisher, English poet and jazz pianist
- Edward Fitzgerald, English poet and translator of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Robert Fitzgerald, American poet, critic, and translator
- Marjorie Fleming, Scottish child poet and diarist
- Giles Fletcher the Elder, English poet, diplomat and MP
- Giles Fletcher the Younger, English poet
- John Fletcher, Jacobean era English playwright and poet
- John Gould Fletcher, Imagist poet
- Phineas Fletcher, English poet; elder son of Giles Fletcher the elder, brother of Giles the younger
- F. S. Flint, English poet and translator
Fo–Fu
- Jean Follain, French author, poet, and corporate lawyer
- Theodor Fontane, German novelist, poet, and realist writer
- John Forbes, Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché, American poet, editor, and translator
- Ford Madox Ford, English novelist, poet, and critic
- John Ford, English playwright and poet
- John M. Ford, American SF and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet
- Veronica Forrest-Thomson, Scots poet and critical theorist
- Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer, revolutionary, and poet
- William Fowler, Scottish poet, writer, and translator
- Janet Frame, New Zealand author
- Anatole France, French poet, journalist and novelist
- Robert Francis, American poet
- Veronica Franco, Italian poet and courtesan
- G S Fraser, Scots poet, critic and academic
- Gregory Fraser, American poet, editor, and professor
- Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and writer; seen as national poet of Albania
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian poet, politician and playwright
- Aleksander Fredro, Polish poet and playwright
- Grace Beacham Freeman, American poet and short story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1985–86
- Nicholas Freeston, English poet
- Erich Fried, Austrian-born British poet, writer and translator
- Jean Froissart, French chronicler and court poet
- Robert Frost, American poet; four times Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner
- Gene Frumkin, American poet and teacher
- John Fuller, English poet and author, son of Roy Fuller
- Roy Fuller, English poet
- Alice Fulton,, American poet and novelist; Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
- John Furnival, British visual and concrete poet
- Milán Füst, Hungarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Fuzûlî, Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet
G
Ga–Go
- Tadeusz Gajcy, Polish poet
- Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, Polish poet and stage writer
- Karina Galvez, Ecuadorian poet
- James Galvin, American poet
- Etienne-Paulin Gagne, French poet, essayist, and inventor
- János Garay, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Robert Garioch, Scottish poet and translator
- Hamlin Garland, American novelist, poet, and essayist
- Raymond Garlick, Anglo-Welsh poet and first editor of Anglo-Welsh Review
- Richard Garnett, English scholar, biographer, and poet
- Jean Garrigue, American poet
- Samuel Garth, English physician and poet
- George Gascoigne, English poet, soldier, and would-be courtier
- David Gascoyne, English poet associated with Surrealist movement
- Théophile Gautier, French poet, dramatist, and novelist
- John Gay, English poet and dramatist
- Yehonatan Geffen, Israeli author, poet, and playwright
- Theodor Seuss Geisel , American writer, poet, and cartoonist
- Juan Gelman, Argentinian poet, writer and translator
- Stefan George, German poet, editor and translator
- Dan Gerber, American poet
- Ágnes Gergely, Hungarian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Gerhardt, German hymnist
- Cezary Geroń, Polish poet, journalist and translator
- Mirza Asadulla Khan Ghalib Indian poet writing in Urdu and Persian
- Charles Ghigna , American children's author, poet, and feature writer
- Reginald Gibbons, American poet, fiction writer, and critic
- Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer
- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, English Georgian poet
- Jack Gilbert, American poet
- W. S. Gilbert, English poet
- Zuzanna Ginczanka, Polish poet
- Allen Ginsberg, American poet of Beat Generation
- Dana Gioia, American writer, critic, and poet
- Nikki Giovanni, American poet, writer, and educator
- Zinaida Gippius, Russian poet, playwright, and religious thinker
- Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian scholar and poet
- Giuseppe Giusti, Italian poet
- Denis Glover, New Zealand poet and publisher
- Louise Glück, American poet; US Poet Laureate
- Guru Gobind Singh, Indian poet writing in Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.
- Cyprian Godebski, Polish poet and novelist
- Gérald Godin, Quebec poet in French and politician
- Patricia Goedicke, American poet
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, artist, and politician
- Octavian Goga, Romanian poet, playwright and translator
- Leah Goldberg, Hebrew-language poet, playwright, and writer
- Rumer Godden, English children's writer and poet
- Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, writer, and poet
- Oliver Goldsmith, Anglo-Irish writer and poet
- Pavel Golia, Slovenian poet and playwright
- George Gomri, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Luis de Góngora, Spanish lyric poet
- Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet
- Paul Goodman, American novelist, playwright, and poet
- Barnabe Googe or Gooche, English pastoral poet and translator
- Adam Lindsay Gordon, Australian poet and politician
- Gábor Görgey, Hungarian poet and politician
- Sergei Gorodetsky, Russian poet
- Hedwig Gorski, American performance poet and artist
- Herman Gorter, Dutch poet and socialist
- Sir Edmund William Gosse, English poet, author, and critic
- Remy de Gourmont, French poet, novelist and critic
- John Gower, English poet and friend of Chaucer
Gr–Gy
- Anders Abraham Grafström, Swedish historian, priest, and poet
- James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, Scottish nobleman, soldier, and poet
- Jorie Graham, American poet and first female Boylston Professor at Harvard
- W S Graham, Scottish poet
- Mark Granier, Irish poet and photographer
- Alex Grant, Scottish American poet and teacher
- Günter Grass, German novelist, poet, and playwright; 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Richard Graves, English poet and essayist
- Robert Graves, English author and scholar
- Sir Alexander Gray, Scottish translator, writer, and poet
- Thomas Gray, English poet
- Robert Greene, English author and poet
- Dora Greenwell, English poet
- Linda Gregg American poet
- Horace Gregory, American poet, translator, and critic
- Eamon Grennan, Irish poet
- Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, English poet, dramatist, and statesman
- Susan Griffin, American poet and writer
- Ann Griffiths, Welsh poet and hymnist
- Bill Griffiths, English poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar
- Jane Griffiths, English poet and literary historian
- Mariela Griffor, Chilean poet, short-story writer, and scholar
- Geoffrey Grigson, English poet and critic
- Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer, poet, and dramatist
- Nicholas Grimald, English poet and dramatist
- Angelina Weld Grimké, African-American playwright and poet
- Charlotte Forten Grimké, African-American poet and activist
- Rufus W. Griswold, American anthologist, poet, and critic
- Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist
- Nikanor Grujić, Serbian writer, poet and bishop
- Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist
- Philip Gross, English poet, novelist and playwright
- Igo Gruden, Slovene poet and translator
- N. F. S. Grundtvig, Danish poet, pastor and historian
- Wioletta Grzegorzewska, Polish poet and writer
- Barbara Guest, American poet and prose stylist
- Edgar Guest, English-born American poet
- Paul Guest, American quadriplegic poet and memoirist
- Bimal Guha, Bangladesh poet writing in Bengali
- Guillaume de Lorris, French scholar and poet
- Jorge Guillén, Spanish poet
- Nicolás Guillén, Cuban poet, activist, and writer
- Guido Guinizelli, Italian poet
- Guiot de Provins, French poet and trouvère
- Malcolm Guite
- Gül Baba, Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet
- Nikolay Gumilyov, Russian poet who founded acmeism
- Ivan Gundulić , Croatian Baroque poet
- Thom Gunn, Anglo-American poet
- Lee Gurga, American haiku poet
- Ivor Gurney, English composer and poet
- Lars Gustafsson, Swedish poet, novelist, and scholar
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Cuban novelist and poet
- Beth Gylys, American poet and professor
- István Gyöngyösi, Hungarian poet
- Géza Gyóni, Hungarian poet
- Brion Gysin, English writer, sound poet, and performance artist
- Gabor G. Gyukics, Hungarian-American poet and translator
H
Ha
- Rafey Habib, Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
- Marilyn Hacker, American poet, translator, and critic
- Hadraawi, Somali poet and songwriter
- Hafez, Persian poet
- Hai Zi, Chinese poet
- John Haines, American poet and educator
- Donald Hall, American poet, writer, and critic; 2006 US Poet Laureate
- Arthur Hallam, English poet, subject of In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Tennyson
- Michael Hamburger, English translator, poet, and academic
- Han Yu, Chinese essayist and poet under Tang dynasty
- Hanshan, Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Thomas Hardy, English novelist and poet
- Charles Harpur, Australian poet
- Sir Theodore Wilson Harris, Guyanese poet, novelist, and essayist
- Jim Harrison, American poet, novelist and essayist
- Tony Harrison, English poet and playwright
- Carla Harryman, American poet, essayist, and playwright
- David Harsent, English poet and TV scriptwriter
- Paul Hartal, Hungarian-born Canadian poet, painter and critic
- Peter Härtling, German writer and poet
- Michael Hartnett, Irish poet writing in English and Irish
- Julia Hartwig, Polish poet, writer and translator
- Gwen Harwood, Australian poet and librettist
- Alamgir Hashmi, English poet of Pakistani origin
- Ahmet Haşim, Turkish poet
- Robert Hass, American poet; former Poet Laureate
- Olav H. Hauge, Norwegian poet
- Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, poet and novelist; Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912
- Stephen Hawes, English poet
- Robert Stephen Hawker, English poet, antiquarian, and Anglican priest
- George Campbell Hay, Scots poet and translator writing in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots, and English
- Gilbert Hay, Scottish poet and translator writing in Middle Scots
- Robert Hayden, American poet, essayist and educator; 1976 US Poet Laureate
- William Hayley, English writer
- Tony Haynes, American poet, songwriter, and lyricist
He
