List of poets
This is a list of poets. It lists notable poets.
Alphabetical list
A
Ab–Ak
- Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), American poet
- Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet
- Henry Abbey (1842–1911), American poet
- Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), American poet, novelist and short story writer
- Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets"
- Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
- Abhay K (born 1980), Indian poet-diplomat
- Sam Abrams (born 1935), American poet
- Seth Abramson (born 1976), American poet, editor, literary critic, and freelance journalist
- Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet
- Dannie Abse (born 1923), Welsh poet
- Kathy Acker (1947–1997), American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer
- Diane Ackerman (born 1948), American author, poet, and naturalist
- Duane Ackerson (born 1942), American writer of speculative poetry and fiction
- Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer, and playwright
- Harold Acton (1904–1994), English writer, scholar and dilettante
- Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), Scottish novelist, poet, film critic and journalist
- Virginia Hamilton Adair (1919–2004), American poet
- Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-American poet, collagist and photographer; active in the San Francisco Renaissance
- Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet
- John Adams (1704–1740), American poet
- Léonie Adams (1899–1988), American poet
- Ryan Adams (born 1974), singer-songwriter with Whiskeytown and The Cardinals who had his first book Infinity Blues published in 2009
- Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet
- Fleur Adcock (born 1934), poet and New Zealand native who has spent most of her life in England
- Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Kim Addonizio (born 1954) American poet, novelist
- Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet
- Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus (525–456 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BC), Roman comic poet
- John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
- James Agee (1909–1955), American novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, film critic
- Deborah Ager (born 1977), American poet, editor
- Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), American poet
- Dritëro Agolli (born 1931), Albanian poet
- Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet
- Ai (1947–2010), American poet whose original name was Florence Anthony
- Ama Ata Aidoo (born 1940), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
- Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), American poet and author
- Akazome Emon (956–1041), Japanese poet and historian
- Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician
- Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
- Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Russian poet
- Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet
- Jan Nisar Akhtar (1914–1976), Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms; associated with the Progressive Writers' Movement
- Javed Akhtar (born 1945), Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
- Salman Akhtar (born 1946), Indian American psychoanalyst, professor, and poet; writes in English and Urdu
Al–Am
- Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556), Italian poet and statesman
- Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c.1698–1770), Scots poet, perhaps the finest Gaelic poet of the 18th century
- Ave Alavainu (1942), Estonian poet
- Gillebríghde Albanach (fl.1200–1230), medieval Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
- Alcaeus (4th century BC), Athenian comic poet whose comedies marked the transition between Old Comedy and Middle Comedy
- Alcaeus of Messene (fl. late 3rd/early 2nd century BC), Greek author of a number of epigrams in the Greek Anthology
- Alcaeus of Mytilene (c. 620&–6th century BC), Greek lyric poet from Lesbos Island
- Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), Sikh Guru and Punjabi Poet
- Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956), American poet, scholar, critic, translator, and prose stylist
- Alcman (fl. 7th century BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer
- Richard Aldington (1892–1962), English writer and poet
- Vasile Alecsandri (1821–1890), Romanian poet
- Claribel Alegría (born 1924), Central American poet
- Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984), Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977
- Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901), Slovene symbolist poet
- Sherman Alexie (born 1966), American poet, writer, filmmaker, and occasional comedian
- Felipe Alfau (1902–1999), Catalan American novelist and poet
- Agha Shahid Ali Indian, Kashmiri, American poet
- Muhammad Ali, (born 1942), boxer, war protester, civil rights protester, and poet
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Italian poet
- James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet
- August Alle (1899–1952), Estonian poet
- William Allegrezza (born 1974), American poet, professor, and editor
- Dick Allen (born 1939), American poet, literary critic and academic
- Donald Allen (1912–2004), American poet, publisher, editor, and translator
- Elizabeth Chase Allen (1832–1911), American author, journalist and poet
- Ron Allen (1947–2010), American playwright and poet
- Zamounde S. Allie Jr. (born 1965), American poet
- Artur Alliksaar (1923–1966), Estonian poet
- William Allingham (1824 or 1828–1889), Irish man of letters and poet
- Washington Allston (1779–1843), American painter and poet
- Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist, and literary critic
- Alta (Alta Gerrey; born 1942), American poet, prose writer, and publisher
- Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist, and translator
- Alurista (born 1947), Chicano poet and activist
- Al Alvarez (born 1929), English poet
- Julia Alvarez (born 1950), Dominican-American poet, novelist, and essayist
- Betti Alver (1906–1989), Estonian poet
- Amara Sinha (fl. c. AD 375), Sanskrit grammarian and poet
- Ambroise (fl. c. 1190), Norman-French poet of the Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet
- Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960), Sri Lankan American poet, essayist and translator
- Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), English author and poet
- A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), American author and poet
An–Aq
- Anacreon (570 BC–488 BC), Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), German writer, publisher.
- Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish poet and children's writer
- Victor Henry Anderson (1917–2001), American poet, kahuna, and leader and teacher of the Feri Tradition
- Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer
- Bernard André (1450–1522), French Augustinian poet, poet laureate for Henry VII of England
- Peter Andrej (born 1959), Slovenian poet, musician, guitar player, and producer
- Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), award-winning Portuguese poet and writer
- Bruce Andrews (born 1948), American Language poet
- Kevin Andrews (1924–1989), philhellene, writer and archaeologist
- Ron Androla (born 1954), American poet
- Guru Angad (1504–1552), Sikh Guru and Punjabi Poet
- Aneirin (6th century), Brythonic epic poet
- Ralph Angel (born 1951), American poet and translator
- Maya Angelou (1928–2014), American poet
- Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet who wrote in Scots
- J. K. Annand (1908–1993), Scots poet, best known for his children's poems
- Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet
- David Antin (born 1932), American poet and critic
- Antler (born 1946), American poet
- Susanne Antonetta (born 1956), American poet and author
- Brother Antoninus (1912–1994), American poet
- Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), Indonesian poet
- Johannes Anyuru (born 1979), Swedish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), French poet
- Apollonius of Rhodes (270–after 245 BC), poet and librarian at the Library of Alexandria
- Maja Apostoloska (born 1976), Macedonian poet
- Philip Appleman (born 1926), American poet and professor
- Pawlu Aquilina (1929–2009), Maltese poet
Ar
- Louis Aragon (1897–1982), French poet, novelist and editor
- Archilochus (c. 680 – c. 645 BC), ancient Greek lyric poet
- Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), American Dadaist, art collector, critic and poet
- Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), Italian poet
- Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BC), Greek dramatic poet
- Guru Arjan (1563–1606), Sikh Guru and Punjabi Poet
- Rae Armantrout (born 1947), American Language poet
- Simon Armitage (born 1963), English poet, playwright, and novelist
- Richard Armour (1906–1989), American poet and author
- Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860), German patriotic author and poet
- Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859), German writer, publisher, composer, singer and visual artist
- Ludwig Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), German poet and novelist
- Craig Arnold (1967–2009), American poet and professor
- Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), English poet and cultural critic
- Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls) (c. 1012 – 1070s), Icelandic skald
- Jean Arp (1886–1966), German-French sculptor, painter, and poet
- Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), French actor, playwright, poet, essayist
- Robert P. Arthur (born 1943), American poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright, critic, director, and professor
As–Ay
- M. K. Asante (born 1982), American author, poet, filmmaker, and professor
- John Ashbery (born 1927), American poet; 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist
- Renée Ashley, American poet and novelist.
- Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939), poet, novelist, essayist
- W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-American poet, essayist
- Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), American poet, anthologist, translator of poems, and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
- Ausonius (c. 310 – 395), Latin poet and teacher of rhetoric at Burdigala (Bordeaux, France)
- Paul Auster (born 1947), American author, poet, playwright, and essayist
- James Avery (born 1948), American actor, poet, and screenwriter
- Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Vienna-based painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin
- Gennady Aygi (1934–2006), Russian poet
- Pam Ayres (born 1947), English humorous poet
- Robert Aytoun (1570–1638), Scottish poet
- Jody Azzouni (born 1954), American philosopher, professor, poet, writer
B
Ba
Bab–Ban
- Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet
- Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), American poet and writer of Apache and Chicano descent
- Bacchylides (fl. 5th century BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Bellamy Bach, pseudonym used by a group of writers of fiction, poetry, short stories
- Joseph M. Bachelor (aka Joseph Morris; 1889–1947), American author, poet, editor and educator
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan 20th century, Hindi poet
- Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet and author
- Sutardji Calzoum Bachri (born 1941), Indonesian Poet
- George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romanian poet
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), Polish poet and soldier
- Mahnaz Badihian (aka Oba), Iranian-American poet
- Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian actor and one of the leading authors of the Esperanto movement; wrote Esperanto poetry
- Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
- Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist
- Vyt Bakaitis (born 1940), Lithuanian-American translator, editor, and poet
- David Baker (born 1954), American poet
- Bâkî (1526–1600), Ottoman poet (pen name of Mahmud Abdülbâkî)
- John Balaban (born 1943), American poet and translator
- Jesse Ball (born 1978), American poet and novelist
- Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), American poet and suffragist
- Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian symbolist poet and translator
- Russell Banks (born 1940), American writer of fiction and poetry
Bar–Bax
- Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) (1934–2014), American writer, poet, dramatist, essayist and music critic
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob (1883–1942), Colombian poet and writer
- John Barbour (c. 1320–1395), Scottish poet and the first major named literary figure to write in Scots
- Alexander Barclay (c. 1476–1552), English/Scottish poet
- George Barker (1913–1991), English poet and author
- Les Barker (born 1947), English poet
- Coleman Barks (born 1937), American poet
- Mary Barnard (1909–2001), American poet, biographer and translator
- Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), American writer
- William Barnes (1801–1886), English writer, poet, minister, and philologist
- Catherine Barnett (born 1960), American poet and educator
- Richard Barnfield (1574–1620), English poet
- Willis Barnstone (born 1927), American poet and literary translator
- Laird Barron (born 1970), American poet, author
- Bertha Hirsch Baruch, late 18th- to early 19th-century American writer, poet and suffragette
- Todd Bash (born 1965), American avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
- Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japanese renku and haiku poet
- Michael Basinski (born 1950), American text, visual and sound poet
- Ellen Bass (born 1947), American poet
- Arlo Bates (1850–1918), American author, poet, educator and newspaperman
- David Bates (1809–1870), American poet
- Joseph Bathanti (born 1953), American poet, writer, professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
- János Batsányi (1763–1845), Hungarian poet
- Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), American poet, journalist and educator
- Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet, essayist, art critic and translator
- Eric Baus (born 1975), American poet
- Cirilo Bautista (born 1941), Filipino poet, writer and critic
- Charles Baxter (born 1947), American author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry
- James K. Baxter (1926–1972), New Zealand poet
Be
- Jan Beatty, American poet
- Francis Beaumont (1584–1616), poet, dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist, and poet
- Joshua Beckman, American poet
- Matija Bećković (born 1939), Serbian writer and poet
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish post-romanticist writer of poetry and short stories
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849), English poet, dramatist and physician
- Patricia Beer (1919–1999), English poet and critic
- Aphra Behn (1640–1689), English Restoration dramatist; one of the first English professional female writers
- Erin Belieu (born 1967), American poet
- Marvin Bell (born 1937), American poet and teacher who was the first Poet Laureate of the State of Iowa
- Gioconda Belli (born 1948), Nicaraguan poet and novelist
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791–1863), Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco
- Xuan Bello (born 1965), best-known Asturian language poet
- Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), Anglo-French writer and historian
- Andrei Bely (1880–1934), Russian novelist, poet, theorist and literary critic
- Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist
- William Rose Benét (1886–1950), American poet, writer, and editor
- Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), German essayist, novelist, and expressionist poet
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902–1981), African-American writer and poet
- Jim Bennett (born 1951), Liverpool poet best known for his work during the era of punk.
- Richard Berengarten (born 1943) English poet, writer and translator
- Bo Bergman (1869–1967), Swedish writer, literary critic and member of the Swedish Academy
- İlhan Berk (1918–2008), Turkish poet
- Charles Bernstein, (born 1950), American poet, theorist, editor, and literary scholar; prominent Language poet
- Béroul (12th century), Norman poet who wrote the episodic poem Tristan
- Daniel Berrigan (born 1921), American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet
- Ted Berrigan (1934–1983), American poet
- James Berry (born 1924), Jamaican poet, based in England
- Wendell Berry (born 1934), American man of letters, academic, cultural and economic critic, and farmer
- John Berryman (1914–1972), American poet and scholar
- Mary Ursula Bethell (1874–1945), New Zealand social worker and poet, born in Horsell, Surrey, England
- John Betjeman (1906–1984), English poet, writer and broadcaster
- Elizabeth Beverley (fl. 1815–30), English poet, writer and entertainer
- Helen Bevington (1906–2001), American poet, prose writer and educator
- L. S. Bevington (1845–1895), English anarchist poet and essayist
Bh–Bl
- Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), Tamil writer, poet, journalist, social reformer, and Indian independence activist
- Sujata Bhatt (born 1956), Indian poet; native speaker of Gujarati
- Źmitrok Biadula (1886–1941), Jewish Belarusian poet, prose writer, cultural worker, and political activist in the Belarusian independence movement
- Laurence Binyon (1879–1943), English poet, dramatist and art scholar
- Earle Birney (1904–1995), Canadian anti-conventional poet, also wrote novels, short stories, drama
- Nevin Birsa (1947–2003), Slovene poet
- Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), American poet and short-story writer; US Poet Laureate
- Ram Prasad Bismil (1897–1927), Urdu-Hindi poet and revolutionary
- Bill Bissett (born 1939), Canadian anti-conventional poet
- Sherwin Bitsui (born 1975), American Navajo poet
- Paul Blackburn (1926–1971) American poet
- Richard Palmer Blackmur (1904–1965), American literary critic and poet.