- Seamus Heaney, Irish poet, playwright, and translator; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Josephine D. Heard, American teacher and poet
- John Heath-Stubbs, English poet and translator
- Anne Hébert, Canadian poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht, American poet
- Jennifer Michael Hecht, American poet, historian, and philosopher
- Allison Hedge Coke, American poet, writer, and performer
- Markus Hediger, Swiss writer and translator
- Ilona Hegedűs, poet
- John Hegley, English performance poet, comedian, and songwriter
- Heinrich Heine, German poet, essayist, and literary critic
- Lyn Hejinian, American poet, essayist, and translator
- Acharya Hemachandra, Jain scholar, poet, and polymath
- Felicia Hemans, English poet
- Marian Hemar, Polish poet, songwriter and playwright
- Essex Hemphill, American poet and activist
- Hamish Henderson, Scottish poet, songwriter, and catalyst for folk revival in Scotland
- William Ernest Henley, English poet, critic, and editor
- Adrian Henri, English poet and painter
- Robert Henryson, Scottish poet
- Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, Anglo-Welsh soldier, historian, poet and religious philosopher; brother of George Herbert
- George Herbert, public orator and poet
- Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, among first English women to achieve a major reputation for literary works
- Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet, essayist, and drama writer
- Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, and literary critic
- Miguel Hernández, Spanish poet and playwright associated with Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
- Herodas or Herondas, Greek poet and author of short humorous dramatic scenes in verse
- Antoine Héroet,, French poet
- Robert Herrick, English poet
- Thomas Kibble Hervey, Scottish-born English poet and critic
- Hesiod, Ancient Greek poet
- Phoebe Hesketh, English poet
- Hermann Hesse, German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter
- Dorothy Hewett, Australian feminist poet, novelist, and playwright
- John Harold Hewitt, Northern Ireland-born poet
- William Heyen, American poet, literary critic, novelist
- Thomas Heywood, English playwright, actor, and author
Hi–Hy
- Dick Higgins, English poet and publisher
- Scott Hightower, American poet and teacher
- Nâzım Hikmet, Turkish poet, playwright, and novelist
- Geoffrey Hill, English poet and professor
- Hilda Hilst, Brazilian poet, playwright, and novelist
- Ellen Hinsey, American poet
- Hipponax, of Ephesus, Ancient Greek iambic poet
- Hirato Renkichi, Japanese avant-garde poet
- Rozalie Hirs,, Dutch poet
- Jane Hirshfield,, American poet
- George Parks Hitchcock, American poet, playwright, and painter
- H. L. Hix, American poet and academic
- Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve, English poet and clerk
- Michael Hofmann, German-born poet and translator writing in English
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Austrian novelist, poet, and dramatist
- James Hogg, Scottish poet and novelist
- David Holbrook, English writer, poet, and academic
- Friedrich Hölderlin, German lyric poet
- Margaret Holford, English poet and novelist
- Barbara Holland, American author
- John Hollander, Jewish-American poet and literary critic
- Matthew Hollis, English poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, American poet, professor, and author
- Homer, Greek epic poet
- Thomas Hood, English humorist and poet; father of playwright and editor Tom Hood
- A. D. Hope, Australian satirical poet and essayist
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet and Jesuit priest
- Horace , Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton, African-American poet
- Joan Houlihan, American poet
- A. E. Housman, English poet and classicist
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, English Renaissance poet
- Richard Howard, American poet, critic, and essayist
- Fanny Howe, American poet, novelist, and short story writer
- Susan Howe, American poet, scholar, and essayist
- Hrotsvitha, poet and playwright from Lower Saxony; first known woman dramatist
- Mohammad Nurul Huda, Bangladeshi poet writing in Bengali
- John Ceiriog Hughes, Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Langston Hughes, American poet, novelist and playwright
- Ted Hughes, English poet and children's writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Richard Hugo, American poet
- Victor Hugo, French poet, novelist, and dramatist
- Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet
- Lynda Hull, American poet
- Thomas Ernest Hulme, English critic and poet
- Alexander Hume, Scottish poet
- Leigh Hunt, English critic, essayist, and poet
- Sam Hunt, New Zealand poet
- Hồ Xuân Hương, Vietnamese poet
- Aldous Huxley, English novelist, poet, and travel writer
- Helen von Kolnitz Hyer, American poet and writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1974–83
I
- Henrik Johan Ibsen, Norwegian playwright, director, and poet
- Ibycus, Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Ikkyu, Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet
- Vojislav Ilić, Serbian poet
- Gyula Illyés, Hungarian poet and novelist
- Maria Ilnicka, Polish poet, novelist and translator
- Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Indian poet writing in Urdu and Persian
- Avetik Isahakyan, Armenian lyric poet
- Sabit Ince, Turkish lyric poet
- Wacław Iwaniuk, Polish poet and journalist
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Polish poet, dramatist and translator
- Sergey Izgiyaev, Russian poet, playwright and translator of Mountain Jewish descent
J
- FP Jac, Danish poet
- Violet Jacob, Scottish poet writing in Scots
- Rolf Jacobsen, Norwegian poet and writer
- Ada Jafarey Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Richard Jago, English poet
- Đura Jakšić, Serbian poet, painter, and dramatist
- James I, King of Scots, author of The Kingis Quair
- James VI and I, King of Scots, and of England and Ireland
- Christine James, Welsh poet and academic
- Clive James, Australian author, poet, and memoirist
- Ernst Jandl, Austrian writer, poet, and translator
- Klemens Janicki, Polish poet in Latin
- Janus Pannonius, Hungarian/Slavonian poet in Latin
- Patricia Janus, American poet and artist
- Mark F. Jarman, American poet and critic
- Randall Jarrell, American poet, children's author, and novelist; US Poet Laureate
- Bruno Jasieński, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Mieczysław Jastrun, Polish poet and essayist
- László Jávor, Hungarian poet
- Robinson Jeffers, American poet
- Vojin Jelić, Croatian Serb poet and writer
- Rod Jellema, American poet, teacher, and translator
- Simon Jenko, Slovene poet, lyricist, and writer
- Elizabeth Jennings, English poet
- Jia Dao, Chinese poet active under Tang Dynasty
- John of the Cross, Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John, English poet
- Georgia Douglas Johnson, American poet
- Helene Johnson, African-American poet
- James Weldon Johnson, American author, poet, and folklorist
- Lionel Johnson, English poet, essayist, and critic
- Emily Pauline Johnson , Canadian writer, performer, and poet celebrating her First Nations heritage
- Samuel Johnson, English poet, essayist, and lexicographer
- George Benson Johnston, Canadian poet, translator, and academic
- Anna Jókai, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- David Jones, English artist and poet
- Richard Jones, English American poet
- Ben Jonson, English poet and dramatist
- June Jordan, American poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph, British-Trinidadian poet, novelist, and musician
- Jenny Joseph, English poet
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Serbian poet, physician
- James Joyce, Irish novelist and poet
- Attila József, Hungarian poet
- Frank Judge, American editor, poet, and film critic
- Ferenc Juhász, Hungarian poet
- Gyula Juhász, Hungarian poet
- Jamal Jumá, Iraqi poet and researcher
- Donald Justice, American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1980
- Juvenal, Roman poet and satirist
- Jumoke Verissimo, Nigerian poet
- Jaydeep Sarangi 1973, Indian Poet in English
K
Ka–Kh
- Abhay K, Indian poet and diplomat
- Kabir, mystic poet and sant of India
- Margit Kaffka, Hungarian poet and novelist
- Kālidāsa, Sanskrit poet
- Kambar, Tamil poet
- Anna Kamieńska, Polish poet, translator and critic
- Kannadasan, Tamil poet, author, and lyricist
- Jim Kacian, American haiku poet and editor
- Uuno Kailas, Finnish poet, author, and translator
- Chester Kallman, American poet, librettist, and translator
- László Kálnoky, Hungarian poet and translator
- Kálmán Kalocsay, Hungarian poet in Hungarian and Esperanto
- Anna Kamieńska, Polish poet, writer, and critic
- Ilya Kaminsky, Russian-American poet, critic, and translator
- Orhan Veli Kanik, Turkish poet
- Sándor Kányádi, Hungarian poet and translator from Romania
- Jaan Kaplinski, Estonian poet, philosopher, and critic
- Adeena Karasick, New York-based Canadian poet, media artist, and essayist
- Vim Karenine, American poet, essayist, and novelist
- György Károly, Hungarian poet and critic
- Franciszek Karpiński, Polish poet
- Mary Karr, American poet, essayist, and memoirist
- Julia Kasdorf, American poet
- Laura Kasischke, American poet and fiction writer
- Jan Kasprowicz, Polish poet, playwright and critic
- Lajos Kassák, Hungarian poet, novelist and painter
- Erich Kästner, German author, poet, and satirist
- József Katona, Hungarian playwright and poet
- Bob Kaufman, American Beat poet and surrealist
- Shirley Kaufman, American poet and translator
- Rupi Kaur, Indo-Canadian poet and photographer
- Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet and novelist
- Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet
- Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician, and revolutionary
- John Keats, English Romantic poet
- Weldon Kees, American poet, novelist, and critic
- Isabella Kelly, Scottish poet and novelist
- Arthur Kelton, rhymster about Welsh history
- Miranda Kennedy, American poet
- Walter Kennedy, Scottish makar
- X. J. Kennedy, American poet, anthologist, and children's writer
- Jane Kenyon, American poet and translator
- Géza Képes, Hungarian poet and translator
- Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet
- Sidney Keyes, English poet killed in action in World War II
- Keorapetse Kgositsile, South African poet and political activist
- Mimi Khalvati, Iranian-born British poet
- Dilwar Khan, Bangladeshi poet
- Khushal Khan Khattak, Pashtun Afghan poet, warrior, and tribal chief
- Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet
- Vladislav Khodasevich, Russian poet and literary critic
- Talib Khundmiri, Indian poet and humorist writing in Urdu
- Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow, Sufi poet, scholar, and musician
Ki–Ky
- Saba Kidane, Eritrean poet
- Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher and poet
- Emelihter Kihleng Pohnpeian poet and academic
- Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski, Polish poet and politician
- Takarai Kikaku, Japanese haikai poet and a disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer, American writer and poet
- Edward King, Irish-born subject of Milton's Lycidas
- Henry King, English poet and bishop
- William King, English poet
- Thomas Hansen Kingo, Danish bishop, poet, and hymn-writer
- Gottfried Kinkel, German poet and revolutionary
- Galway Kinnell, American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
- John Kinsella, Australian poet, novelist, and essayist
- Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, translator, and editor
- Rudyard Kipling, English short-story writer, poet, and novelist
- Danilo Kiš, Serbian novelist, short story writer, and poet
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Turkish poet, novelist, and playwright
- Atala Kisfaludy, Hungarian poet
- Eila Kivikk'aho, Finnish poet
- Carolyn Kizer, American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
- Sarah Klassen, Canadian poet and writer of short fiction
- August Kleinzahler, American poet
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet
- Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin, Polish poet and Jesuit
- Etheridge Knight, African-American poet
- Kobayashi Issa, Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski, Polish Renaissance poet
- Kenneth Koch, American poet, playwright, and professor
- Jan Kochanowski, Polish poet
- Petar Kočić, Bosnian Serb writer and politician
- István Koháry, Hungarian poet and politician
- Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet and politician
- Aladár Komját, Hungarian poet and politician
- Yusef Komunyakaa, American poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
- Béla Kondor, Hungarian poet, prose writer and painter
- Faik Konitza, Albanian poet
- Halina Konopacka, Polish poet and athlete
- Maria Konopnicka, Polish poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ted Kooser, American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate 2004–2006
- Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski, Polish poet and translator
- Julian Kornhauser, Polish poet, novelist and critic
- Apollo Korzeniowski, Polish poet, playwright and translator
- Srečko Kosovel, Slovene expressionist poet
- József Kossics, Hungarian/Slovene poet and priest
- Laza Kostić, Serbian poet, writer, and polyglot
- Dezső Kosztolányi, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Urszula Kozioł, Polish poet
- Taja Kramberger, Slovene poet, translator, and anthropologist
- Ignacy Krasicki, Polish poet and novelist
- Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish poet
- Zlatko Krasni, Serbian poet
- Ruth Krauss, American poet and children's book author
- Krayem Awad, Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor, and poet
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, American writer; Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Katarzyna Krenz, poet, novelist and painter
- Miroslav Krleža, Croatian/Yugoslav poet and novelist
- Antjie Krog, South African poet, academic and writer
- Józef Krupiński, Polish poet
- Ryszard Krynicki, Polish poet and translator
- Marilyn Krysl, American poet and short story writer
- Andrzej Krzycki, Polish poet and archbishop
- Žofia Kubini, Hungarian poet writing in early Czech
- Paweł Kubisz, Polish poet and journalist
- Péter Kuczka, Hungarian poet and critic
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky, Russian/Irish novelist, poet, and translator
- Endre Kukorelly, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Maxine Kumin, American poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
- Stanley Kunitz, American poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
- Yanka Kupala, Belarus poet
- Tuli Kupferberg, American counterculture poet and author
- Jalu Kurek, Polish poet and prose writer
- Momoko Kuroda, Japanese haiku poet
- Mira Kuś, Polish poet
- Onat Kutlar, Turkish writer and poet
- Stephen Kuusisto, American poet
- Kusumagraj, Indian Marathi poet, writer, and humanist
- Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston, English poet, lawyer, and politician
- Kyoshi Takahama, known as Kyoshi, Japanese poet
L
La
- Jean de La Fontaine, French fabulist
- Ilmar Laaban, Estonian poet
- Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet writing in French
- László Ladányi, Hungarian-Israeli poet and writer
- Jules Laforgue, Franco-Uruguayan poet
- Jarkko Laine, Finnish poet, writer, and playwright
- Ivan V. Lalić, Serbian poet
- Philip Lamantia, American poet and lecturer
- Kendrick Lamar, American poet and hip-hop artist
- Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer, poet, and politician
- Charles Lamb, English essayist and poet
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon , English poet and novelist.
- Walter Savage Landor, English writer and poet
- Antoni Lange, Polish poet, philosopher and translator
- William Langland probable English author of dream-vision Piers Plowman
- Emilia Lanier, English poet
- Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos, Hungarian poet and historian
- Laozi , Chinese philosopher and poet of history of ancient China
- Alda Lara, Angolan poet
- Rebecca Hammond Lard, American poet
- Bruce Larkin, American children's author and poet
- Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist
- Claudia Lars, Salvadoran poet
- Else Lasker-Schüler, German poet and playwright
- Lasus of Hermione, Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
- Evelyn Lau, Canadian poet and novelist
- James Laughlin, American poet and publisher
- Ann Lauterbach, American poet, essayist and professor
- Comte de Lautréamont, Uruguayan-born French poet
- Dorianne Laux, American poet
- Christine Lavant, Austrian poet and novelist
- D. H. Lawrence, English novelist, poet, and critic
- Henry Lawson, Australian writer and poet; son of Louisa Lawson
- Louisa Lawson, Australian poet and feminist; mother of Henry Lawson
- Robert Lax, American poet
- Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Nepalese poet and scholar
- Henryka Łazowertówna, Polish poet
Le
- Edward Lear, English poet, artist, and illustrator
- Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Polish poet and aphorist
- Joanna Lech, Polish poet and novelist
- Jan Lechoń, Polish poet, critic, and diplomat
- Francis Ledwidge, Irish war poet
- David Lee, American poet
- Dennis Lee, Canadian poet, editor, and critic
- David Lehman, American poet and editor
- Ágnes Lehóczky, Hungarian poet, academic and translator
- Eino Leino, Finnish poet and journalist
- Brad Leithauser, American poet, novelist, and essayist
- Alexander Lenard Hungarian writer and poet in several languages
- Sue Lenier, English poet and playwright
- Lalitha Lenin, Indian poet
- Krystyna Lenkowska, Polish poet and translator
- Charlotte Lennox, Scottish poet and novelist
- John Leonard, Australian poet
- Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet, essayist, and philologist
- Mikhail Lermontov, Russian writer, poet, and painter
- Ben Lerner, American poet, novelist, and critic
- Bolesław Leśmian, Polish poet and artist
- Rika Lesser, American poet and translator
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German writer, philosopher, and dramatist
- Denise Levertov, British-born American poet
- Dana Levin, American poet and teacher
- Philip Levine, American poet; 2011–12 US Poet Laureate, 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Larry Levis, American poet
- D. A. Levy, American poet, artist, and alternative publisher
- William Levy, American poet, short story writer, and editor
- Oswald LeWinter, poet
- Alun Lewis, Welsh poet in English, of World War II
- C S Lewis, Northern Irish novelist, poet, and essayist
- Gwyneth Lewis, Welsh poet; inaugural National Poet of Wales
- J. Patrick Lewis, American poet; Children's Poet Laureate
- Saunders Lewis, Welsh poet, dramatist, and critic
- Wyndham Lewis, English painter and author
Li–Ly
- Li Houzhu, poet and last ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom
- José Lezama Lima, Cuban writer and poet
- Tim Liardet, English poet, critic, and professor
- Li Bai, Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- Jerzy Liebert, Polish poet
- Li Jiao, poet and official under Tang and Zhou dynasties
- Li Qingzhao, Chinese Song dynasty writer and poet
- Li Shangyin, Chinese late Tang dynasty poet
- Tim Lilburn, Canadian poet and essayist
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
- Jack Lindeman, American poet and critic
- Sarah Lindsay, American poet
- Rossy Evelin Lima, Mexican poet
- Vachel Lindsay, American poet
- Ewa Lipska, Polish poet
- László Listi, Hungarian poet and counterfeiter of coins
- Józef Łobodowski, Polish poet and political thinker
- Terry Locke, New Zealand poet, anthologist, and academic
- Thomas Lodge, English dramatist and writer
- Iain Lom, Scottish Gaelic poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet and educator
- Michael Longley, Northern Irish poet
- Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, dramatist, and theater director
- Audre Lorde, Caribbean-American writer, poet, and librarian
- Richard Lovelace, English Cavalier poet
- Amy Lowell, American poet; 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Russell Lowell, American poet, critic, and diplomat
- Robert Lowell, American poet; 1947 and 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 1947 US Poet Laureate
- Maria White Lowell, American poet and abolitionist
- Solomon Löwisohn, Hungarian Jewish poet and historian in Hebrew and German
- Mina Loy, English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Lu You, Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, Polish poet, writer and politician
- Gherasim Luca, Romanian poet and surrealist
- Lucan, Roman poet
- Edward Lucie-Smith, English writer, poet, and broadcaster
- Gaius Lucilius, Roman satirist
- Lucilius Junior, poet and procurator of Sicily
- Lucretius, Roman poet and philosopher
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow, American author, journalist, and explorer
- Edith Gyömrői Ludowyk, Hungarian poet and politician
- Luo Binwang, Chinese early Tang-dynasty writer and poet
- Thomas Lux, American poet
- Mario Luzi, Italian poet
- John Lydgate, English monk and poet
- John Lyly, English writer, poet and dramatist
- Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount, Scottish Lord Lyon and poet
- George Lyttelton, English poet, statesman, and arts patron
M
Ma
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, Anglo-Scottish poet, historian, and politician