- Lucian Blaga (1895–1961), Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright
- William Blake (1757–1827), English painter, poet and printmaker
- Don Blanding (1894–1957), American poet, journalist, writer and speaker
- Adrian Blevins (born 1964), American poet
- Alexander Blok (1880–1921), Russian lyrical poet
- Benjamin Paul Blood (1832–1919), American philosopher and poet
- Robert Bloomfield (1766–1823),English laboring class poet
- Roy Blumenthal (born 1968), South African poet
- Edmund Blunden (1896–1974), English poet, author and literary critic
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), English poet and writer
- Robert Bly (born 1926), American poet, author, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement
Bo
- Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Italian author and poet
- Jean Bodel (1165–1210), Old French poet
- Louise Bogan (1897–1970), American poet; fourth US Poet Laureate
- Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440/1–1494), Italian Renaissance poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), French poet and critic
- Eavan Boland (born 1944), Irish poet
- Alan Bold (1943–1998), Scots poet, biographer, and journalist
- Christian Bök (born 1966), experimental Canadian poet
- Heinrich Böll (1917–1985), one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers
- Edmund Bolton (c. 1575–c. 1633), English historian and poet
- Nozawa Bonchō (c. 1640–1714), Japanese haikai poet
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi, and poet
- Arna Wendell Bontemps (1902–1973), American poet and a noted member of the Harlem Renaissance
- Kurt Boone, American published poet
- Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator
- Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and journalist
- Hristo Botev (1848–1876), Bulgarian poet and revolutionary
- Gordon Bottomley (1874–1948), was an English poet, known particularly for verse drama
- David Bottoms (born 1949), American poet; Georgia Poet Laureate
- Cathy Smith Bowers (born 1949), American poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010–2012
- Edgar Bowers (1924–2000), American poet who won Bollingen Prize in Poetry in 1989
- Mark Alexander Boyd (1562–1601), Scottish poet and soldier of fortune
- Kay Boyle (1902–1992), American writer, educator, and political activist
Br
Bra–Bri
- Alison Brackenbury (born 1953), English poet from Lincolnshire
- Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672), landed in Salem, Massachusetts, June 14, 1630; America's first published poet
- Di Brandt (born 1952), Canadian poet and literary critic
- Kamau Brathwaite (born 1930), of Bridgetown, Barbados a major voice in Caribbean literature
- Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), American novelist, poet, and short story writer
- Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), German playwright, poet, lyricist, notable work: the Threepenny Opera
- Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero (1585–1618), Dutch poet and playwright
- Radovan Brenkus (born 1974), Slovak writer and poet
- Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), Australian poet and scholar
- Joseph Payne Brennan (1918–1990), American poet, writer of fantasy and horror fiction
- Clemens Brentano (1778–1842), German poet and novelist
- André Breton (1896–1966), French writer and poet; a founder of Surrealism
- Nicholas Breton (1545–1626), English poet and novelist
- Ken Brewer (1941–2006), American poet and scholar; a Utah Poet Laureate
- Robert Bridges (1844–1930), English poet; a Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Robert Bringhurst (born 1946), Canadian poet, typographer and author
Bro–Bry
- Geoffrey Brock (born 1964), American poet and translator
- James Brock (born 1958), American poet
- Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), Russian poet and essayist
- Wladyslaw Broniewski (1897–1962), Polish poet and soldier
- William Bronk (1918–1999), American poet
- Anne Brontë (1820–1849), British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family
- Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters
- Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English novelist and poet, best remembered for her solitary novel Wuthering Heights
- Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), English poet
- Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), African-American poet; 30th US Poet Laureate
- Hans Adolph Brorson (1694–1764), Danish Pietist bishop and poet.
- Joan Brossa (1919–1998), Catalan poet, playwright and plastic artist
- Nicole Brossard (born 1943), French Canadian formalist poet and novelist
- Olga Broumas (born 1949), Greek poet, living in the United States
- Flora Brovina (born 1949), Kosovar Albanian poet, pediatrician and women’s rights activist
- Petrus Brovka (aka Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka) (1905–1980), Soviet Belarusian poet
- George Mackay Brown (1921–1996), Scottish poet, author and dramatist
- James Brown known as J. B. Selkirk (1832–1904), Scots poet and essayist
- Sterling Brown (1901–1989), African-American professor, author of works on folklore, poet and literary critic
- Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897), Manx poet, scholar and theologian
- Frances Browne (1816–1887), Irish poet and novelist
- William Browne (1590–1643), English poet
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), English poet, among the prominent poets of the Victorian era
- Robert Browning (1812–1889), English poet and playwright, prominent Victorian era poet
- William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), American romantic poet, journalist and long-time editor of the New York Evening Post
- Colette Bryce (born 1970), poet from Northern Ireland
- Bryher (aka Annie Winifred Ellerman) (1894–1983), English novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor
- Valeri Bryusov (1873–1924), Russian poet, novelist, critic
Bu–By
- Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan) (1716–1768), Scots poet writing in Scot and Scottish Gaelic.
- Robert Williams Buchanan (1841–1901), Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
- Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose
- Vincent Buckley (1927–1988), Australian poet, teacher, editor, essayist and critic
- David Budbill (born 1940), American poet, and playwright
- Arun Budhathoki (born 1986), Nepalese poet (aka Daniel Song)
- Andrea Hollander Budy (born 1947), American poet
- Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), American poet, novelist and short story writer
- Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) Russian poet and novelist
- Basil Bunting (1900–1985), English modernist poet
- Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic
- Robert Burns (1759–1796), Scottish poet and a lyricist
- Stanley Burnshaw (1906–2005), American poet
- John Burnside (born 1955), Scottish writer, born in Dunfermline, winner of T. S. Eliot Prize and Forward Poetry Prize
- William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer
- Andrzej Bursa (1932–1957), Polish poet and writer
- Yosa Buson (1716–1783), Japanese haikai poet and painter
- Raegan Butcher (born 1969), American poet and singer
- Ray Buttigieg (born 1955), poet, composer, musician
- Ignazio Buttitta (1899–1997), Sicilian language poet
- Anthony Butts, (born 1969), American poet
- Kathryn Stripling Byer (born 1944), American poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005–09
- Witter Bynner (aka Emanuel Morgan) (1881–1968), American poet, writer and scholar
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet and a leading figure in Romanticism
C
Ca
Cab–Cap
- Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Cædmon (fl. 7th century), earliest English (Northumbrian) poet whose name is known
- Maoilios Caimbeul (b. 1944), Scots poet and children's writer (in Gaelic)
- Scott Cairns (born 1954), American poet, memoirist and essayist
- Alison Calder, Canadian poet and educator
- Angus Calder (1942–2008), Scots poet, academic, writer, historian, educator and literary editor
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (1600–1681), dramatist, poet and writer of the Spanish Golden Age
- Musa Cälil (1906–1944), Soviet Tatar poet and resistance fighter
- Barry Callaghan (born 1937), Canadian author, poet and anthologist
- Michael Feeney Callan (born 1955), Irish poet, novelist, biographer, filmmaker and painter
- Callimachus (c. 305–c. 240 BC), Hellenistic poet; noted poet, critic and scholar at the Library of Alexandria
- Robert Calvert (1944–1988), South African writer, poet and musician
- Norman Cameron (1905–1953), Scottish poet
- Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580), early Portuguese poet (author of Os Lusíadas)
- Angus Peter Campbell (aka Aonghas P(h) àdraig Caimbeul), Scottish award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor
- David Campbell (1915–1979), Australian poet and wartime pilot, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for service in New Guinea
- Roy Campbell (1901–1957), South African poet and satirist
- Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), Scottish poet
- Jan Campert (1902–1943), Dutch poet and journalist
- Remco Campert (born 1929), son of Jan; Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion (1567–1619), English composer, poet and physician
- Matilde Camus (born 1919), Spanish poet and researcher
- Melville Henry Cane (1879–1980), American poet and lawyer
- Ivan Cankar (1876–1918), Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet and political activist
- May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973), British poet
- Edip Cansever (1928–1986) Turkish poet
- Cao Cao (155 AD–220 AD), warlord, poet
- Cao Pi (formally Emperor Wen of Wei) (187–226), Chinese poet; first emperor of the state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
- Cao Zhi (192–232), Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
- Vahni Capildeo (born 1973), Trinidadian poet
Car–Cav
- Ernesto Cardenal (born 1925), Nicaraguan Roman Catholic priest, poet and politician
- Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), Italian poet and teacher
- Thomas Carew (1595–1639), English Cavalier poet
- Henry Carey (1687–1743), English poet, dramatist and songwriter
- Bliss Carman (1861–1929), Canadian-American poet associated with the Confederation Poets
- Jim Carroll (1949–2009), author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician
- Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832–1898), English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer
- Hayden Carruth (1921–2008), American poet and literary critic
- Ann Elizabeth Carson (born 1929), Canadian poet, author, artist, sculptor, feminist, and psychotherapist
- Anne Carson (born 1950), Canadian poet, essayist, translator and professor
- Jared Carter (born 1939), American poet and editor
- William Cartwright (1611–1643), English dramatist and churchman
- Neal Cassady (1926–1968), a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic movement of the 1960s
- Cyrus Cassells (born 1957), American poet and professor
- Catullus (c. 84–54 BC), Latin poet of the Roman Republic
- Charles Causley (1917–2003), Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer
- C. P. Cavafy (1863–1933), Greek poet, journalist and civil servant
- Guido Cavalcanti (1250s–1300), Florentine poet, and friend of Dante Alighieri
- Nick Cave (born 1957), Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional film actor
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English aristocrat, writer, and scientist
Ce–Ci
- Paul Celan (1920–1970) Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator
- Thomas Centolella, American poet
- Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), French poet and author
- Anica Černej (1900–1944), Slovene author and poet
- Luis Cernuda (1903–1963), Spanish poet and literary critic
- Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), French poet, author and politician from Martinique
- Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos (1923–2006), Portuguese surrealist poet
- Ashok Chakradhar (born 1951), Hindi author and poet
- John Chalkhill (fl. 1600), English poet
- Jean Chapelain (1595–1674), French poet and critic during the Grand Siècle; known for his role as an organizer and founding member of the Académie française
- Arthur Chapman (1873–1935), American cowboy poet and newspaper columnist
- George Chapman (1559–1634), English dramatist, translator, and poet
- Fred Chappell (born 1936), American author and poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1997–2002
- René Char (1907–1998), French poet
- Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394–1465), Duke of Orléans from 1407, medieval poet of more than five hundred poems, mostly written during his time as a prisoner of war
- Craig Charles (born 1964), English actor, comedian, author, poet, television presenter and radio DJ
- Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 1400), author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer; Father of English literature
- Reverend Fr. Fray Angelico Chavez (1910–1996), American Franciscan priest, historian, author, poet, and painter.
- Susana Chávez (1974–2011), Mexican poet and human rights activist
- Syl Cheney-Coker (born 1945), Sierra Leonean poet and novelist
- Kelly Cherry (born 1940), American writer, Poet Laureate of Virginia,
- G. K. Chesterton, (1874–1936) was an English writer in a wide range of genres, including poetry
- Choe Chiwon (born 857), Korean (Silla) poet
- Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703–1775), Japanese poet of the Edo period; one of the great female haiku poets
- Henri Chopin (1922–2008), avant-garde poet and musician
- Jean Chopinel (or Jean de Meun) (c. 1240 – c. 1305), French author best known for his continuation of the Roman de la Rose
- Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 12th century), French poet and trouvère
- Ralph Chubb (1892–1960), poet, painter, printer
- Charles Churchill (1732–1764), English poet and satirist.
- John Ciardi, (1916–1986) Italian-American poet, translator, and etymologist
- Colley Cibber (16711757), English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate
- Jovan Ćirilov (born 1931), Serbian theater expert, philosopher, writer, theatre selector, poet
- Carson Cistulli (born 1979), American poet, essayist and English professor
- Hélène Cixous (born 1937), French feminist writer, professor, poet, playwright, philosopher and literary critic
Cl
- Amy Clampitt (1920–1994), American poet and author
- Kate Clanchy (born 1965), Scottish poet and writer
- John Clare (1793–1864), English poet
- Elizabeth Clark (1918–1978), Scottish poet and playwright
- Austin Clarke (1896–1974), leading Irish poets
- George Elliott Clarke (born 1960), Poet, University of Toronto professor
- Gillian Clarke (born 1937), Welsh poet, playwright, editor, broadcaster, lecturer and translator from Welsh
- Paul Claudel (1868–1955), French poet, dramatist and diplomat
- Claudian (c. 370–404 AD), Latin poet associated with the court of the emperor Honorius
- Matthias Claudius (1740–1815), German poet, also known by the penname of "Asmus".