- George MacBeth, Scottish poet and novelist
- Norman MacCaig, Scottish poet
- Hugh MacDiarmid, Scottish poets
- George MacDonald, Scottish poet and novelist
- Sorley MacLean, Scottish Gaelic poet
- Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canadian writer and poet
- Antonio Machado, Spanish poet
- Arthur Machen, Scottish writer, memoirist, and poet
- Archibald MacLeish, American Modernist poet and writer of lots of books; three Pulitzer Prizes
- Aonghas MacNeacail, writer in Scottish Gaelic
- Louis MacNeice, Irish poet and playwright
- Hector Macneill, Scottish poet and songwriter
- James Macpherson, Scottish writer and poet
- Haki R. Madhubuti, African-American writer, poet, and educator
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator
- Derek Mahon, Northern Irish poet
- Rudolf Maister, Slovene military officer, poet, and activist
- Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar, Marathi and Hindi poet and playwright
- János Majláth, Hungarian historian and poet
- Clarence Major, American poet, painter and novelist
- Desanka Maksimović, Serbian poet and professor
- Majeed Amjad, Indian/Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Antoni Malczewski, Polish poet
- Marcin Malek, Polish poet, writer and playwright
- Madayyagari Mallana, Telugu poet
- Stephane Mallarme, French poet and critic
- David Mallet, Scottish dramatist and poet
- Sir Thomas Malory, English author of Le Morte d'Arthur
- Goffredo Mameli, Italian patriot, poet, and writer
- Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet
- James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet
- Bill Manhire, New Zealand poet and short story writer; inaugural New Zealand Poet Laureate
- Marcus Manilius, Roman poet and astrologer
- Maurice Manning, American poet
- Ruth Manning-Sanders, Welsh-born English poet and author
- Robert Mannyng, English chronicler and monk writing in Middle English, French, and Latin
- Chris Mansell, Australian poet and publisher
- Jakobe Mansztajn, Polish poet and blogger
- Manuchehri, royal poet in Persia
- Alessandro Manzoni, Italian poet, novelist
- Sándor Márai, Hungarian poet, novelist and U.S. exile
- Ausiàs March, Valencian poet and knight
- Morton Marcus, American poet and author
- Mareez, Indian poet writing in Gujarati
- Paul Mariani, American poet and a professor at Boston College
- Marie de France, medieval poet probably born in France and resident in England
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Italian poet and editor
- Giambattista Marino, Italian poet
- E. A. Markham, Montserrat poet, playwright, and novelist
- Edwin Markham, American poet
- Đorđe Marković Koder, Serbian poet
- Christopher Marlowe, English dramatist, poet, and translator
- Clément Marot, French Renaissance poet
- Don Marquis, American novelist, poet, and playwright
- Edward Garrard Marsh, English poet and Anglican cleric
- John Marston, English poet, playwright, and satirist
- José Martí, Cuban poet and writer
- Martial, Roman epigrammatist
- Camille Martin, Canadian poet and collage artist
- Harry Martinson, Swedish sailor, author, and poet
- Andrew Marvell, English metaphysical poet and politician
- John Masefield, English poet and writer; UK Poet Laureate
- Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, biographer, and dramatist
- Dafydd Llwyd Mathau, Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- János Mattis-Teutsch, Hungarian-Romanian poet and artist
- Glyn Maxwell, British poet, playwright, and librettist
- Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian/Soviet poet and playwright
- Karl May, German writer, poet and musician
- Bernadette Mayer, American poet and prose writer
- Ben Mazer, American poet and editor
Mc–Me
- James McAuley, Australian poet and critic
- Susan McCaslin, Canadian/American poet and critic
- J. D. McClatchy, American poet and critic
- Michael McClure, American poet, playwright, and novelist
- John McCrae, Canadian poet, physician, and artist
- Walt McDonald, American poet; Poet Laureate of Texas
- Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet and stand-up comedian
- William Topaz McGonagall, Scottish writer of doggerel
- Roger McGough, English comedian and poet
- Campbell McGrath, American poet
- Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet and novelist
- Thomas McGrath, American poet
- Heather McHugh, American poet, translator, and educator
- Duncan Ban McIntyre, Scottish poet in Scots Gaelic
- James McIntyre, Canadian writer of doggerel
- Claude McKay, Jamaican-American writer and poet
- Don McKay, Canadian poet, editor and educator
- Rod McKuen, American poet, composer and singer
- James McMichael, American poet
- Ian McMillan, English poet, playwright, and broadcaster
- Meera, Indian Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna
- Narsinh Mehta, Indian poet-saint of Gujarat; bhakta
- Mei Yaochen, Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Peter Meinke, American poet and fiction writer; first Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, FL
- Cecília Meireles, Brazilian poet
- Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, and poet
- Meng Haoran, Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- George Meredith, English poet and novelist
- Kersti Merilaas, Estonian poet
- Alda Merini Italian writer and poet
- Stuart Merrill, American poet writing mainly in French
- James Merrill, American poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Thomas Merton, American writer and Trappist monk
- W. S. Merwin, American poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2010 US Poet Laureate
- Sarah Messer,, American poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew, English poet
- Henry Meyer, American poet writing in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Ferenc Mező, Hungarian poet
Mi–Mo
- Henri Michaux, Belgian/French poet, writer, and painter
- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Italian poet and sculptor
- Tadeusz Miciński, Polish poet and playwright
- Adam Mickiewicz, Polish poet, essayist, and publicist
- Veronica Micle, Austria/Romanian poet
- Christopher Middleton, English poet and translator
- Christopher Middleton, English poet and translator from Germany
- Thomas Middleton, English poet and playwright
- Agnes Miegel, German writer and poet
- Josephine Miles, American poet and critic
- Jennifer Militello, American poet and professor
- Branko Miljković, Serbian poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, American lyric poet, playwright, and feminist; 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Alice Duer Miller, American writer and poet
- Grazyna Miller, Italian/Polish poet and translator
- Jane Miller, American poet
- Joaquin Miller, American poet
- Leslie Adrienne Miller, American poet
- Thomas Miller, English poet
- Vassar Miller, American writer and poet
- Spike Milligan, Irish comedian, poet, and musician
- Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet; 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature
- John Milton, English poet, polemicist, and civil servant
- Sima Milutinović Sarajlija, Serbian adventurer, writer, and poet
- Robert Minhinnick, Welsh poet, essayist, and novelist
- Matthew Minicucci, American poet and teacher
- Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet and feminist; 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Adrian Mitchell, English poet, novelist, and playwright.
- Silas Weir Mitchell, American physician and writer
- Stephen Mitchell, American poet, translator, and anthologist
- Waddie Mitchell, American poet
- Ndre Mjeda, Albanian Gheg poet
- Stanisław Młodożeniec, poet
- Anis Mojgani, American spoken-word poet and visual artist
- Molière , French playwright
- Atukuri Molla, Telugu poet
- Harold Monro, English poet
- Harriet Monroe, American scholar, critic, and poet
- John Montague, Irish poet
- Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman
- Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, writer, and translator; 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lenore Montanaro, American poet
- Alexander Montgomerie, Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
- Alan Moore, Irish writer and poet
- Marianne Moore, American poet and writer
- Merrill Moore, American psychiatrist and poet
- Thomas Moore, Irish poet, singer, and songwriter
- Dom Moraes ), Goan writer, poet, and columnist
- Edwin Morgan, Scottish poet and translator
- J. O. Morgan, Scottish poet
- John Morgan, Welsh clergyman, scholar and poet
- Lorin Morgan-Richards, American poet and author
- Christian Morgenstern, German author and poet
- Eduard Mörike, German poet
- William Morris, English writer, poet, and designer
- Jim Morrison, American songwriter and poet
- Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, Polish poet
- Zbigniew Morsztyn, Polish poet
- Valzhyna Mort, Belarus poet
- Viggo Mortensen, American poet, actor, and musician
- Moschus, ancient Greek bucolic poet
- Howard Moss, American poet, dramatist, and critic
- Andrew Motion, English poet, novelist, and biographer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom] 1999–2009
- Enrique Moya, Venezuelan poet, fiction writer, and critic
Mu–My
- Micere Githae Mugo, Kenyan playwright, author, and poet
- Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Somali poet and religious leader
- Taha Muhammad Ali, Palestinian poet
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
- Erich Mühsam, German-Jewish antimilitarist, anarchist essayist, poet and, playwright
- Edwin Muir, Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist, and translator
- Paul Muldoon, Irish poet; 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Lale Müldür, Turkish poet and writer
- Laura Mullen, American poet
- Anthony Munday, English playwright and writer
- George Murnu, Romanian archaeologist, historian, and poet
- Sheila Murphy, American text and visual poet
- George Murray, Canadian poet
- Joan Murray, American poet, writer, and playwright
- Les Murray, Australian poet, anthologist, and critic
- Richard Murphy, Irish poet
- Susan Musgrave, Canadian poet and children's writer
- Lukijan Mušicki, Serbian poet, prose writer, and polyglot
- Nikola Musulin, Serbian poet
- Togara Muzanenhamo, Zimbabwean poet
- Christopher Mwashinga, Tanzanian poet, author, and Christian minister
- Lam Quang My, Vietnamese poet in Polish and Vietnamese
N
- Vladimir Nabokov, Russian novelist and poet writing in Russian and English
- Daniel Naborowski, Polish poet
- Ágnes Nemes Nagy, Hungarian poet and translator
- Gáspár Nagy, Hungarian poet
- Lajos Parti Nagy, Hungarian poet, playwright and critic
- László Nagy, Hungarian poet and translator
- Guru Nanak Dev, first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Nannaya, earliest known Telugu author
- Adam Naruszewicz, Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
- Ogden Nash, American poet known for light verse
- Thomas Nashe, English playwright, poet, and satirist
- Imadaddin Nasimi,, Azerbaijani poet
- Momčilo Nastasijević, Serbian poet, novelist, and dramatist
- Natsume Sōseki, Japanese novelist and poet of Meiji period
- Gellu Naum, Romanian poet, dramatist, and children's writer
- Nedîm, Ottoman poet
- John Neal, American writer, critic, activist, and poet
- Henry Neele, English poet and scholar
- John Neihardt, American poet, historian, and ethnographer
- Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet
- Marilyn Nelson, American poet, translator, and children's writer
- Howard Nemerov, American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate 1963–64 and 1988–90; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1978
- István Péter Németh, Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, writer and poet
- Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
- Neşâtî,, Ottoman Sufi poet
- Henry John Newbolt, English historian and poet
- John Henry Newman, writer, poet and hymnist
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Asian American poet
- Nguyễn Du, Vietnamese poet in the ancient writing script chữ nôm
- B. P. Nichol, Canadian poet
- Nicholas I of Montenegro, poet and king of Montenegro
- Grace Nichols, Guyanese poet
- Norman Nicholson, English poet
- Lorine Niedecker, American poet
- Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Polish poet, playwright and statesman
- Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, poet, and philologist
- Millosh Gjergj Nikolla , Albanian poet and writer
- Nisami, Persian poet
- Nishiyama Sōin, Japanese haikai poet
- Moeen Nizami, Pakistani poet, scholar and writer
- Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, Serbian poet, playwright, and prince-bishop
- Yamilka Noa, Cuban–Costa Rican poet
- Gábor Nógrádi, Hungarian poet, essayist and children's novelist
- Christopher Nolan, Irish poet and author
- Fan S. Noli, Albanian American writer, diplomat, and historian
- Olga Nolla, Puerto Rican poet, writer, and professor
- Harry Northup, American actor and poet
- Caroline Norton, English writer, feminist and social reformer
- Cyprian Norwid, Polish poet, dramatist, and artist
- Alice Notley, American poet
- Novalis,, German poet and novelist
- Franciszek Nowicki, Polish poet and conservationist
- Alfred Noyes, English poet
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal, first Aboriginal Australian published poet
- Julia Nyberg, Swedish poet and songwriter
- Naomi Shihab Nye, Palestinian-American poet, songwriter, and novelist
- Robert Nye, English poet, novelist, and children's writer
- Niyi Osundare, Nigerian poet, dramatist, and literary critic
O
- Dositej Obradović, Serbian philosopher, writer, and poet
- Sean O'Brien, British poet, critic, and playwright
- Philip O'Connor, Anglo-French writer and poet
- Antoni Edward Odyniec, Polish poet
- Ron Offen, American poet, playwright and producer
- Dennis O'Driscoll, Irish poet
- Frank O'Hara, American writer, poet, and art critic
- Sharon Olds, American poet
- Mary Oliver, American poet; 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Charles Olson, American modernist poet
- Saishu Onoe, Japanese poet
- Onomacritus, Attica poet, priest, and seer
- George Oppen, American poet and political activist
- Artur Oppman, Polish poet
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II, American poet, painter, and army officer
- Zaharije Orfelin, Serbian polymath and poet
- Władysław Orkan, Polish poet
- Peter Orlovsky, American poet and actor; partner of Allen Ginsberg
- Gregory Orr, American poet
- Agnieszka Osiecka, Polish poet, writer and author of screenplays
- Alice Oswald, English poet; 2002 T. S. Eliot Prize
- Ouyang Xiu, Chinese Song Dynasty historian, essayist, and poet
- Ovid,, Roman poet
- Wilfred Owen, English poet and soldier
- İsmet Özel, Turkish poet and scholar
P
Pa
- Ruth Padel, English poet, author, and critic
- Ron Padgett, American poet, writer, and translator
- Dan Pagis, Israeli poet, Holocaust survivor
- Grace Paley, American short story writer, poet, and political activist
- Francis Turner Palgrave, English critic and poet
- Palladas, Greek poet
- Michael Palmer, American poet and translator
- Sima Pandurović, Serbian poet
- Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet in Hindi
- Daniele Pantano, Swiss poet, literary translator, editor, and scholar
- William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh poet and hymn writer in Welsh
- Park Yong-rae, Korean poet
- Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, and satirist
- Thomas Parnell, Irish poet and clergyman
- Nicanor Parra, Chilean mathematician and poet
- Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet
- Ámbar Past, Mexican poet, visual artist
- Boris Pasternak, Russian poet, novelist and translator
- Leon Pasternak, Polish poet and satirist
- Benito Pastoriza Iyodo, Puerto Rican author of poetry, fiction and literary articles
- Kenneth Patchen, American poet and novelist
- Ravji Patel, Indian poet
- Banjo Paterson , Australian bush poet, journalist and author
- Don Paterson, Scottish poet, writer and musician
- Coventry Patmore, English poet and critic
- Brian Patten, English poet
- Lekhnath Paudyal, Nepalese poet
- Paul I, Prince Esterházy Austro-Hungarian poet
- Cesare Pavese, Italian poet, novelist, and critic
- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Polish poet and dramatist
- Octavio Paz, Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat
Pe–Pl
- Thomas Love Peacock, English poet and novelist
- Patrick Pearse, Irish poet, writer, and political activist; leader of Easter Rising
- James Larkin Pearson, American poet and publisher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1953–1981
- Allasani Peddana, Telugu poet, foremost of the Astadiggajas
- Charles Péguy, French poet, essayist, and editor
- Kathleen Peirce, American poet
- Gabino Coria Peñaloza, Argentine poet and lyricist
- Sam Pereira, American poet
- Lucia Perillo, American poet
- Persius, Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin
- Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, philosopher, and critic
- Lenrie Peters, Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
- Robert Peters, American poet, scholar, and playwright
- Pascale Petit, French-Welsh poet, artist
- Petrarch , Italian scholar and poet; "Father of Humanism"
- Kata Szidónia Petrőczy, Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Marine Petrossian, Armenian poet, essayist and columnist
- Veljko Petrović, Serbian poet, prose writer, and theorist
- Mirko Petrović-Njegoš, Serbian and Montenegrin poet, soldier, and diplomat
- Mario Petrucci, English poet, author, and translator of Italian origin
- Ambrose Philips, English poet and politician
- Katherine Philips, Anglo-Welsh poet
- Pi Rixiu, Tang Dynasty poet
- Tom Pickard, English poet and documentary film maker
- Pindar, Theban lyric poet in Greek
- Robert Pinsky, American poet, critic, and translator; 1997–2000 US Poet Laureate
- Ruth Pitter, English poet; first woman awarded Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 1955
- Christine de Pizan, Venetian historian, poet, and philosopher
- Sylvia Plath, American poet and novelist; 1982 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry as first posthumous recipient
- William Plomer, South African novelist, poet, and editor, in English
Po–Pu
- Jacek Podsiadło, Polish poet, translator and essayist
- Edgar Allan Poe, American author, poet, and critic
- Suman Pokhrel, Nepalese poet, playwright, and artist
- Wincenty Pol, Polish poet and geographer
- Margaret Steuart Pollard, English poet
- Edward Pollock, American poet and lawyer
- John Pomfret, English poet and clergyman.
- Marie Ponsot, American poet, critic, and essayist
- Vasko Popa, Serbian poet of Romanian descent
- Alexander Pope, English poet
- Antonio Porchia, Italian Argentinian poet
- Judith Pordon,, American poet, writer, and editor
- Peter Porter, England-based Australian poet
- Halina Poświatowska, Polish poet and writer
- Wacław Potocki, Polish poet and moralist
- Ezra Pound, American expatriate poet and critic; promoted Imagism
- Alishetty Prabhakar, Telugu poet
- Adélia Prado, Brazilian writer and poet
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet
- Jaishankar Prasad, Indian poet in Hindi
- E. J. Pratt, Canadian poet
- Petar Preradović, Croatian poet, writer, and general
- France Prešeren, Carniolan Romantic poet
- Jacques Prévert, French poet and screenwriter
- Richard Price, Scottish poet, novelist, and translator
- Robert Priest, English-born Canadian poet, children's author, and singer/songwriter
- F. T. Prince, English poet and academic
- Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat
- Bryan Procter, English poet
- Sextus Propertius, Latin elegiac poet of Augustan age
- Kevin Prufer, American poet, academic, and essayist
- J H Prynne, English poet; British Poetry Revival
- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zenon Przesmycki, Polish poet, translator and critic
- Jeremi Przybora, Polish poet, writer and singer
- Luigi Pulci, Italian poet best known for Morgante
- Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet, novelist, and playwright
Q
- Nizar Qabbani, Syrian diplomat, poet, and publisher
- Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri, Indian poet, writer, and politician
- Aref Qazvini, Iranian poet, lyricist, and musician
- Qu Yuan, Chinese poet of Warring States period
- Francis Quarles, English Christian poet
- Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature
R
Ra–Re
- Jean Racine, French dramatist
- Branko Radičević, Serbian lyric poet
- Sam Ragan, American poet, journalist, and writer; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1982–96
- Shamsur Rahman, Bangladeshi poet and columnist; key figure in Bengali literature
- Craig Raine, English poet associated with Martian poetry
- Kathleen Raine, English poet, critic, and scholar
- Samina Raja, Pakistani poet, writer, and broadcaster
- Milan Rakić, Serbian poet
- Carl Rakosi, American Objectivist poet
- Martin Rakovský, Hungarian poet and scholar
- Zsuzsa Rakovszky, Hungarian poet and translator
- Sir Walter Raleigh, English writer, poet, and explorer
- Tenali Rama, Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas
- Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu, Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas
- Ramarajabhushanudu, Telugu poet and notable musician, one of the Astadiggajas
- Guru Ram Das, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Allan Ramsay, Scottish poet, playwright and publisher
- Dudley Randall, African-American poet and publisher
- Thomas Randolph, English poet and dramatist
- John Crowe Ransom, American poet, essayist, and magazine editor
- Addepalli Ramamohana Rao, Telugu poet and literary critic