- Brian P. Cleary (born 1959), American humorist, poet, and author
- Jack Clemo (1916–1994), English Christian poet, drawing particular inspiration from Cornwall
- Michelle Cliff (born 1946), Jamaican-American author of short stories, prose poems and works of literary criticism
- Lucille Clifton (1936–2010), educator and Poets Laureate of Maryland
- Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861), English poet, an educationalist, and assistant to Florence Nightingale
Co
Coa–Con
- Grace Stone Coates (1881–1976), Montana writer
- Robbie Coburn (born 1994), Australian poet
- Alison Cockburn(1712–1794), Scottish poet, wit and socialite
- Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), French writer
- Judith Ortiz Cofer, (born 1952), Puerto Rican poet and author
- Leonard Cohen, (born 1934), Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, and novelist
- Wanda Coleman (born 1946), African-American poet
- Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849), English poet, biographer, essayist, and teacher
- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907), British novelist, essayist, and poet
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), English poet
- Edward Coletti, (born 1944), Italian-American poet
- Billy Collins (born 1941), American poet, appointed as United States Poet Laureate 2001–03
- William Collins (1721–1759), English poet
- William Congreve (1670–1729), English playwright and poet
- Stewart Conn (born 1936), Scottish poet and playwright
- Paul Conneally, (born 1959), English poet, artist and musician based in Loughborough
- Robert Conquest (born 1917), Anglo-American historian and poet best known for his influential works of Soviet history
- Henry Constable (1562–1613), English poet
- David Constantine (born 1944), English, Lancashire-born poet and translator.
Coo–Cow
- Clark Coolidge (born 1939, American poet
- Wendy Cope (born 1945), English poet
- Robert Copland (fl. 1515), English printer, author and translator
- Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), French poet of the Brittany region
- Cid Corman (1924–2004), American poet, translator and editor
- Alfred Corn (born 1943), American poet and essayist
- Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet; wife to F. M. Cornford
- F. M. Cornford (1874–1943), English classical scholar and poet; husband to Frances Cornford
- Joe Corrie (1894–1968), Scottish miner, poet and playwright.
- Gregory Corso (1930–2001), American Beat poet, "Gasoline", "Bomb"
- Jayne Cortez (born 1936), American poet, and performance artist
- George Coșbuc (1866–1918), Romanian poet, translator, teacher, and journalist
- Charles Cotton (1630–1687), English poet, author and translator
- Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), leading English poet of the 17th century
- Malcolm Cowley (1898–1989), American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist
- William Cowper (1731–1800), English poet and hymnodist
Cr–Cz
- George Crabbe (1754–1832), English poet, surgeon, and clergyman
- Hart Crane (1899–1932), American modernist poet
- Stephen Crane (1871–1900), American novelist, short story writer, poet and journalist
- Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), English poet; central figure among the Metaphysical poets
- Robert Creeley (born 1926), American poet and author; usually associated with the Black Mountain poets
- Octave Crémazie (1827–1879), "father of French Canadian poetry"
- Miloš Crnjanski, poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat
- Ann Batten Cristall (1769–1848), English poet
- Charles Cros (1842–1888), French poet and inventor
- Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist and poet
- Andrew Crozier (1943–2008), English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival
- Cui Hao, Tang Dynasty, Chinese poet
- Countee Cullen (1903–1946), American poet, a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance
- Necati Cumalı (1921–2001), Turkish writer of novels, short-stories, essays and poetry
- E. E. Cummings (1894–1962), American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright
- Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), Scottish poet and author
- James Vincent Cunningham (1911–1985), American poet, literary critic, and teacher
- Allen Curnow (1911–2001), New Zealand poet and journalist
- Ivor Cutler (1923–2006), Scottish poet, musician, songwriter and humorist
D
Da
- Roque Dalton (1935–1975), Salvadoran poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono (born 1940), Indonesian poet
- Samuel Daniel (1562–1619), English poet and historian
- David Daniels (1933–2008), American visual poet
- Jeffrey Daniels, African-American poet
- Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet, who wrote in Old French
- Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), Italian poet, journalist, novelist, dramatist, and soldier during World War I
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843–1925), French-born poet and writer; pioneer executive in the American motion picture industry
- Rubén Darío (1867–1916), Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-American literary movement known as modernismo
- Keki Daruwalla (born 1937), major Indian poet and short story writer, writing in English
- Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), British poet and herbalist
- Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008), Palestinian poet and author; known as Palestinian national poet
- Elizabeth Daryush (1887–1977), English poet, daughter of Robert Bridges
- Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Bengali poet and author
- René Daumal (1908–1944), French spiritual para-surrealist writer and poet
- Jean Daurat (1508–1588), French poet, scholar, and a member of 'La Pléiade
- William Davenant (1606–1668), English poet and playwright
- Guy Davenport (1927–2005), American writer, translator, illustrator, painter, and teacher
- Donald Davidson (1893–1968) American poet, essayist, social and literary critic, and author
- John Davidson (1857–1909), Scottish poet, playwright and novelist, best known for ballads
- Lucretia Maria Davidson (1808–1825), American poet
- Donald Davie (1922–1995), English Movement poet, and literary critic
- Alan Davies (born 1951), American poet, critic and editor
- Hugh Sykes Davies (1909–1984), English poet, novelist, communist and British surrealist
- Sir John Davies (1569–1626), English poet, lawyer, and politician
- W. H. Davies (1871–1940), Welsh poet and writer
- Jon Davis, American poet
- Edward Davison (1898–1970), Scottish American poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
- Peter Davison, (1928–2004), American poet, essayist, teacher, lecturer, editor, and publisher; son of poet Edward Davison
- Denis Davydov (1784–1839), Russian soldier-poet of the Napoleonic Wars noted for hussar poetry
- Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972), Anglo-Irish poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1968–72
De–Dh
- James Deahl (born 1945), Canadian poet and publisher
- Aurora de Albornoz (1926–1990), 20th-century Spanish poet
- John F. Deane (born 1943), Irish poet and novelist
- Aleš Debeljak (1961–2016), Slovenian cultural critic, poet and essayist
- Jean Louis De Esque (1879–1956), American poet and author of Betelguese, a trip through hell.
- Daniel Defoe (1659/61?–1731) English writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy, author of Robinson Crusoe
- Madeline DeFrees (born 1919), American poet
- Thomas Dekker (1572–1641), English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), 17th-century Mexican poet
- Baltasar del Alcázar (1530–1606), Spanish poet
- Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), English poet, short story writer and novelist
- Leconte de Lisle (1818–1894), French poet of the Parnassian movement
- Christine De Luca (born 1947), Scottish poet, writing in English and Shetland dialect
- François de Malherbe (1555–1628), French poet, critic, and translator
- Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), 19th-century poet
- Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), French poet, essayist and translator
- Sir John Denham (c1614–1669), English poet and courtier
- Tory Dent (1958–2005), American poet, art critic and commentator on the AIDS crisis
- Évariste de Parny (1753–1814), French poet
- Regina Derieva (born 1949), Russian poet and writer
- Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw (1863–1919), Dutch poet and philosopher
- Toi Derricotte (born 1941), African-American poet
- Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), medieval French poet
- Lord de Tabley (1835–1895), poet and botanist
- Babette Deutsch (1895–1982), American poet, critic, translator, and novelist
- Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562–1635), Spanish playwright and poet
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier poet, praised also for lost plays
- Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863), French poet, playwright and novelist
- Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (born 1966), South African poet and performance artist
Di–Do
- Souéloum Diagho, contemporary Tuareg poet
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco (born 1949), Italian-Canadian poet; second Poet Laureate of Toronto
- Jennifer K Dick, (born 1970), American poet
- James Dickey (1923–1997), American poet and novelist; 18thPoet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
- Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), American poet
- Matthew Dickman (born 1975), American poet; twin of Michael Dickman
- Michael Dickman (born 1975), American poet; twin of Matthew Dickman
- Blaga Dimitrova (1922–2003), Bulgarian poet and Vice President
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908–1974), Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
- Diane di Prima (born 1934), American poet
- Paul Dirmeikis (born 1954), French poet
- Vladislav Petković Dis (1880–1917), Serbian poet
- Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008), American poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos (1950–1990), American poet
- Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921), English poet and essayist
- Stephen Dobyns (born 1941), American author, novelist, poet
- Gojko Đogo, Serbian poet
- Pete Doherty, (born 1979), English musician, songwriter, poet
- Digby Mackworth Dolben (1848–1867), English poet
- Joe Dolce, (born 1947), Australian musician, songwriter, poet and essayist
- John Donne (1572–1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer and Anglican cleric
- H.D., Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), American Imagist poet
- Edward Dorn (1929–1999), American poet and teacher
- Mark Doty (born 1953), American poet and memoirist
- Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), English poet, writer, and traveller
- Gavin Douglas (1474–1522), Scottish bishop, makar and translator
- Keith Douglas (1920–1944), English war poet
- Rita Dove (born 1952), American poet and author; US Poet Laureate
- Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), English poet, novelist and writer of short stories, associated with Decadent movement
Dr
- Jane Draycott, English poet
- Michael Drayton (1563–1631), English poet of the Elizabethan era
- Aleksander Stavre Drenova (1872–1947), Albanian poet
- John Drinkwater (1882–1937), English poet and dramatist
- Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797–1848), German poet
- William Drummond (1585–1649), Scottish poet
- William Henry Drummond (1854–1907), Irish-born Canadian poet
- John Dryden (1631–1700), English Restoration poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright
Du–Dy
- Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590), French Huguenot poet
- Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522–1560), French poet, critic, and a member of La Pléiade
- W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, activist
- Norman Dubie (born 1945), American poet
- Jovan Dučić (1871–1943), Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
- Du Fu (712–770), prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty
- Du Mu (803–852), leading Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty
- Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), Scottish poet and playwright; first female and first Scottish Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Alan Dugan (1923–2003), American poet
- Richard Duke (1658–1711), English clergyman and poet, associated with Tory writers of Restoration era
- Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), African-American poet, novelist, and playwright
- William Dunbar (c. 1460–c. 1520), Scots makar
- Robert Duncan (1919–1988), American poet associated with New American Poetry, Black Mountain poets, and San Francisco Renaissance
- Camille Dungy (born 1972), American poet, academic, essayist, and critic
- Douglas Dunn (born 1942), Scottish poet, academic, and critic
- Stephen Dunn (born 1939), American poet
- Helen Dunmore (born 1952), English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany (1878–1957), Irish poet
- Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), expatriate English novelist, poet, dramatist and travel writer
- Stuart Dybek (born 1942), American poet, writer
- Sir Edward Dyer (1543–1607), English courtier and poet.
- Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist
E
Ea–En
- Richard Eberhart (1904–2005), Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and National Book Award for Poetry winner
- Russell Edson (born 1935), American poet, novelist, writer and illustrator
- Terry Ehret (born 1955), American poet
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), German poet and novelist of later German romanticism
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) (1819–1880), English novelist, journalist and translator; leading writer of the Victorian era
- T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), American-English publisher, playwright, literary and social critic
- Ebenezer Elliott (1781–1849), English poet, known as "Corn Law rhymer"
- Royston Ellis (born 1941), English poet inspired by Beat Generation
- Paul Éluard (1895–1952), French poet among founders of surrealism
- Odysseus Elytis (1911–1996) Greek poet
- Claudia Emerson (born 1957) American poet, Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), American essayist, lecturer and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement
- Gevorg Emin (1918–1998), Armenian poet, essayist, and translator
- Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889), Romanian Romantic poet, novelist and journalist
- William Empson (1906–1984), English literary critic and poet; key figure in New Criticism
- Yunus Emre (1240?–1321?), Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
- Michael Ende (1929–1995), German author of fantasy, poetry and children's literature
- Paul Engle (1908–1991), American poet, editor, teacher, literary critic, novelist, and playwright
- Ennius (c. 239–c. 169 BC), considered the father of Roman poetry
- D J Enright (1920–2002), British academic, poet, novelist and critic
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger (born 1929), German author, poet, translator and editor
Er–Ew
- Louise Erdrich (born 1954), American author of novels, poetry, and children's books featuring Native American heritage
- Haydar Ergülen (born 1956), Turkish poet
- Max Ernst (1891–1976), German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet; a pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism
- Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1170–c. 1220), German knight and poet; Minnesinger
- Clayton Eshleman (born 1935), American poet, translator and editor
- Martín Espada (born 1957), American poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca (1894–1930), Portuguese poet
- Salvador Espriu (1913–1985), Catalan poet
- Jill Alexander Essbaum, Christian erotic poet
- Alter Esselin (1889–1974), Yiddish American carpenter, poet
- Claude Esteban (1935–2006), French poet
- Maggie Estep (born 1963), American writer, musician, slam poet
- Jerry Estrin (1947–1993), American poet and magazine editor
- Euripides (480–406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Mari Evans (born 1923), African-American poet
- William Everson (Brother Antoninus) (1912–1994), American poet of the San Francisco Renaissance; literary critic, printer
- Gavin Ewart (1916–1995), English poet
F
Fa–Fn
- Frederick William Faber (1814—1863), English poet, hymn writer and theologian
- Padraic Fallon (1905–1974), Irish poet
- Christian Falster (1690–1752), Danish poet and philologist
- U. A. Fanthorpe, CBE (1929–2009), English poet
- Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), English author of children's stories and plays, poetry, biography, history and satire
- J.P. Farrell (born 1968), American poet and musician
- Elaine Feinstein (born 1930), English a poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator
- Fenggan (fl. 9th century), Chinese Zen monk-poet under the Tang Dynasty
- Elijah Fenton (1683–1730), English poet, biographer and translator
- James Fenton (born 1931), Northern Irish linguist and poet who writes in Ulster Scots
- James Martin Fenton (born 1949), English poet, journalist and literary critic; former Oxford Professor of Poetry.