- Ágnes Rapai, Hungarian poet, writer, and translator
- Noon Meem Rashid, Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Stephen Ratcliffe, American poet and critic
- Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet, translator, and peace activist
- Tom Raworth, British poet and visual artist; key figure in the British Poetry Revival
- Herbert Read, English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art
- Angela Readman, English poet
- James Reaney, Canadian poet, playwright, and professor
- Malliya Rechana, Telugu poet
- Peter Redgrove, English poet
- Henry Reed, English poet, translator, and radio dramatist
- Ishmael Reed, American poet, playwright and novelist
- Ennis Rees, American poet, professor, and translator; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1984–85
- James Reeves, English poet, children's writer, and writer on traditional song
- Abraham Regelson, Israeli Hebrew poet, author, and children's author
- Christopher Reid, Hong Kong-born English poet, essayist, and cartoonist
- James Reiss, American poet
- Mikołaj Rej, Polish poet and prose writer
- Robert Rendall, Orkney Scottish poet and amateur naturalist
- Pierre Reverdy, French poet inspired by and influencing Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
- Jacobus Revius , Dutch poet, Calvinist theologian, and church historian
- Kenneth Rexroth, American poet, translator, and critical essayist
- Sydor Rey, Polish poet and novelist
- Charles Reznikoff, American Objectivist poet
- Raees Warsi, Pakistani poet, writer, and lyricist writing in Urdu
Ri–Ry
- Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira, Ecuadorian poet
- Stan Rice, American poet and artist; husband of author Anne Rice
- Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist, and feminist
- John Richardson, English poet of the Lake District
- Edgell Rickword, English poet, critic, and journalist
- Lola Ridge, Irish-born American anarchist poet and editor
- Laura Riding, American poet, critic, and novelist
- Anne Ridler, English poet and editor
- James Whitcomb Riley, American writer, poet; known as Hoosier Poet and Children's Poet
- John Riley, English poet associated with British Poetry Revival
- Rainer Maria Rilke, Bohemian-Austrian poet
- Gopal Prasad Rimal, Nepali poet and playwright
- Arthur Rimbaud, French symbolist poet; part of Decadent movement
- Alberto Ríos, American poet and professor
- Khawar Rizvi, Pakistani poet and scholar writing in Urdu and Persian
- Emma Roberts, English travel writer and poet
- Michael Roberts, English poet and writer, editor 1936 Faber Book of Modern Verse
- Edwin Arlington Robinson, American poet; won three Pulitzer Prizes
- Mary Robinson, English poet and novelist
- Peter Robinson, English poet
- Roland Robinson, Australian poet and writer
- Georges Rodenbach, Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist
- W R Rodgers, Northern Irish poet, essayist, and Presbyterian minister
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí, Panamanian poet and artist
- Theodore Roethke, American poet; 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Samuel Rogers, English poet
- Rognvald Kali Kolsson, Earl of Orkney and saint
- Matthew Rohrer, American poet
- Géza Röhrig, Hungarian poet and actor
- David Romtvedt, American poet
- Pierre de Ronsard, French poet
- Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet
- Franklin Rosemont, American poet, artist, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Penelope Rosemont, American poet, writer, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Isaac Rosenberg, English poet of World War I
- Barbara Rosiek, Polish poet, writer and psychologist
- Alan Ross, English poet, cricket writer, and editor
- Christina Rossetti, English poet
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet, illustrator and painter; co-founded Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
- Andrus Rõuk, Estonian artist and poet
- Raymond Roussel, French poet, novelist, and playwright
- Nicholas Rowe, English dramatist, poet and miscellanist; UK Poet Laureate 1715
- Samuel Rowlands, English poet and pamphleteer
- Susanna Roxman, English poet born in Sweden
- Istvan Rozanich, exiled Hungarian poet
- Tadeusz Różewicz, Polish poet and writer
- Ljubivoje Ršumović, Serbian poet
- Friedrich Rückert, German poet, translator, and professor
- Muriel Rukeyser, American poet and political activist
- Zygmunt Rumel, Polish poet and partisan
- Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi, Persian Muslim poet, jurist, and Sufi mystic
- Paul-Eerik Rummo, Estonian poet
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet; national poet of Finland, wrote in Swedish
- Nipsey Russell, American comedian; regarded as "poet laureate of television"
- Lucjan Rydel, Polish poet and playwright
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz, Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- Ryōkan, Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa–Se
- Umberto Saba, Italian poet and novelist
- Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet
- Nelly Sachs, Jewish German poet and playwright; 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex, English poet and courtier
- Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, English statesman, poet, and dramatist
- Vita Sackville-West, English author, poet and gardener
- Saʿdī Shīrāzī, medieval Persian poet
- Ahmad Shamloo, Persian poet, writer, and journalist
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz, American poet, novelist, and children's writer
- Ali Ahmad Said , Syrian poet, essayist, and translator
- Mellin de Saint-Gelais,, French Renaissance poet; Poet Laureate of Francis I of France
- Akim Samar, Soviet poet and novelist regarded as first Nanai language writer
- Sonia Sanchez, African-American poet; associated with Black Arts Movement
- Michal Šanda, Czech writer and poet
- Carl Sandburg, American poet, writer, and editor; three Pulitzer Prizes
- Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet, humanist, and epigrammist from Naples
- Ann Sansom, English poet and writing tutor
- Aleksa Šantić, Bosnian Serb poet
- Taneda Santōka, Japanese free verse haiku poet
- Genrikh Sapgir, Russian poet and fiction writer
- Sappho, ancient Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Jaydeep Sarangi, Indian poet in English
- Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, Polish poet in Latin
- William Saroyan, American author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon, English war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo, Indonesian poet, short-story writer, and literary critic
- Satsvarupa Das Goswami, American poet and artist; founded International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- William Saunders, Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Richard Savage, English poet; subject of Samuel Johnson's Life of Savage
- Leslie Scalapino, American poet, writer, and playwright; associated with Language poets and Beat poets
- Maurice Scève, French poet
- Hermann Georg Scheffauer, American poet, architect, and short story writer
- Georges Schehadé, Lebanese playwright and poet writing in French
- Friedrich Schiller, German poet, philosopher, and playwright
- Arno Schmidt, German author and translator
- Dennis Schmitz, American poet
- Arthur Schnitzler, Austrian author and dramatist
- Philip Schultz, American poet; 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Schuyler, American poet; 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The Morning of the Poem
- Delmore Schwartz, American poet and short story writer
- Alexander Scott, Scottish poet
- Alexander Scott, Scottish poet and playwright
- Frederick George Scott, Canadian poet and author, father of F. R. Scott
- F. R. Scott, Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert
- Tom Scott, Scottish poet
- Sir Walter Scott, Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet
- Gil Scott-Heron, American soul musician and jazz poet
- George Bazeley Scurfield, English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Peter Seaton, American Language poet
- Władysław Sebyła, Polish poet
- Johannes Secundus, Dutch Neo-Latin poet
- Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet, English poet, wit, and dramatist
- George Seferis , Greek poet, Nobel laureate, and Ambassador to UK
- Hugh Seidman, American poet
- Rebecca Seiferle, American poet
- Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, poet and journalist; 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lasana M. Sekou, Sint Maarten poet, essayist, and journalist
- Semonides of Amorgos, Greek iambic and elegiac poet
- Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist; first president of Senegal
- Robert W. Service, Scottish-Canadian poet; called "Bard of the Yukon"
- Vikram Seth, Indian author and poet
- Anne Sexton, American poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- John W. Sexton, Irish poet, short-story writer, and children's novelist
Sh–Sj
- Thomas Shadwell, English poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1689–92
- Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda, who wrote poetry in Persian, Telugu and Urdu
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
- William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright
- Tupac Shakur, American rapper, actor, and black activist
- Otep Shamaya, American singer-songwriter, actress, and poet; lead singer of Otep
- Ntozake Shange, American playwright and poet
- Jo Shapcott, English poet, editor, and lecturer
- Karl Shapiro, American poet; U.S. Poet Laureate, 1946–47
- Brenda Shaughnessy, American poet
- Luci Shaw, English-born Christian poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, major English Romantic poet
- William Shenstone, English poet
- Bhupi Sherchan, Nepalese poet
- Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet and artist
- Masaoka Shiki, Japanese author, poet, and literary critic
- Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet
- James Shirley, English dramatist
- Avraham Shlonsky, Israeli poet and editor
- Sir Philip Sidney, English poet, courtier and soldier
- Eli Siegel, Latvian-American poet and critic; founded philosophy of Aesthetic Realism
- Robert Siegel, American poet and novelist
- August Silberstein, Austro-Hungarian poet and writer in German
- Jon Silkin, English poet
- Ron Silliman, American poet; associated with Language poetry
- Shel Silverstein, American poet, musician, and children's writer
- Simeon Simev, Macedonian poet, essayist, and journalist
- Charles Simic, Serbian-American poet; 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, US Poet Laureate, 2007–2008
- Simonides of Ceos, Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
- , South African Author, Poet and Public Speaker.
- Louis Simpson, Jamaican poet; 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Bennie Lee Sinclair, American poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
- Burns Singer, American poet usually identified with Scotland, where he was raised
- Marilyn Singer, American children's writer and poet
- Ervin Šinko, Croatian-Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Lemn Sissay, English author and broadcaster
- Charles Hubert Sisson, English writer, best known as poet and translator
- Edith Sitwell, English poet and critic; eldest of three literary Sitwells
- Sjón, Icelandic author and poet
Sk–Sp
- Egill Skallagrímsson, Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer, the protagonist of Egil's Saga
- John Skelton, English poet
- Sasha Skenderija, Bosnian-American poet
- Ed Skoog, American poet
- Jan Stanisław Skorupski, Polish poet, essayist and esperantist
- Pencho Slaveykov, Bulgarian poet
- Petko Slaveykov, Bulgarian poet, publicist, and folklorist
- Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet and journalist
- Anton Martin Slomšek, Slovene bishop, author, and advocate of Slovenian culture
- Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet, playwright and artist
- Juliusz Słowacki, Polish Romantic poet; one of "Three Bards" of Polish literature
- Boris Slutsky, Russian poet
- Christopher Smart, English poet and playwright
- Hristo Smirnenski, Bulgarian poet and writer
- Bruce Smith, American poet
- Charlotte Turner Smith, English Romantic poet and novelist
- Clark Ashton Smith, American poet, sculptor, and author
- Margaret Smith, American poet, musician, and artist
- Patti Smith, American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist
- Stevie Smith, English poet and novelist
- Sydney Goodsir Smith, Scots poet in Lallans
- Tracy K. Smith, American poet, 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- William Jay Smith, American poet; US Poet Laureate 1968–1970
- Tobias Smollett, Scottish poet and author
- William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet; 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Gary Snyder, American poet, essayist, and environmentalist; 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Edith Södergran, Swedish-speaking Finnish poet
- Sōgi, Japanese waka and renga poet
- David Solway, Canadian poet, educational theorist, and travel writer
- William Somervile, English poet
- Sophocles,, Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley, English war poet of World War I
- Gary Soto, Mexican-American author and poet
- William Soutar, Scottish poet in English and Braid Scots
- Caroline Anne Southey, English poet
- Robert Southey, English Romantic poet, Lake Poet and UK Poet Laureate
- Robert Southwell, English Catholic Jesuit priest, poet and clandestine missionary
- Wole Soyinka, Nigerian poet and playwright and poet; 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Bernard Spencer, English poet, translator, and editor
- Stephen Spender, English poet, novelist. and essayist; US Poet Laureate 1965–66
- Edmund Spenser, English poet best known for The Faerie Queene
St–Sz
- Edward Stachura, poet, prose writer and translator
- Leopold Staff, Polish poet
- William Stafford, American poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–71
- A.E. Stallings, American poet and translator
- Jon Stallworthy, English academic, poet and literary critic
- Harold Standish, Canadian poet and novelist
- Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet
- Ann Stanford, American poet
- Anna Stanisławska, Polish poet
- George Starbuck, American neo-formalist poet
- Andrzej Stasiuk, Polish poet and novelist
- Statius, Roman poet
- Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE, New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
- Stesichorus, Greek lyric poet
- Joseph Stefan, Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician, and poet, living in Austria
- Stefan Stefanović, Serbian poet
- Gertrude Stein, American Modernist innovator in prose and poetry, and art collector
- Eric Stenbock, Baltic German poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction
- Mattie Stepanek, American poet and advocate
- George Stepney, English poet and diplomat
- Anatol Stern, Polish poet and art critic
- Gerald Stern, American poet
- Marinko Stevanović, Bosnian poet
- C. J. Stevens, American writer of poetry, short stories, and biography
- Wallace Stevens, American Modernist poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer
- Margo Taft Stever, American poet
- Trumbull Stickney, American classical scholar and poet
- James Still, American poet, novelist and folklorist
- Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja, Serbian poet
- Dejan Stojanović, Serbian-American poet, writer, and philosopher
- Donna J. Stone, American poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone, American poet, author and teacher
- Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet, American poet and editor
- Edward Storer, English writer, translator and poet, associated with Imagism
- Theodor Storm, German writer and poet
- Alfonsina Storni, Latin American Modernist poet
- Mark Strand, Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–91
- Botho Strauß, German playwright, poet, and novelist
- Joseph Stroud, American poet
- Jesse Stuart, American writer known for short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia
- Su Shi, Song dynasty writer, poet, and artist
- Su Xiaoxiao, courtesan and poet under Southern Qi Dynasty
- Sir John Suckling, English poet and inventor of the card game cribbage
- Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of Ottoman Empire and Islamic poet
- Jovan Sundečić, Serbian poet
- Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and writer
- Abhi Subedi, Nepalese poet, playwright, and critic
- Pingali Surana, Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas
- Robert Sward, American and Canadian poet and novelist
- Cole Swensen, American poet, translator, and copywriter; Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry 2006
- Karen Swenson, American poet
- May Swenson, American poet and playwright
- Marcin Świetlicki, Polish poet, prose writer and musician
- Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, and political pamphleteer
- Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Anna Świrszczyńska , Polish poet
- Joshua Sylvester, English poet
- Arthur William Symons, English poet, critic and magazine editor
- John Millington Synge, Irish dramatist, poet, and collector of folklore
- Władysław Syrokomla, Polish poet and translator in the Russian Empire
- Lőrinc Szabó, Hungarian poet and literary translator
- Fruzina Szalay, Hungarian poet and translator
- Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński, Polish poet, also in Latin
- Arthur Sze, Chinese American poet
- Bertalan Szemere, Hungarian poet and politician
- Gyula Szentessy, Hungarian poet
- George Szirtes, Hungary-born British poet and translator
- Janusz Szpotański, Polish poet, satirist and translator
- Włodzimierz Szymanowicz, Polish poet and painter
- Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet, essayist, and translator; Nobel Prize in Literature 1996
- Szymon Szymonowic, Polish poet
T
Ta–Te
- Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali polymath; 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Judit Dukai Takách, Hungarian poet
- Bogi Takács, Hungarian poet and fiction writer in the U.S.
- Taliesin, British poet of post-Roman period
- Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu, Tamil poet, editor, and critic
- Maxim Tank, Belarusian poet
- Tao Qian, Chinese poet of Six Dynasties period
- Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet, essayist, and literary critic
- Alain Tasso, Franco-Lebanese poet, painter, and critic
- Torquato Tasso, Italian poet; best known for Jerusalem Delivered
- Allen Tate, American poet, essayist, and social commentator; US Poet Laureate 1943–44
- James Tate, American poet; 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Emma Tatham, English poet
- Edward Taylor, colonial American poet, physician, and pastor
- Emily Taylor, English poet and children's writer
- Henry Taylor, English poet and dramatist
- Henry S. Taylor, American poet; 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Jane Taylor, English poet and novelist
- Sara Teasdale, American lyric poet
- Guru Tegh Bahadur, Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Telesilla, Greek poet
- William Tennant, Scottish scholar and poet.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1850–1892
- Vahan Terian, Armenian poet, lyricist, and public activist
- Elaine Terranova, American poet
- Lucy Terry, African-American poet; author of oldest known work by African American
- A. S. J. Tessimond, English poet
- Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish poet, satirist, and ney performer"
Th–To
- Kálmán Thaly, Hungarian poet and politician
- Ernest Thayer, American writer and poet
- John Thelwall, English poet and essayist
- Theocritus, Greek bucolic poet
- Jan Theuninck, Belgian painter and poet
- Nandi Thimmana, Telugu poet, one of the Astadiggajas at court of King Krishnadevaraya
- Thiruvalluvar, Tamil poet and philosopher
- Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet and writer in English
- Edward Thomas, Welsh poet and essayist in English
- Lorenzo Thomas, American poet and critic
- R. S. Thomas, Welsh poet in English and Anglican priest
- John Thompson, English-born Canadian poet
- John Reuben Thompson, American poet, journalist, editor, and publisher
- Francis Thompson, English poet and ascetic
- James Thomson, Scottish poet and playwright; lyrics of Rule, Britannia!
- James Thomson, Scottish Victorian poet
- Henry David Thoreau, American author, poet, and philosopher
- Georg Thurmair, German poet and hymn writer
- Maria Luise Thurmair, German poet and hymn writer
- Joseph Thurston, English poet
- Anthony Thwaite, English poet and writer
- Tibullus, Latin poet and writer of elegies
- Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet
- Thomas Tickell, English poet and man of letters
- Ludwig Tieck, German poet, translator, editor, and critic
- Tikkana, Telugu poet, translator of Mahabharata
- Gary Tillery, American writer, poet, and artist
- Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade, Somali poet
- Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki, Polish poet
- Nick Toczek, English writer, poet, and broadcaster
- Melvin B. Tolson, American Modernist poet, educator, and columnist
- Charles Tomlinson, English poet and translator
- Jean Toomer, American poet and novelist; important figure in Harlem Renaissance
- Mihály Tompa, Hungarian poet and pastor
- Álvaro Torres-Calderón, Peruvian poet
- Kálmán Tóth, Hungarian poet
- Krisztina Tóth, Hungarian poet and translator
- Sándor Tóth, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Cyril Tourneur, English poetic dramatist
- Ann Townsend American poet and essayist
Tr–Tz
- Thomas Traherne, English poet, clergyman, and religious writer
- Georg Trakl, Austrian Expressionist poet
- Elizabeth Treadwell, American poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay, French Canadian writer and poet
- Duško Trifunović, Serbian poet and writer
- Calvin Trillin, American humorist, poet, and novelist
- Geeta Tripathee, Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist, literary critic and scholar
- Suryakant Tripathi, Indian poet in Hindi and Bengali
- Quincy Troupe, American poet, editor, journalist and professor
- Tõnu Trubetsky , Estonian glam punk musician and poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian Soviet poet
- Kurt Tucholsky, German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer
- Charlotte Maria Tucker, English poet and religious writer
- Tulsidas, Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher
- Hovhannes Tumanyan, Armenian writer and public activist; considered national poet of Armenia
- Ğabdulla Tuqay, Tatar poet, critic, and publisher
- George Turberville, English poet
- Charles Tennyson Turner, English poet, elder brother of Alfred Tennyson
- Julian Turner, English poet and mental health worker
- Thomas Tusser, English poet and farmer
- Hone Tuwhare, New Zealand poet of Māori ancestry
- Julian Tuwim, Polish poet of Jewish descent
- Jan Twardowski, Polish poet and priest
- Chase Twichell, American poet, professor, and publisher
- Pontus de Tyard,, French poet and priest; member of "La Pléiade"
- Fyodor Tyutchev, Russian Romantic poet
- Tristan Tzara, Romanian and French avant-garde poet and performance artist; a founder of Dada movement
U
- Kornel Ujejski Polish poet and political writer
- Erzsi Újvári, Hungarian poet
- Laura Ulewicz, American Beat poet
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha, Telugu poet; sixth Peethadhipathi of Sri Viswa Viznana Vidya Adhyatmika Peetham
- Jeff Unaegbu, Nigerian writer, actor, and documentary film maker
- Miguel de Unamuno, Spanish essayist, novelist, and poet
- Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet, critic, and academic; 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
- Unorthodox Australian Poet, Australian poet
- Louis Untermeyer, American poet, anthologist, and critic; US Poet Laureate 1961–62
- John Updike, American novelist, poet, and literary critic
- Allen Upward, Irish-English poet, lawyer and teacher; Imagist poet
- Amy Uyematsu, Japanese-American poet
V
- János Vajda, Hungarian poet and journalist
- Paul Valéry, French author and poet of the Symbolist school
- Alfonso Vallejo, Spanish artist, playwright, and poet
- César Vallejo, Peruvian poet, writer, and playwright
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton, French-speaking Swiss poet and writer
- Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
- Cor Van den Heuvel, American haiku poet, editor, and archivist
- Mona Van Duyn, American poet; US Poet Laureate 1992–93
- Lin Van Hek, Australian poet, writer, and fashion designer
- Nikola Vaptsarov, Bulgarian Communist poet
- Varand,, Armenian poet, writer, and professor of literature
- Mahadevi Varma, Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Dimitris Varos, modern Greek poet, journalist, and photographer
- Henry Vaughan, Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet
- Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden, English poet
- Joana Vaz, Portuguese poet and courtier
- Vazha-Pshavela , Georgian poet and writer
- Reetika Vazirani, American poet and educator
- Ivan Vazov, Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Attila Végh, Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Maffeo Vegio , Italian poet who wrote in Latin
- Vemana, Indian Telugu language poet
- Gavril Stefanović Venclović, Serbian priest, writer, poet, and illuminator
- Helen Vendler, American poetry critic and professor
- Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet; a prominent figure in Renaixença
- Paul Verlaine, French poet associated with Symbolist movement
- Paul Vermeersch, Canadian poet
- Veturi Sundararama Murthy, known as Veturi, Telugu poet and song-writer
- Francis Vielé-Griffin, French symbolist poet
- Peter Viereck, American poet, professor and political thinker
- Gilles Vigneault, Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
- Judit Vihar, Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Jose Garcia Villa, Filipino poet, literary critic, and painter
- Xavier Villaurrutia, Mexican poet and playwright
- François Villon, French poet, thief, and barroom brawler
- Virgil, ancient Roman poet of Augustan period
- Roemer Visscher, Dutch salesman, writer and poet
- Mihály Csokonai Vitéz, Hungarian poet
- Mihailo Vitković, Hungarian poet in Serbian and lawyer
- Walther von der Vogelweide,, celebrated Middle High German lyric poet
- Vincent Voiture, French poet
- Voltaire , French Enlightenment writer
- Joost van den Vondel, Dutch playwright and poet
- Andrei Voznesensky, Soviet Russian poet
- Stanko Vraz, Croatian-Slovenian language poet
- Vyasa, revered Hindu figure; considered the author of Mahabharata and some Vedas
W
Wa–Wh
- Wace, Norman poet
- Sidney Wade, American poet and professor
- John Wain, English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with The Movement
- Diane Wakoski, American poet; associated with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
- Derek Walcott, Saint Lucian poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Anne Waldman, American poet
- Rosmarie Waldrop, German-American poet, translator, and publisher
- Arthur Waley, English orientalist and Sinologist; poet and translator
- Alice Walker, American author, poet, and activist
- Margaret Walker, African-American writer
- Edmund Waller, English poet and politician
- Martin Walser, German writer
- Robert Walser, German-speaking Swiss writer
- Connie Wanek, American poet
- Aleksander Wat, Polish poet and memoirist
- Wang Wei, Tang Dynasty Chinese poet, musician, and painter
- Wang Wei, Chinese priestess and poet
- Emily Warn, American poet
- Sylvia Townsend Warner, English novelist and poet
- Robert Penn Warren, American poet, novelist, and literary critic; a founder of New Criticism
- Thomas Warton, English literary historian, critic, and poet
- Albert Wass, Hungarian poet and novelist exiled to the U.S.