- Ferdowsi (935–1020), Persian poet
- Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), Scots poet, and influence on Robert Burns
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born 1919), American poet, painter, liberal activist
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), Spanish dramatist, translator and Spanish Enlightenment poet
- David Fernández Rivera (born 1986), Spanish poet, playwright, musician and theatre director
- Henry Fielding (1707–1754), English novelist, dramatist and poet
- Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), English poet whose nature poetry was praised by William Wordsworth
- Annie Finch (born 1956), American poet, librettist, translator
- Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener
- Roy Fisher (born 1930), English poet and jazz pianist
- Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), English poet and writer famous for English translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985), American poet, critic and translator
- Giles Fletcher the Elder (c. 1548 – 1611), English poet and diplomat, member of the English Parliament
- Giles Fletcher the Younger (c. 1586–1623), English poet, chiefly known for Christ's Victorie and Triumph
- John Fletcher (1579–1625), Jacobean era English playwright, poet
- John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950), Imagist poet
- Phineas Fletcher (1582–1650), English poet, elder son of Giles Fletcher the elder, and brother of Giles the younger
- F. S. Flint (1885–1960), English poet and translator prominent in the Imagist group
Fo–Fu
- Jean Follain (1903–1971), French author, poet, and corporate lawyer
- Theodor Fontane (1819–1898), German novelist and poet; German language realist writer
- John Forbes (1950–1998), Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché (born 1950), American poet, editor, translator, and human rights advocate
- Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), English novelist, poet, critic, and editor
- John Ford (1586–1639), English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet
- John M. Ford (1957–2006), American science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet
- Veronica Forrest-Thomson (1947–1975), Scots poet and critical theorist
- Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), Italian writer, revolutionary and poet
- William Fowler (c. 1560–1612), Scottish poet, writer, courtier, and translator
- Janet Frame (1924–2004), New Zealand author
- Anatole France (1844–1924), French poet, journalist, and novelist
- Robert Francis (1901–1987), American poet
- Veronica Franco (1546–1591), Italian poet and courtesan in 16th-century Venice
- G S Fraser (1915–1980), Scots poet, literary critic and academic
- Gregory Fraser (born 1963), American poet, editor, and professor
- Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), Albanian poet and writer; regarded as the national poet of Albania
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette (1839–1908), Canadian poet, politician, playwright, and short story writer
- Grace Beacham Freeman (1916–2002), American poet, columnist, short story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1985–86
- Erich Fried (1921–1988), Austrian-born British poet, writer, and translator
- Jean Froissart (c. 1337–c. 1405), French chronicler and court poet
- Robert Frost (1874–1963), American poet; received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry
- Gene Frumkin (1928–2007), American poet and teacher
- John Fuller (born 1937), English poet and author, son of Roy Fuller
- Roy Fuller (1912–1991), English poet
- Alice Fulton, (born 1952), American author of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction; Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
- Fuzûlî (1483?–1556), Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet
G
Ga–Gl
- Karina Galvez (born 1964), Ecuadorian poet
- James Galvin (born 1951), American poet
- Etienne-Paulin Gagne (1808–1876), French poet, essayist, lawyer, politician, inventor, and eccentric
- Robert Garioch (1909–1981), pen name of Robert Garioch Sutherland, Scots poet and translator
- Hamlin Garland (1860–1940), American novelist, poet, psychical researcher, essayist and short-story writer
- Raymond Garlick (1926–2011), Anglo-Welsh poet and first editor of Anglo-Welsh Review
- Richard Garnett (1835–1906), English scholar, librarian, biographer and poet
- Jean Garrigue (1914–1972), American poet
- Samuel Garth (1661–1719), English physician and poet
- George Gascoigne (1535–1577), English poet, soldier, artist, and unsuccessful courtier
- David Gascoyne (1916–2001), English poet associated with the Surrealist movement
- Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic
- John Gay (1685–1732), English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club
- Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (1904–1991), American writer, poet, and cartoonist
- Juan Gelman (born 1930), Argentinian poet, writer, translator
- Stefan George (1868–1933), German poet, editor, and translator
- Dan Gerber (born 1940), American poet
- Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676), German hymn writer
- Mirza Asadulla Khan Ghalib (1797–1869) Urdu and Persian poet from Subcontinent India
- Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) (born 1946), American children's author, poet, speaker, and nationally syndicated feature writer
- Reginald Gibbons (born 1947), American poet, fiction writer, translator, literary critic and artist
- Khalil Gibran (1883–1931), Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer
- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878–1962), English Georgian poet
- Jack Gilbert (born 1925), American poet
- Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), American poet; leading figure of Beat Generation
- Dana Gioia (born 1950), American writer, critic, poet and businessman
- Nikki Giovanni (born 1943), American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator
- Zinaida Gippius (1869–1945), Russian poet, playwright, editor, short story writer and religious thinker
- Giglio Gregorio Giraldi (1479–1552), Italian scholar and poet
- Giuseppe Giusti (1809–1850), Italian poet
- Denis Glover (1912–1980), New Zealand poet and publisher
- Louise Glück (born 1943), American poet; US Poet Laureate
Go
- Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), Sikh Guru, founder of Khalsa, and Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Brij Bhasha, and Farsi Poet
- Gérald Godin (1938–1994), Quebec poet and politician
- Patricia Goedicke (1931–2006), American poet
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German writer, artist, and politician
- Octavian Goga (1881–1938), Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator
- Leah Goldberg (1911–1970), prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and researcher
- Rumer Godden (1907–1998), English writer, poet
- Ziya Gökalp, Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and political activist
- Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774), Anglo-Irish writer and poet
- Pavel Golia (1887–1959), Slovenian poet and playwright
- Luis de Góngora (1561–1627), Spanish Baroque lyric poet
- Lorna Goodison (born 1947), Jamaican poet
- Paul Goodman (1911–1972), American novelist, playwright, poet and psychotherapist
- Barnabe Googe or Gooche (1540–1594), English pastoral poet, and translator
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870), Australian poet, jockey and politician.
- Sergei Gorodetsky (1884–1967), Russian poet
- Hedwig Gorski (born 1949), American performance poet and avant-garde artist
- Herman Gorter (1864–1927), Dutch poet and socialist
- Sir Edmund William Gosse (1849–1928), English poet, author and critic
- Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915), French Symbolist poet, novelist, and critic
- John Gower (c. 1330–1408), English poet and friend of Geoffrey Chaucer
Gr
- Anders Abraham Grafström (1790–1870), Swedish historian, priest and poet
- James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650), Scottish nobleman, soldier and poet
- Jorie Graham (1950), American poet, the first woman to be appointed Boylston Professor at Harvard
- W S Graham (1918–1986), Scottish poet
- Mark Granier (born 1957), Irish poet and photographer
- Alex Grant, Scottish American poet, teacher
- Günter Grass (born 1927), German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist and sculptor; 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Richard Graves (1715–1804), British poet and essayist
- Robert Graves (1895–1985), British author, scholar
- Sir Alexander Gray (1882–1968), Scottish civil servant, economist, academic, translator, writer and poet
- Thomas Gray (1716–1771), British poet
- Robert Greene (1558–1592), English author, poet
- Dora Greenwell (1821–1882), English poet
- Linda Gregg (born 1945) American poet
- Horace Gregory (1898–1982), American poet, translator, literary critic and professor
- Eamon Grennan (born 1941), Irish poet
- Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628), Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman
- Susan Griffin (born 1943), American ecofeminist poet, writer
- Bill Griffiths (1948–2007), English poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar associated with the British Poetry Revival
- Mariela Griffor (born 1961), Chilean journalist, poet, short-story writer, activist, columnist and scholar
- Geoffrey Grigson (1905–1985), British poet and critic
- Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), Austrian writer, poet, dramatist
- Nicholas Grimald (1519–1562), English poet and dramatist
- Angelina Weld Grimké (1880–1958), African-American journalist, teacher, playwright and poet who was part of the Harlem Renaissance
- Charlotte Forten Grimké (1835–1914), African-American anti-slavery activist, poet, and educator
- Rufus W. Griswold (1815–1857) was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic
- Nikanor Grujić (1810–1887), Serbian Bishop, statesman, writer, poet, orator and translator
- Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
- Philip Gross (born 1952), English poet, novelist, playwright and academic
- Igo Gruden (1893–1948), Slovene poet and translator
- Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783–1872), Danish poet, pastor, philosopher and historian
Gu–Gy
- Barbara Guest (1920–2006), American poet and prose stylist
- Edgar Guest (1881–1959), English-born American poet
- Paul Guest, American quadriplegic poet and memoirist
- Bimal Guha (born 1952), leading Bangladeshi modern poet
- Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200 – c. 1240), French scholar and poet from Lorris, the author of the first section of the Roman de la Rose
- Jorge Guillén (1893–1984), Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27
- Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer
- Guido Guinizelli (c. 1230–1276), Italian poet and ostensible founder of Dolce Stil Novo
- Guiot de Provins (died after 1208), French poet and trouvère
- Gül Baba (died 1541), Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet and companion of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent
- Nikolay Gumilyov (1886–1921), Russian poet who founded the acmeism movement
- Ivan Gundulić (Gianfrancesco Gondola) (1589–1638), Croatian Baroque poet
- Thom Gunn (1929–2004), Anglo-American poet associated with The Movement
- Lee Gurga (born 1949), American haiku poet
- Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), English composer and poet
- Lars Gustafsson (born 1936), Swedish poet, novelist and scholar
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 1950), Cuban novelist, poet
- Beth Gylys (born 1964), American poet and professor.