- Vernon Watkins, Welsh poet, translator, and painter
- Thomas Watson, English lyric poet writing in English and Latin
- Samuel Wagan Watson, Australian poet
- George Watsky, American poet and rapper
- Barrett Watten, American poet, editor, and educator; associated with Language poets
- Isaac Watts, English hymnist and logician
- Theodore Watts-Dunton, English critic and poet
- Tom Wayman, Canadian poet, author, and educator
- Adam Ważyk, Polish poet and essayist
- Francis Webb, Australian poet
- John Webster, English dramatist
- Rebecca Wee, American poet, professor
- Hannah Weiner, American Language poet
- Sándor Weöres, Hungarian poet and translator
- Wei Yingwu, Chinese poet
- Wen Yiduo, Chinese poet
- Marjory Heath Wentworth, American poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate
- Charles Wesley, English leader of Methodist movement, and prolific hymnist
- Gilbert West, English poet, translator and Christian apologist
- Philip Whalen, American poet, Zen Buddhist, and figure in San Francisco Renaissance
- Franz Werfel, Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet
- Johan Herman Wessel, Norwegian-Danish poet
- Mary Whateley, English poet and playwright
- Phillis Wheatley, first African-American poet
- Billy Edd Wheeler, American songwriter, performer, and poet
- E.B. White, American essayist, author, and humorist
- Henry Kirke White, English poet
- James L. White, American poet, editor, and teacher
- Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and humanist
- Isabella Whitney, English poet
- Reed Whittemore, American poet, biographer, and critic
- John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet
Wi–Wy
- Anna Wickham , English poet brought up in Australia
- Les Wicks, Australian poet, publisher, and editor
- Ulrika Widström, Swedish poet and translator
- John Wieners, American lyric poet
- Kazimierz Wierzyński, Polish poet and journalist
- Richard Wilbur, American poet; US Poet Laureate 1987–88, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1957 and 1989
- Jane Wilde, Irish poet and nationalist
- Oscar Wilde, Irish writer, playwright, and poet
- John Wilkinson, English poet
- William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, best known as earliest troubadour whose works have survived
- Aeneas Francon Williams, British poet, writer and, missionary
- Emmett Williams, American poet and visual artist
- Jonathan Williams, American poet, publisher, and essayist
- Heathcote Williams, English poet, political activist, and dramatist
- Miller Williams, American poet, translator, and editor
- Oscar Williams, Jewish Ukrainian-American anthologist and poet
- Saul Williams, African-American singer, poet, writer, and actor
- Sherley Anne Williams, African-American poet, novelist, and social critic
- Waldo Williams, Welsh language poet; pacifist and Welsh nationalist
- William Carlos Williams, poet and physician; associated with Modernism and imagism
- William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh poet and hymnist
- Clive Wilmer, English poet
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, English poet, courtier, and satirist
- Eleanor Wilner, American poet and editor
- Peter Lamborn Wilson, American political and cultural writer, essayist, and poet
- Christian Wiman, American poet and editor
- David Wingate, Scottish poet and collier
- Yvor Winters, American poet and literary critic
- George Wither, English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish poet, writer and philosopher
- Stefan Witwicki, Polish poet
- Woeser, Tibetan activist, poet, and essayist
- Rafał Wojaczek, Polish poet
- Grażyna Wojcieszko, Polish poet and essayist
- Christa Wolf, German literary critic, novelist, and poet
- Charles Wolfe, Irish poet
- Hans Wollschläger, German writer, translator, and historian
- Sholeh Wolpe, Iranian-American poet, literary translator, and playwright
- Maryla Wolska, Polish poet
- George Woodcock, Canadian writer of biography and history, anarchist thinker, and poet
- Gregory Woods, English poet who grew up in Ghana
- Dorothy Wordsworth, English author, poet and diarist; sister of William Wordsworth
- William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet
- Philip Stanhope Worsley, English poet
- Carolyn D. Wright, American poet
- Charles Wright, American poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- David Wright, South African-born poet and author
- Franz Wright, American poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Wright, American poet, father of Franz Wright; 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Jay Wright, African-American poet, playwright, and essayist
- Judith Wright, Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights
- Lady Mary Wroth, English poet of the Renaissance
- Thomas Wyatt, English ambassador and lyrical poet
- Józef Wybicki, Polish poet and national-anthem writer
- Elinor Wylie, American poet and novelist
- Hedd Wyn, Welsh language poet
- Edward Alexander Wyon, English architect and poet
- Stanisław Wyspiański, Polish poet, playwright and painter
X
- Xenokleides, poet of Athens
- Xin Qiji, Chinese poet in Song dynasty
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi , Somali poet active in the 1960s
- Xu Zhimo, Chinese poet
- Halima Xudoyberdiyeva, Uzbek poet; awarded title of People's Poet of Uzbekistan
Y
- Jūkichi Yagi, Japanese poet on modern religious themes
- Leo Yankevich, American poet and editor
- Peyo Yavorov, Bulgarian Symbolist poet
- W. B. Yeats, Irish poet; 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Sergei Yesenin, Russian lyrical poet
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Soviet Russian poet, dramatist, and film director
- Lin Yining, Chinese poet, painter, and composer
- Akiko Yosano, Japanese poet, feminist and pacifist
- Andrew Young, Scottish poet and clergyman
- Edward Young, English poet
- Kevin Young, American poet and teacher
- Marguerite Young, American author of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction
- A. W. Yrjänä, Finnish poet, musician and songwriter with band CMX
- Yuan Mei, Chinese poet, scholar, and gastronome of Qing Dynasty
Z
- Tymon Zaborowski, Polish poet
- Adam Zagajewski, Polish poet, novelist, and essayist
- Józef Bohdan Zaleski, Polish poet
- Wacław Michał Zaleski, Polish poet, critic and politician
- Andrea Zanzotto, Italian poet
- Matthew Zapruder, American poet, translator, and professor
- Marya Zaturenska, American lyric poet; 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Kazimiera Zawistowska, Polish poet and translator
- Piotr Zbylitowski, Polish poet and courtier
- Katarzyna Ewa Zdanowicz-Cyganiak, Polish poet and journalist
- Emil Zegadłowicz, Polish poet, playwright and translator
- Ludwig Zeller, Chilean poet
- Robert Zend, Hungarian-Canadian poet, fiction writer, and artist
- Benjamin Zephaniah, English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
- Hristofor Zhefarovich, Serbian painter, writer and poet; proponent of Pan-Slavism
- Calvin Ziegler, German-American poet; wrote in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Narcyza Żmichowska, Polish poet and novelist
- Radovan Zogović, Serbian/Montenegrin poet
- Miklós Zrínyi, Hungarian poet and statesman
- Zuhayr ibn Abī Sūlmā, pre-Islamic Arabian poet
- Louis Zukofsky, American poet; one of the primary Objectivist poets
- Jerzy Żuławski, Polish poet, novelist and philosopher
- Juliusz Żuławski, Polish poet, critic and translator
- Huldrych Zwingli, leader of Reformation in Switzerland; poet, hymnist and author of Pestlied
- Eugeniusz Żytomirski, Polish poet, playwright and novelist in Russia and Canada