- Brion Gysin (1916–1986), English painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist
H
Ha
- Rafey Habib, Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
- Marilyn Hacker (born 1942), American poet, translator and critic
- Hadraawi (born 1943), Somali poet and songwriter
- Hafez (1315–1390), Persian poet
- Hai Zi (1964–1989), Chinese poet
- John Haines (1924–2011), American poet and educator
- Donald Hall (born 1928), 2006 US Poet Laureate
- Arthur Hallam (1811–1833), English poet, subject of In Memoriam A.H.H. by his friend Alfred Tennyson
- Michael Hamburger (1924–2007), English translator, poet, critic, and academic
- Han Yu (768–824), Chinese essayist and poet under Tang dynasty
- Hanshan (fl. 9th century), Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English novelist and poet
- Charles Harpur (1813–1868), Australian poet
- Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (born 1921), Guyanese poet, novelist and essayist
- Jim Harrison (born 1937), American author; poetry, fiction, reviews, and essays
- Tony Harrison (born 1937), English poet and playwright
- Carla Harryman (born 1952), American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with Language poets
- David Harsent (born 1942), English poet and TV scriptwriter
- Peter Härtling (born 1933), German writer and poet
- Michael Hartnett (1941–1999), Irish poet, who wrote in both English and Irish
- Gwen Harwood (1920–1995), Australian poet and librettist
- Alamgir Hashmi (born 1951), English poet of Pakistani origin
- Ahmet Haşim (1884?–1933), influential Turkish poet
- Robert Hass (born 1941) American poet, and former Poet Laureate
- Olav H. Hauge (1908–1994), Norwegian poet
- Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946), German dramatist, poet, and novelist; Nobel Prize in Literature in 1912
- Stephen Hawes (died 1523), popular English poet during the Tudor period
- Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875), Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian of Cornwall
- George Campbell Hay (1915–1984), Scots poet and translator, who wrote in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots and English
- Gilbert Hay (fl. 15th century), Scots poet and translator
- Robert Hayden (1930–1980), American poet, essayist, educator; 1976 US Poet Laureate
- William Hayley (1745–1820), English writer, friend of Cowper
- Tony Haynes (born 1960) American poet, songwriter, author, lyricist
He
- Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), Irish poet, playwright, translator, lecturer; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Josephine D. Heard (1861–c. 1921), American teacher, poet
- John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006), English poet and translator
- Anne Hébert (1916–2000), Canadian poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht (1923–2004), American poet
- Jennifer Michael Hecht (born 1965), American poet, historian, philosopher, and author
- Allison Hedge Coke (born 1958), American poet, writer, performer
- Markus Hediger (born 1959), Swiss writer and translator
- John Hegley (born 1953), English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter
- Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic
- Lyn Hejinian (1941), American poet, essayist, translator and publisher
- Acharya Hemachandra (1089–1172), Jain scholar, poet, and polymath
- Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), English poet
- Essex Hemphill (1957–1995), American poet and activist
- Hamish Henderson (1919–2002); Scottish poet, songwriter, soldier, and catalyst for folk revival in Scotland
- William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), English poet, critic and editor
- Adrian Henri (1932–2000), English poet and painter
- Robert Henryson (died c. 1500), Scottish poet
- Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648) Anglo-Welsh soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher; brother of George Herbert
- George Herbert (1593–1633), public orator and poet
- Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621), (née Sidney) one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, and poetic translations
- Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998), Polish poet, essayist, drama writer, author of plays, and moralist
- Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic
- Miguel Hernández (1910–1942), Spanish poet and playwright associated with Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
- Herodas or Herondas (3rd century BC), Greek poet and author of short humorous dramatic scenes in verse
- Antoine Héroet, (died 1568), French poet
- Robert Herrick (1591–1674), English poet
- Hesiod (fl. 750–650 BC), Ancient Greek poet
- Phoebe Hesketh (1909–2005), English poet
- Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter
- Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002), Australian feminist poet, novelist, librettist and playwright
- John Harold Hewitt (1907–1987), Northern Ireland-born poet
- William Heyen (born 1940), American poet, literary critic, novelist
- Thomas Heywood (c. 1570s–1641), English playwright, actor, and author
Hi–Hr
- Dick Higgins (1938–1998), Fluxus poet, and publisher
- Scott Hightower (born 1952), American poet and teacher
- Nâzım Hikmet (1902–1963), Turkish poet, playwright, novelist and memoirist
- Geoffrey Hill (born 1932), English poet and professor
- Hilda Hilst (1930–2004), Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist
- Ellen Hinsey (born 1960), American poet
- Hipponax (6th century BC), of Ephesus and later Clazomenae, Ancient Greek iambic poet
- Rozalie Hirs, (born 1965), Dutch poet
- Jane Hirshfield, (born 1953), American poet
- George Parks Hitchcock (1914–2010), American actor, poet, playwright, teacher, labor activist, publisher, and painter
- H. L. Hix (born 1960), American poet and academic
- Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (c. 1368–1426), English poet and clerk
- Michael Hofmann (born 1957), German-born poet who writes in English, and translator
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist
- James Hogg (1770–1835), Scottish poet and novelist
- David Holbrook (1923–2011), British writer, poet and academic
- Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843), German lyric poet associated with Romanticism
- Barbara Holland (born 1933), American author
- John Hollander (born 1929), Jewish-American poet and literary critic
- Matthew Hollis (born 1971), English poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), American physician, poet, professor, and author
- Homer (fl. 8th century BC), Greek epic poet, author of Iliad and Odyssey
- Thomas Hood (1799–1845), English humorist and poet; father of playwright and editor Tom Hood
- A. D. Hope (1907–2000), Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant
- Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest
- Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–08 BC), Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton (1797–1884), African-American poet
- Joan Houlihan, American poet
- A. E. Housman (1859–1936), English classical scholar and poet
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547), English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry
- Richard Howard (born 1929), American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher and translator
- Fanny Howe (born 1940), American poet, novelist, and short story writer
- Susan Howe (born 1937), American poet, scholar, essayist and critic; associated with Language poetry
- Hrotsvitha (died c.1002), poet and playwright from Lower Saxony; first known woman dramatist in literature
Hu–Hy
- Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1949), modern poet from Bangladesh
- Langston Hughes (1902–1967), American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist
- Ted Hughes (1930–1998), English poet and children's writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Richard Hugo (1923–1982), American poet
- Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French poet, novelist, and dramatist
- Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), Chilean poet; exponent of artistic movement called Creacionismo
- Lynda Hull (1954–1994), American poet
- Thomas Ernest Hulme (1883–1917), English critic and poet
- Alexander Hume (1560–1609), Scottish poet
- Leigh Hunt (1784–1859), English critic, essayist, poet and writer
- Sam Hunt (born 1946), New Zealand poet.
- Hồ Xuân Hương (1772–1822), Vietnamese poet born at the end of Lê Dynasty
- Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), English novelist; writer of short stories, poetry, travel writing, film stories and scripts
- Helen von Kolnitz Hyer (1896–1983), American poet, writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1974–83
I
- Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828–1906) major Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet
- Ibycus (fl. second half 6th century BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet from Rhegium, numbered nine canonical lyric poets
- Ikkyu (1394–1481), Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet
- Vojislav Ilić (1860–1894), Serbian poet
- Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, (1877–1938) Indian poet (Pakistan's national poet)
- Avetik Isahakyan (1875–1957), Armenian lyric poet
- Sabit Ince (1954–), Turkish lyric poet
- Sergey Izgiyaev (1922–1972), poet, playwright and translator of Mountain Jewish descent
J
- FP Jac (1955–2008), Danish poet
- Đura Jakšić (1832–1878), Serbian poet, painter, writer, dramatist, bohemian and patriot
- Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994), Norwegian poet, writer
- Ada Jafarey (born 1924) Pakistani Urdu poet
- Richard Jago (1715–1781), English poet
- James I, King of Scots (1394–1437), author of The Kingis Quair
- James VI and I (1566–1625), King of Scots and King of England and Ireland from 1603
- Clive James (born 1939), Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet and memoirist
- Ernst Jandl (1925–2000), Austrian writer, poet, and translator
- Patricia Janus (1932–2006), American poet and artist
- Mark F. Jarman (born 1952), American poet and critic
- Randall Jarrell (1914–1965), American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, novelist; US Poet Laureate
- Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), American poet
- Vojin Jelić (1921–2004), Croatian Serb poet, writer
- Rod Jellema (born 1927), American poet, teacher, and translator
- Simon Jenko (1835–1869), Slovene poet, lyricist and writer
- Elizabeth Jennings (1926–2001), English poet
- Vivekanand Jha (born 1977), Translator, editor and award winning Indian poet
- Jia Dao (779–843), Chinese poet active under Tang Dynasty
- John of the Cross (1542–1591), Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John (1883–1917), English poet of the Uranian school
- Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880–1966), American poet of the Harlem Renaissance
- Helene Johnson (1906–1995), African-American poet of the Harlem Renaissance
- James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), American author, poet, folklorist, and civil rights leader
- Lionel Johnson (1867–1902), English poet, essayist and critic
- Emily Pauline Johnson (in Mohawk: Tekahionwake) (1861–1913), Canadian writer and performer whose poems celebrate her First Nations heritage
- Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), English poet, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer
- George Benson Johnston (1913–2004), Canadian poet, translator, and academic
- David Jones (1895–1974), English artist and poet
- Richard Jones, English American poet
- Ben Jonson (1573–1637), poet and dramatist
- June Jordan (1936–2002), American poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph, British-Trinidadian poet, novelist, musician and lecturer
- Jenny Joseph (born 1932), English poet
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (1833–1904), Serbian poet, physician
- James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist and poet
- Frank Judge (born 1946), American editor and publisher, poet, translator and film critic
- Jamal Jumá, Iraqi poet and researcher
- Donald Justice (1925–2004), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1980
- Juvenal (fl. 1st century–2nd century CE), Roman poet, satirist
- Jumoke Verissimo (1979), Nigerian poet
K
Ka–Kh
- Kabir (1440–1518), mystic poet and sant of India
- Kālidāsa (fl. c. 4th century) Sanskrit poet
- Kambar (c. 1180–1250), Tamil poet
- Kannadasan (1927–1981),Tamil poet, author and lyricist
- Jim Kacian (born 1953), American haiku poet, editor, publisher, and public speaker
- Uuno Kailas (1901–1933), Finnish poet, author, and translator
- Chester Kallman (1921–1975), American poet, librettist, and translator, who collaborated with W. H. Auden and Igor Stravinsky
- Kálmán Kalocsay (1891–1976), Hungarian poet; foremost figure in Esperanto literature
- Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, writer, translator and literary critic
- Ilya Kaminsky (born 1977), Russian-American poet, critic, translator and professor
- Orhan Veli Kanik (1914–1950), Turkish poet; a founder of the Garip Movement
- Jaan Kaplinski (born 1941), Estonian poet, philosopher, and culture critic
- Andreas Karavis, fictitious poet; hoax created by poet David Solway
- Mary Karr (born 1955), American poet, essayist and memoirist
- Vim Karenine (born 1933) American poet, essayist and novelist
- Julia Kasdorf (born 1962) American poet
- Laura Kasischke (born 1961) American poet, fiction writer
- Erich Kästner (1899–1974), German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist
- Bob Kaufman (1925–1986), American Beat poet and surrealist; coined the term "beatnik"
- Shirley Kaufman (born 1923), American poet and translator
- Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967), Irish poet and novelist
- Nikos Kavvadias (1910–1975), Greek poet
- Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–11976), Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary
- John Keats (1795–1821), English Romantic poet.
- Weldon Kees (1914–1955), American poet, painter, critic, novelist, playwright, pianist, and filmmaker
- Arthur Kelton (died 1549/1550), author who wrote in rhyme about Welsh history
- Miranda Kennedy (born 1975), American poet
- Walter Kennedy (c. 1455–1518), Scottish makar
- X. J. Kennedy (born 1929), American poet, translator, anthologist, and author of textbooks and children's literature
- Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), American poet and translator
- Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), American novelist and poet
- Sidney Keyes (1922–1943), English poet killed in action in Tunisia in World War II.
- Keorapetse Kgositsile (born 1938), South African poet and political activist
- Mimi Khalvati (born 1944), Iranian-born British poet
- Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689), Pashtun Afghan poet, warrior, charismatic personality and tribal chief of the Khattak tribe
- Omar Khayyám (1048–1122), Persian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet
- Velemir Khlebnikov (1885–1922), Russian poet and playwright; part of the Russian Futurist movement
- Vladislav Khodasevich (1886–1939), Russian poet and literary critic
- Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow (1253–1325), known as Amīr Khusrow, Sufi musician, great poet and scholar
Ki–Kn
- Saba Kidane (born 1978), Eritrean poet
- Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), Danish philosopher and poet
- Takarai Kikaku (1661–1707), Japanese haikai poet and a disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), American writer and poet
- Edward King (1612–1637), subject of Milton's Lycidas, born in Ireland
- Henry King (1592–1669), English poet and bishop
- William King (1663–1712), English poet
- Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703), Danish bishop, poet and hymn-writer
- Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), German poet and revolutionary
- Galway Kinnell (born 1927), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
- John Kinsella (born 1963), Australian poet, novelist, critic, essayist and editor
- Thomas Kinsella (born 1928), Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher
- Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), English short-story writer, poet and novelist
- Danilo Kiš (1935–1989), Serbian novelist, short story writer and poet
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher and activist
- Eila Kivikk'aho (1921–2004), Finnish poet
- Carolyn Kizer (born 1925), American poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
- Sarah Klassen (born 1932) Canadian writer of short fiction collection and five books of poetry
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), German poet
- Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), African-American poet
Ko–Ky
- Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish Renaissance poet
- Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), American poet, playwright, and professor; New York School
- Petar Kočić (1877–1916), Bosnian Serb writer, politician
- Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1948), American poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
- Faik Konica (1875–1942) Albanian poet
- Ted Kooser (born 1939), American poet; US Poet Laureate 2004–06
- Srečko Kosovel (1904–1926), Slovene expressionist poet
- Laza Kostić (1841–1910), Serbian poet, writer, lawyer, polyglot, publicist, and politician
- Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936) Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Taja Kramberger (born 1970), Slovene poet, translator, essayist and historical anthropologist
- Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Poland's leading Enlightenment poet; critic of clergy, author of first Polish novel
- Zlatko Krasni (1951–2008), Serbian poet
- Ruth Krauss (1901–1993), American poet and children's books author
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor and poet
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (born 1940), American writer, Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981), Croatian and Yugoslav poet and novelist
- Antjie Krog (born 1952), prominent South African poet, academic and writer
- Marilyn Krysl (born 1942), American poet, short story writer
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky (born 1954), Russian Irish novelist, poet and literary translator
- Maxine Kumin (born 1925), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
- Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
- Yanka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus poet
- Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010), American counterculture poet, author, cartoonist, pacifist and anarchist
- Momoko Kuroda (黒田杏子, born 1938), Japanese haiku poet
- Onat Kutlar (1936–1995), prominent Turkish writer, film producer/actor, and poet
- Stephen Kuusisto (born 1955), American poet
- Kusumagraj (1912–1999), eminent Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
- Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642), English lawyer, courtier, poet and politician
L
La
- Kendrick Lamar (born 1987), Compton poet, hip-hop artist
- Ilmar Laaban (1921–2000), Estonian poet
- Pierre Labrie (born 1972), poet from Quebec
- Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), French fabulist
- Jules Laforgue (1860–1887), Franco-Uruguayan poet, major influence on Ezra Pound and T S Eliot
- Jarkko Laine (1947–2006), Finnish poet, writer, playwright
- Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996), Serbian poet
- Philip Lamantia (1927–2005), American poet and lecturer
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), French writer, poet and politician
- Charles Lamb (1775–1834), English essayist and poet
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) (1802–1838), English poet and novelist.
- Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864), English writer and poet
- William Langland (c. 1332–c. 1386) probable English author of dream-vision Piers Plowman
- Emilia Lanier (1569–1645), first Englishwoman to call herself a professional poet
- Laozi (Lau-tzu) (fl. 6th century BC), Chinese philosopher, poet of history of ancient China
- Alda Lara (1930–1962), Angolan poet
- Rebecca Hammond Lard (1772–1855), American poet; first poet of Indiana
- Bruce Larkin (born 1957), American children's author and poet
- Philip Larkin (1922–1985), English poet and novelist
- Claudia Lars (1899–1974), Salvadoran poet
- Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945), German poet and playwright
- Lasus of Hermione (6th century BC), Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
- David Lehman (born 1948), American poet, editor
- Evelyn Lau (born 1971), Canadian poet and novelist
- James Laughlin (1914–1997), American poet, publisher
- Ann Lauterbach (born 1942), American poet, essayist, and professor
- Comte de Lautréamont (1846–1870), Uruguayan-born French poet
- Jan Lauwereyns (born 1969), Belgian poet, writer and scientist
- Dorianne Laux (born 1952), American poet
- Christine Lavant (1915–1973), Austrian poet and novelist
- D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter
- Henry Lawson (1867–1922), Australian writer and poet; son of Louisa Lawson
- Louisa Lawson (1848–1920), Australian poet, writer, publisher, suffragist, and feminist; mother of Henry Lawson
- Robert Lax (1915–2000), American poet; friend of Thomas Merton
- Laxmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepalese poet and scholar
Le
- Edward Lear (1812–1888), English artist, illustrator, author, and poet
- Jan Lechoń (1899–1956), Polish poet, critic, and diplomat; co-founder of Skamander literary movement
- Francis Ledwidge (1887–1917), Irish war poet
- David Lee (born 1966), American poet
- Dennis Lee (born 1939), Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic
- Eino Leino (1878–1926), Finnish poet and journalist
- Brad Leithauser (born 1953), American poet, novelist, essayist, and teacher
- Sue Lenier (born 1957), English poet and playwright
- Lalitha Lenin (born 1946), Indian poet
- John Leonard (born 1965), Australian poet
- Lekhnath Paudyal (1885-1967), Nepalese poet
- Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist
- Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter
- Ben Lerner (born 1979), American poet, novelist, and critic
- Bolesław Leśmian (1877–1937), Polish poet, artist
- Rika Lesser (born 1953), American poet, translator
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic
- Denise Levertov (1927–1997), British-born American poet; associated with Black Mountain poets
- Dana Levin (born 1965), American poet and teacher
- Philip Levine (born 1928), American poet; 2011–12 US Poet Laureate, 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Larry Levis (1946–1996), American poet
- D. A. Levy (1942–1968), American poet, artist, and alternative publisher
- William Levy (born 1939), American magazine editor, short story writer and poet
- Oswald LeWinter (1931–2013), poet of Ages of Chaos & Fury (2005) and More Atoms of Memory (2006)
- Alun Lewis (1915–1944), Welsh poet in English, of World War II
- C S Lewis (1898–1963), Northern Irish novelist, poet, academic, critic, essayist, and Christian apologist
- Gwyneth Lewis (born 1959), Welsh poet, and inaugural National Poet of Wales
- J. Patrick Lewis (born 1942), American poet and Children's Poet Laureate (2011–13)
- Saunders Lewis (1893–1985), Welsh poet, dramatist, historian, literary critic, and political activist
- Wyndham Lewis (1884–1957), English painter and author
Li–Ly
- Li Houzhu (937–978), last ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom (961–975); poet
- José Lezama Lima (1910–1976), Cuban writer and poet
- Tim Liardet (born 1959), English poet, critic, professor
- Li Bai (701–762), major Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Li Jiao, official under Tang and Zhou dynasties; poet
- Li Qingzhao (1084–1151), Chinese writer and poet of Song Dynasty
- Li Shangyin (813–858), Chinese poet of late Tang Dynasty
- Tim Lilburn (born 1950), Canadian poet and essayist
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001), American author, aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
- Sarah Lindsay, American poet
- Rossy Evelin Lima (born 1986), Mexican poet
- Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931), American poet
- Terry Locke (born 1946), New Zealand poet, anthologist, poetry reviewer and academic
- Thomas Lodge (1558–1625), English dramatist and writer of Elizabethan and Jacobean periods
- Iain Lom (c. 1624–c. 1710), Scottish Gaelic poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), American poet and educator
- Michael Longley (born 1939), Northern Irish poet
- Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), Spanish poet, dramatist and theater director
- Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-American writer, poet, librarian and activist
- Richard Lovelace (1618–1658), English Cavalier poet
- Amy Lowell (1874–1925), American poet of imagist school; 1926 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), American Romantic poet, critic, editor and diplomat; Fireside Poets
- Robert Lowell (1917–1977), American poet, confessional poetry movement; 1947 and 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 1947 US Poet Laureate
- Maria White Lowell (1821–1853), American poet and abolitionist
- Mina Loy (1882–1966), English artist, poet, playwright, novelist, Futurist, actress and Christian Scientist
- Lu You (1125–1209), Chinese Song Dynasty poet
- Gherasim Luca (1913–1994), Surrealist theorist and Romanian poet
- Lucan (39–65 AD), Roman poet
- Edward Lucie-Smith (born 1933), British writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster and author
- Gaius Lucilius (fl. 2nd century BC), Roman satirist
- Lucilius Junior (fl. 1st century AD), poet, friend of Seneca; procurator of Sicily under Nero
- Lucretius (c. 99 BC–c. 55 BC), Roman poet and philosopher
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836–1870), American author, journalist, and explorer
- Luo Binwang (640–684), Chinese writer and poet recognized as one of Four Greats of the Early Tang
- Thomas Lux (born 1946), American poet
- Mario Luzi (1914–2005), Italian poet
- John Lydgate (1370–1450), English monk and poet
- John Lyly (1553–1606), English writer, poet, dramatist, playwright and politician
- Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (c. 1490–c. 1555), Scottish Lord Lyon and poet
- George Lyttelton (1709–1773), English poet, statesman and arts patron
M
Ma
Mac–Mak
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), Anglo-Scottish poet, historian and Whig politician
- George MacBeth (1932–1992), Scottish poet and novelist
- Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), Scots poet
- Hugh MacDiarmid (1892–1978), Scots poets, most prominent poet of Scottish Renaissance
- George MacDonald (1824–1905), poet, novelist
- Sorley MacLean (1911–1996), Scots Gaelic poet
- Gwendolyn MacEwen (1941–1987), Canadian writer, poet
- Antonio Machado (1875–1939), Spanish poet; prominent in Generation of '98
- Arthur Machen (1863–1947), Welsh short story writer, poet, novelist, journalist, actor
- Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972), Scottish writer, memoirist, poet, and co-founder of Scottish National Party
- Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982), American Modernist poet, writer; won three Pulitzer Prizes
- Aonghas MacNeacail (born 1942), writer in Scottish Gaelic
- Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), Irish poet and playwright; of generation of "thirties poets"
- Hector Macneill (1746–1818), Scots poet and songwriter
- James Macpherson (1736–1796), Scottish writer, poet, and politician, known as "translator" of Ossian poem cycle
- Haki R. Madhubuti (born 1942), African-American author, educator, and poet
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr. (1922–1941), American aviator and poet; combat pilot officer
- Derek Mahon (born 1941), Northern Irish poet
- Rudolf Maister (1874–1934), Slovene military officer, poet and political activist
- Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar (1919–1977), Marathi and Hindi poet, lyricist, playwright, actor and orator.
- Clarence Major (born 1936), American poet, painter and novelist
- Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993), Serbian poet and professor
- Majeed Amjad (1914–1974), Punjabi Urdu poet
Mal–Mar
- Stephane Mallarme (1842–1898), French poet and critic; symbolist movement
- David Mallet (c. 1705–1765), Scottish dramatist and poet
- Sir Thomas Malory (1405–1471), English writer and author of Le Morte d'Arthur
- Goffredo Mameli (1827–1849), Italian patriot, poet and writer
- Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938), (also Mandelshtam), Russian poet
- James Clarence Mangan (1803–1849), Irish poet
- Bill Manhire (born 1946), New Zealand poet, short story writer, and professor; inaugural New Zealand Poet Laureate
- Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st century AD), Roman poet and astrologer
- Maurice Manning (poet) (born 1966), American poet
- Ruth Manning-Sanders (1895–1988), Welsh-born English poet and author
- Robert Mannyng (1275–1340), English chronicler and Gilbertine monk writing in Middle English, French and Latin
- Chris Mansell (born 1953), Australian poet and publisher
- Manuchehri (Abu Najm Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Qaus Manuchehri; 11th century), royal poet in Persia
- Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet, novelist
- Ausiàs March (1397–1459), Valencian poet and knight
- Morton Marcus (1936–2009), American poet and author
- Paul Mariani (born 1940), American poet and a professor at Boston College
- Marie de France (fl. 12th century), medieval poet probably born in France and resident in England
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944), Italian poet and editor, founder of Futurist movement
- Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), Italian poet
- E. A. Markham (1939–2008), Montserrat poet, playwright, novelist and academic
- Edwin Markham (1852–1940), American poet
- Đorđe Marković Koder (1806–1891), Serbian poet, sometimes cited as first Serbian modernist.
- Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator
- Clément Marot (1496–1544), French poet of Renaissance period
- Don Marquis (1878–1937), American humorist, journalist, novelist, poet, and playwright
- Edward Garrard Marsh (1783–1862), English poet and Anglican cleric
- John Marston (1576–1634), English poet, playwright and satirist
- José Martí (1853–1895), Cuban poet and writer
- Martial (40–c. 102), Roman epigrammatists
- Camille Martin (born 1956), Canadian poet and collage artist
- Harry Martinson (1904–1978), Swedish sailor, author and poet
- Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), English metaphysical poet and politician
Mas–Maz
- John Masefield (1878–1967), English poet and writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom (1930–1967)
- Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), American poet, biographer, and dramatist
- Glyn Maxwell (born 1962), British poet, playwright, librettist, and lecturer
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930), Russian and Soviet poet and playwright
- Karl May (1842–1912), German writer, poet, composer, playwright, musician
- Bernadette Mayer (born 1945), American poet and prose writer
Mc
- James McAuley (1917–1976), Australian academic, poet, journalist, and literary critic; convert to Roman Catholicism
- Susan McCaslin (born 1947), Canadian/American poet and literary critic
- J. D. McClatchy (born 1945), American poet and literary critic
- Michael McClure (born 1932), American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist
- John McCrae (1872–1918), Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier; "In Flanders Fields"
- Walt McDonald (born 1934), American poet, Poet Laureate of Texas
- Bryant H. McGill (born 1969), American editor and author
- Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet, stand-up comedian
- William Topaz McGonagall (1825–1902), reputedly the worst poet in the history of the English language
- Roger McGough (born 1937), English comedian and, poet
- Campbell McGrath (born 1962), American poet
- Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet, novelist
- Thomas McGrath (1916–1990), American poet
- Heather McHugh (born 1948), American poet, translator and educator
- Duncan McIntyre (Duncan Ban McIntyre, 1724–1812), Scots Gaelic poet
- James McIntyre (1827–1906), the "Cheese Poet", known as worst poet in Canadian history
- Claude McKay (1889–1948), Jamaican-American writer and poet
- Don McKay (born 1942), Canadian poet, editor, and educator
- Rod McKuen (born 1933), American poet, songwriter, composer, and singer
- James McMichael (born 1939), American poet
- Ian McMillan (born 1956), English poet, journalist, playwright and broadcaster
Me
- Narsinh Mehta (1414?–1481?), poet-saint of Gujarat, India; bhakta
- Mei Yaochen (1002–1060), Chinese poet of Song dynasty
- Peter Meinke (born 1932), American poet, essayist, and fiction writer, first Poet Laureate of St. Petersburg, FL
- Herman Melville (1819–1891), American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet
- Meng Haoran (689 or 691–740), Chinese Tang Dynasty poet
- George Meredith (1828–1909), English poet and novelist
- Kersti Merilaas (1913–1986), Estonian poet, member of the Arbujad
- Alda Merini (1931–2009) Italian writer and poet
- Stuart Merrill (1863–1915), American Symbolist poet; wrote predominantly in French
- James Merrill (1926–1995), American poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Thomas Merton (1915–1968), American author and Trappist monk
- W. S. Merwin (born 1927), American poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2010 US Poet Laureate
- Sarah Messer, (born 1966), American poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), English poet
- Henry Meyer (1840–1925), American poet; wrote in Pennsylvania Dutch
Mi–Ml
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873), Bengali poet and dramatist
- Henri Michaux (1899–1984), Belgian-born French poet, writer, and painter
- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564) Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer
- Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), Polish national poet, essayist, translator, publicist and political writer
- Veronica Micle (1850–1889), Imperial Austrian-born Romanian poet
- Christopher Middleton (c. 1560–1628), English poet and translator
- Christopher Middleton (born 1926), English poet and translator, esp. of German literature
- Agnes Miegel (1879–1964), German author, journalist, and poet
- Josephine Miles (1911–1985), American poet and literary critic
- Jennifer Militello, American poet and professor
- Branko Miljković (1934–1961), Serbian poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950), American lyrical poet, playwright and feminist; 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Alice Duer Miller (1874–1942), American writer and poet
- Grazyna Miller (1957–2009), poet and translator Italian–Polish
- Jane Miller, American poet
- Joaquin Miller (1837–1913), American poet; "Poet of the Sierras"
- Leslie Adrienne Miller, American poet
- Vassar Miller (1924–1998), writer and poet, sufferer from cerebral palsy
- Spike Milligan (1918–2002), Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright
- Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), Polish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980
- John Milton (1608–1674), English poet, polemicist, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England
- Sima Milutinović Sarajlija (1791–1847), Serbian adventurer, writer and poet
- Robert Minhinnick (born 1952), Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator
- Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957), Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist; Nobel Prize in Literature 1945
- Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008), English poet, novelist and playwright.
- Silas Weir Mitchell (1829–1914), American physician and writer
- Stephen Mitchell, (born 1943) American poet, translator, scholar, and anthologist
- Waddie Mitchell (born 1950), American cowboy poet
- Ndre Mjeda (1866–1937), Albanian Gheg poet
Mo
- Anis Mojgani (born 1977), spoken word poet and visual artist
- Nicholas I of Montenegro (1841–1921), poet and only king of Montenegro
- Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1622–1673), French playwright
- Atukuri Molla (1440–1530), Telugu poet, author of Ramayana
- Harold Monro (1879–1932), English poet; proprietor of the Poetry Bookshop
- Harriet Monroe (1860–1936), American scholar, critic and poet; editor of Poetry magazine
- John Montague (born 1929), Irish poet
- Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, (1661–1715), English poet and statesman; creator of Bank of England
- Eugenio Montale (1896–1981), Italian poet, writer and translator; 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lenore Montanaro (born 1990), American poet, amputee
- Alexander Montgomerie (c. 1550? – 1598), Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
- Alan Moore (poet) (born 1960), Irish writer and poet
- Marianne Moore (1887–1972), American Modernist poet and writer
- Merrill Moore (1903–1957), American psychiatrist and poet; sonneteer
- Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer
- Dom Moraes (1938–2004)), Goan writer, poet and columnist
- Edwin Morgan (1920–2010), Scottish poet and translator, associated with Scottish Renaissance
- John Morgan (1688–1733), Welsh clergyman, scholar and poet
- Lorin Morgan-Richards (born 1975), American publisher, author and poet
- Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914), German author and poet
- Eduard Mörike (1804–1875), German Romantic poet.
- William Morris (1834–1896), English designer and writer; Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Arts and Crafts Movement
- Jim Morrison (1943–1971), American songwriter and poet; lead singer of The Doors
- Valzhyna Mort (born 1981), Belarus poet
- Viggo Mortensen (born 1958), American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter
- Moschus (fl. 2nd century BC), ancient Greek bucolic poet; student of Aristarchus of Samothrace
- Howard Moss (1922–1987), American poet, dramatist and critic
- Andrew Motion (born 1952), English poet, novelist and biographer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom] 1999–2009
- Enrique Moya (born 1958), Venezuelan poet, fiction writer, translator, essayist and critic
Mu–My
- Micere Githae Mugo (born 1942), Kenyan playwright, author, activist, instructor and poet
- Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920), Somali poet and religious leader who set up Dervish state in Scramble for Africa
- Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011), Palestinian poet
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (born 1951), Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
- Erich Mühsam (1878–1934), German-Jewish antimilitarist, anarchist essayist, poet and playwright
- Edwin Muir (1887–1959), Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Muldoon (born 1951), Irish poet; 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Lale Müldür (born 1956), Turkish poet and writer
- Laura Mullen (born 1958), American poet
- Anthony Munday (1553–1633), English playwright and writer
- George Murnu (1868–1957), Romanian university professor, archaeologist, historian, translator, and poet
- Sheila Murphy (born 1951), American text and visual poet
- George Murray (born 1971), Canadian poet
- Joan Murray (born 1945), American poet, writer, playwright and editor
- Les Murray (born 1938), Australian poet, anthologist and critic
- Richard Murphy (born 1927), Irish poet, member of Aosdána
- Susan Musgrave (born 1951), Canadian poet and children's writer
- Lukijan Mušicki (1777–1837), Serbian poet, prose writer, and polyglot
- Nikola Musulin (fl. 19th century), Serbian poet
- Togara Muzanenhamo (born 1975), Zimbabwean poet
- Lam Quang My (born 1944), Vietnamese poet writing in Polish and Vietnamese
N
Na–Nj
- Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian novelist, poet and story writer writing in Russian and English
- Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539), first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Ogden Nash (1902–1971), American poet known for light verse
- Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), English playwright, poet and satirist
- Imadaddin Nasimi, (died 1417?), Azerbaijani poet
- Momčilo Nastasijević (1894–1938), Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist
- Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), Japanese novelist and poet of Meiji period
- Nedîm (1681?–1730), Ottoman poet
- John Neihardt (1881–1973), American poet, prose author, historian, ethnographer, and philosopher of Great Plains
- Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Quebec poet
- Marilyn Nelson (born 1946), American poet, translator and children's book author
- Howard Nemerov (born 1920), American poet; US Poet Laureate, 1963–64 and 1988–90; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1978
- Jan Neruda (1834–1891), Czech journalist, writer and poet
- Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), Chilean poet, diplomat and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
- Neşâtî, (died 1674), Ottoman Sufi poet;
- Henry John Newbolt (1862–1938), English historian, poet
- John Henry Newman (1801–1890), English Catholic Cardinal; writer, poet, and hymnist
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil (born 1974), Asian American poet
- Nguyễn Du ( 1766–1820), Vietnamese poet in chữ nôm, the ancient writing script of Vietnam
- B. P. Nichol (bpNichol) (1944–1988), Canadian poet
- Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese poet
- John Gambril Nicholson (1866–1931), English schoolteacher, Uranian poet, and amateur photographer
- Norman Nicholson (1914–1987), English poet associated with Cumbrian town of Millom
- Lorine Niedecker (1903–1970), American Objectivist poet
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic and classical philologist
- Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (Migjeni) (1911–1938), Albanian poet and writer
- Nisami (1141–1209), Persian poet
- Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682), Japanese haikai poet
- Petar II Petrovic Njegos (1813–1851), Serbian Orthodox Prince-Bishop of Montenegro; poet, playwright
- Robert Nye (born 1939), English poet, novelist, and writer for children
No–Ny
- Christopher Nolan (1965–2009), Irish poet and author; member of Aosdána
- Fan S. Noli (1882–1965), Albanian-American writer, diplomat, historian, and founder of Albanian Orthodox Church
- Olga Nolla (1938–2001), Puerto Rican poet, writer, journalist and professor
- Harry Northup (born 1940), American actor and poet
- Caroline Norton (1808–1877), English society beauty, feminist, social reformer, and author
- Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883), Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor
- Alice Notley (born 1945), American poet
- Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), (1772–1801), German poet and novelist
- Alfred Noyes (1880–1958), English poet
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993), first Aboriginal Australian published poet, political activist, artist and educator
- Julia Nyberg (1784–1854), Swedish poet and songwriter
- Naomi Shihab Nye (born 1952), Palestinian-American poet, songwriter, and novelist
- Niyi Osundare (born 1947), Nigerian poet, dramatist, and literary critic
O
- Dositej Obradović (1742–1811), Serbian philosopher, educator, writer and poet
- Sean O'Brien (born 1952), British poet, critic, playwright
- Philip O'Connor (1916–1998), Anglo-French writer and surrealist poet and painter
- Ron Offen (1930–2010), American poet, playwright, critic, editor, and theater producer
- Dennis O'Driscoll (born 1954), Irish poet
- Frank O'Hara (1926–1966), American writer, poet and art critic; New York School
- Sharon Olds (born 1942), American poet
- Mary Oliver (born 1935), American poet; 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; National book award
- Charles Olson (1910–1970), American modernist poet
- Saishu Onoe (1876–1957), Japanese poet
- Onomacritus (c. 530 – 480 BC), priest, seer, and poet of Attica
- George Oppen (1908–1984),
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II (1858–1923), US Army major, inventor, painter, and poet
- Zaharije Orfelin (1726–1785), Serbian polymath and poet
- Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), American poet and actor; lifelong partner of Allen Ginsberg
- Gregory Orr (born 1947), American poet
- Agnieszka Osiecka (1936–1997), Polish poet, writer, author of theatre and television screenplays, film director and journalist
- Alice Oswald (born 1966), English poet; 2002 T. S. Eliot Prize
- Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), Chinese statesman, historian, essayist, calligrapher and poet of Song Dynasty
- Ovid, (43 BC–17 AD), Roman poet
- Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), English poet and soldier
- İsmet Özel (born 1944), Turkish poet and scholar
P
Pa
- Ruth Padel (born 1946), English poet, author and critic
- Ron Padgett (born 1942), American poet, essayist, fiction writer and translator; member of New York School
- Dan Pagis (1930–1986), Israeli poet, Holocaust survivor
- Grace Paley (1922–2007), American short story writer, poet, teacher, and political activist
- Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897), English critic and poet
- Palladas (fl. 4th century), Greek poet
- Michael Palmer (born 1943), American poet and translator
- Sima Pandurović (1883–1960), Serbian poet
- Daniele Pantano (born 1976), Swiss poet, literary translator, editor, and scholar
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymn writer
- Park Yong-rae (1925-1980), Korean poet
- Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist
- Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), Irish poet and clergyman
- Nicanor Parra (born 1914), Chilean mathematician and poet
- Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912), Italian poet
- Boris Pasternak (1890–1960), Russian poet, novelist, and literary translator
- Benito Pastoriza Iyodo (born 1954), Puerto Rican author of poetry, fiction and literary articles
- Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972), American poet and novelist
- Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson) (1864–1941), Australian bush poet, journalist and author
- Don Paterson (born 1963), Scottish poet, writer and musician
- Coventry Patmore (1823–1896), English poet and critic
- Brian Patten (born 1946), English poet
- Cesare Pavese (1908–1950), Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator
- Octavio Paz (1914–1998), Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat
Pe–Pl
- Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866), English poet and novelist
- Patrick Pearse (1879–1916), Irish teacher, poet, writer, and political activist; a leader of Easter Rising
- James Larkin Pearson (1879–1981), American poet and newspaper publisher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1953–1981
- Charles Péguy (1873–1914), French poet, essayist, and editor
- Kathleen Peirce (born 1956), American poet
- Sam Pereira, American poet
- Lucia Perillo, American poet
- Persius (34–62), Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin
- Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), Portuguese poet, writer, philosopher, literary critic and translator
- Lenrie Peters (1932–2009), Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
- Robert Peters (born 1924), American poet, critic, scholar, playwright, editor, and actor
- Pascale Petit (born 1953), French-Welsh poet, artist
- Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (1304–1374), Italian scholar and poet; often called "Father of Humanism"
- Marine Petrossian (born 1960), Armenian poet, essayist and columnist
- Veljko Petrović (1884–1967), Serbian poetry and prose writer, critic and theoretician
- Mirko Petrović-Njegoš (1820–1867), Serbian and Montenegrin soldier, diplomat and poet
- Ambrose Philips (1674–1749), English poet and politician
- Katherine Philips (1632–1664) Anglo-Welsh poet,
- Tanwir Phool (born 1948) Pakistani poet in English and Urdu
- Pi Rixiu (c. 834–883), Tang Dynasty poet
- Tom Pickard (born 1946), English poet and documentary film maker
- Pindar (522–443 BC), Theban lyric poet
- Robert Pinsky (born 1940), American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator; 1997–2000 US Poet Laureate
- Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), British poet; first woman to receive Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 1955
- Christine de Pizan (c. 1365–c. 1430), Venetian historian, poet, philosopher
- Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), American poet and novelist; 1982 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry as first posthumous recipient
- William Plomer (1903–1973), South African author, known as novelist, poet and literary editor
Po–Pu
- Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), American author, poet, editor and literary critic
- Suman Pokhrel (born 1967) Nepalese poet, translator, and artist
- Edward Pollock (1823–1858), American poet, lawyer
- John Pomfret (1667–1702), English poet and clergyman.
- Marie Ponsot (born 1921), American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator
- Vasko Popa (1922–1991), Serbian poet of Romanian descent
- Alexander Pope (1688–1744), English poet
- Antonio Porchia (1885–1968), Italian Argentinian poet
- Judith Pordon, (born 1954), American poet, writer, and poetry editor
- Peter Porter (1929–2010), British-based Australian poet
- Halina Poświatowska (1935–1967), Polish poet and writer
- Ezra Pound (1885–1972), American expatriate poet and critic; promoted Imagism
- Adélia Prado (born 1935), Brazilian writer and poet
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839), English politician and poet
- E. J. Pratt (1882–1964), Canadian poet
- Petar Preradović (1818–1872), Croatian poet, writer, and military general in Austro-Hungarian Army; Serbian origin
- France Prešeren (1800–1849), Carniolan Romantic poet of Slovene descent
- Jacques Prévert (1900–1977), French poet and screenwriter
- Richard Price (born 1966), Scottish poet, novelist, and translator
- Robert Priest (born 1951) English-born Canadian poet, children's author and singer-songwriter
- F. T. Prince (1912–2003), English poet and academic
- Matthew Prior (1664–1721), English poet and diplomat
- Bryan Procter (1787–1874), English poet
- Sextus Propertius, (50 or 45–15 BCE), Latin elegiac poet of Augustan age
- Kevin Prufer (born 1969), American poet, academic, editor, and essayist
- J H Prynne (born 1936), English poet associated with British Poetry Revival
- Luigi Pulci (1432–1484), Italian poet best known for Morgante
- Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Russian poet, novelist and playwright
Q
- Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher
- Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri (1909–1985), India]n poet, writer, translator, critic, educationist and politician
- Aref Qazvini (1882–1934), Iranian poet, lyricist, and musician
- Qu Yuan (343–278 BCE), Chinese poet of the Warring States period
- Francis Quarles (1592–1644), English Christian poet
- Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature
R
Ra–Re
- Jean Racine (1639–1699), French dramatist
- Branko Radičević (1824–1853), Serbian lyric poet
- Sam Ragan (1915–1996), American poet, journalist, writer; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1982–96
- Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006), Bangladeshi poet and columnist; key figure in Bengali literature
- Craig Raine (born 1944), English poet associated with Martian poetry
- Kathleen Raine (1908–2003), English poet, critic, and scholar
- Samina Raja (born 1961), Pakistani poet, writer, translator and broadcaster
- Milan Rakić (1876–1938), Serbian poet
- Carl Rakosi (1903–2004), American Objectivist poet
- Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554–1618), English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, spy, and explorer
- Guru Ram Das (1534–1581), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Scottish poet, playwright, publisher, librarian and wig-maker
- Dudley Randall (1914–2000), African-American poet and publisher
- Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist
- John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974), American poet, essayist, magazine editor, and professor
- Ágnes Rapai (born 1952) Hungarian poet, writer, and translator
- Noon Meem Rashid (1910–1975), Pakistani poet of modern Urdu poetry
- Stephen Ratcliffe (born 1948), American poet and critic
- Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005), Israeli poet, translator, and peace activist
- Tom Raworth (born 1938), British poet and visual artist; key figure in the British Poetry Revival
- Herbert Read (1893–1968), English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art
- Angela Readman (born 1973), English poet
- James Reaney (1926–2008), Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor
- Peter Redgrove (1932–2003), English poet
- Henry Reed (1914–1986), English poet, translator, radio dramatist and journalist
- Ishmael Reed (born 1938), American poet, essayist, playwright and novelist
- Ennis Rees (1925–2009), American poet, professor, translator; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1984–85
- James Reeves (1909–1978), English poet, children's writer, and writer on traditional song
- Abraham Regelson (1896–1981), Israeli Hebrew poet, author, children's author, translator, and editor
- Christopher Reid (born 1949), Hong Kong-born English poet, essayist, cartoonist, and writer
- James Reiss (born 1941), American poet
- Robert Rendall (1898–1967), Orkney Scottish poet, and amateur naturalist
- Pierre Reverdy (1889–1960), French poet inspired by and influencing Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
- Jacobus Revius (born Jakob Reefsen) (1586–1658), Dutch poet, Calvinist theologian and church historian
- Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), American poet, translator and critical essayist
- Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976), American Objectivist poet
- Raees Warsi (Born 1963), Urdu poet, writer, lyricist and TV anchor in Pakistan
Ri
- Stan Rice (1943–2002), American poet and artist; husband of author Anne Rice
- Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), American poet, essayist and feminist
- Edgell Rickword (1898–1982), English poet, critic, journalist and literary editor
- Lola Ridge (1873–1941), Irish-born American anarchist poet and editor
- Laura Riding (1901–1981), American poet, critic, novelist, essayist and short story writer
- Anne Ridler (1912–2001), English poet and editor
- James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916), American writer, poet; known as Hoosier Poet and Children's Poet
- John Riley (1937–1978), English poet associated with British Poetry Revival
- Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet
- Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French symbolist poet; part of Decadent Movement
- Alberto Ríos (born 1952), American poet and professor
- Khawar Rizvi (1938–1981), Urdu and Persian poet and scholar
Ro-Rš
- Michael Roberts (1902–1948), English poet and writer, editor 1936 Faber Book of Modern Verse
- Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935), American poet; won three Pulitzer Prizes
- Mary Robinson (1757–1800), English poet and novelist
- Roland Robinson (1912–1992), Australian poet and writer
- Georges Rodenbach (1855–1898), Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist
- W R Rodgers (1909–1969), Northern Irish poet, essayist, script writer, and Presbyterian minister
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí (born 1971), Panamanian poet and artist
- Theodore Roethke (1908–1963), American poet; 1954 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Samuel Rogers (1763–1855), English poet
- Rognvald Kali Kolsson (c. 1103-1158), Earl of Orkney and saint
- Matthew Rohrer (born 1970), American poet
- David Romtvedt, American poet
- Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585), French poet
- Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), Austrian poet
- Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), American poet, artist, historian, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Penelope Rosemont (born 1942), American poet, writer, painter, and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918), English poet of World War I
- Alan Ross (1922–2001), English poet, cricket writer and editor
- Christina Rossetti (1830–1894), English poet
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), English poet, illustrator and painter; co-founded Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
- Andrus Rõuk (born 1957), Estonian artist and poet
- Raymond Roussel (1877–1933), French poet, novelist, playwright, musician, and chess enthusiast
- Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718), English dramatist, poet and miscellanist; UK Poet Laureate 1715
- Susanna Roxman, English poet born in Sweden
- Tadeusz Różewicz (born 1921), Polish poet and writer
- Ljubivoje Ršumović (born 1939), Serbian poet
Ru–Ry
- Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866), German poet, translator, and professor
- Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), American poet and political activist
- Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi (1207–1273), Persian Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, and Sufi mystic
- Paul-Eerik Rummo (1942), Estonian poet
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), Finnish poet; national poet of Finland, wrote in Swedish
- Nipsey Russell (1918–2005), American comedian; regarded as "poet laureate of television"
- Ryōkan (1758–1831), Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa
- Umberto Saba (1883–1957), Italian poet and novelist
- Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), Jewish German poet and playwright; 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex (1638–1706), English poet and courtier
- Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608), English statesman, poet, dramatist and Freemason
- Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962), English author, poet and gardener
- Saʿdī Shīrāzī (1184–1283/1291), medieval Persian poet
- Ahmad Shamloo (December 12, 1925 – July 24, 2000), influential Persian poet, writer, and journalist
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 1954), American poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ali Ahmad Said (Adunis) (born 1930), Syrian poet, essayist, and translator
- Mellin de Saint-Gelais, (c. 1491–1558), French Renaissance poet; Poet Laureate of Francis I of France
- Akim Samar (1916–1943), Soviet poet and novelist regarded as first Nanai language writer
- Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), African-American poet; associated with Black Arts Movement
- Michal Šanda (born 1965), Czech writer and poet
- Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), American poet, writer and editor; three Pulitzer Prizes
- Jacopo Sannazaro (1458–1530), Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.
- Ann Sansom, English poet and writing tutor
- Aleksa Šantić (1868–1924), Bosnian Serb poet
- Taneda Santōka (1882–1940), Japanese free verse haiku poet
- Genrikh Sapgir (1928–1999), Russian poet and fiction writer
- Sappho (c. 630–612–c. 570 BC), ancient Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- William Saroyan (1908–1981), American author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), English war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924–1995), Indonesian poet, short-story writer, essayist and literary critic
- Satsvarupa Das Goswami (born 1939), American poet and artist, founded International Society for Krishna Consciousness
- Richard Savage (c. 1697–1743), English poet; subject of Samuel Johnson's Life of Savage
Sc–Se
- Leslie Scalapino (1944–2010), American poet, writer, and playwright; associated with Language poets and Beat poets
- Maurice Scève (c. 1500–1564), French poet
- Georges Schehadé (1905–1989), Lebanese playwright and poet writing in French
- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright
- Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), German author and translator
- Dennis Schmitz (born 1937), American poet
- Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), Austrian author and dramatist
- Philip Schultz (born 1945), American poet; 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Schuyler (1923–1991), American poet; 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The Morning of the Poem
- Delmore Schwartz (1913–1966), American poet and short story writer
- Alexander Scott (16th-century poet) (c. 1520–1582/83), Scottish poet
- Alexander Scott (20th-century poet) (1920–1989), Scottish poet and playwright
- Frederick George Scott (1861–1944), Canadian poet and author, father of F. R. Scott
- F. R. Scott (1899–1985), Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert
- Tom Scott, (1918—1995) Scottish poet
- Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet
- Gil Scott-Heron (born 1949), American soul musician and jazz poet
- George Bazeley Scurfield (1920–1991), English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Peter Seaton (1942–2010), American Language poet
- Johannes Secundus (1511–1536), Dutch Neo-Latin poet
- Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (1639–1701), English poet, wit, dramatist and politician
- George Seferis (pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs) (1900–1971), Greek poet, Nobel laureate, and Ambassador to UK
- Ehsan Sehgal (born 1951), Pakistani Urdu poet, writer, journalist and activist
- Hugh Seidman (born 1940), American poet
- Rebecca Seiferle, American poet
- Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986), Czech writer, poet and journalist; 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lasana M. Sekou (born 1959), Sint Maarten poet, essayist, journalist and publisher
- Semonides of Amorgos Greek iambic and elegiac poet believed to have lived in 7th century BC
- Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001), Senegalese poet, politician, and cultural theorist; first president of Senegal
- Robert W. Service (1874–1958), Scottish-Canadian poet; called "Bard of the Yukon"
- Vikram Seth (born 1952), Indian author and poet
- Anne Sexton (1928–1974), American poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- John W. Sexton (born 1958), Irish poet, short-story writer, radio script-writer and children's novelist
Sh–Sj
- Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692), English poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1689–92
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (1941–2001), Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
- William Shakespeare, (c. 1564–1616), English poet and playwright
- Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), American rapper, actor, producer, poet and black activist
- Otep Shamaya (born 1979), American singer-songwriter, actress, poet and painter; lead singer of Otep
- Ntozake Shange (born 1948), American playwright, and poet
- Jo Shapcott (born 1953), English poet, editor and lecturer
- Karl Shapiro (1913–2000), American poet; US Poet Laureate, 1946–47
- Brenda Shaughnessy (born 1970), American poet
- Luci Shaw (born 1928), English-born Christian poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822),major English Romantic poet
- William Shenstone (1714–1763), English poet
- Bhupi Sherchan (1935–1989), Nepalese poet
- Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), Ukrainian poet and artist
- Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), Japanese author, poet, literary critic, and journalist
- Hovhannes Shiraz (1915–1984), Armenian poet
- James Shirley (1596–1666), English dramatist
- Avraham Shlonsky (1900–1973), Israeli poet and editor
- Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), English poet, courtier and soldier
- Eli Siegel (1902–1978), Latvian-American poet and critic; founded philosophy of Aesthetic Realism
- Robert Siegel (1939–2012), American poet and novelist
- Jon Silkin (1930–1997), English poet
- Ron Silliman (born 1946), American poet; associated with Language poetry
- Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), American poet, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and children's writer
- Simeon Simev (born 1949), Macedonian poet, essayist and journalist
- Charles Simic (born 1938), Serbian-American poet; 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, US Poet Laureate, 2007–08
- Simonides of Ceos (c. 556–468 BC), Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
- Louis Simpson (1923–2012), Jamaican poet; 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Bennie Lee Sinclair (1939–2000), American poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
- Burns Singer (1928–1964), American poet usually identified with Scotland, where he was raised
- Marilyn Singer (born 1948), American children's writer and poet
- Lemn Sissay, English author and broadcaster
- Charles Hubert Sisson (1914–2003), English writer, best known as poet and translator
- Edith Sitwell (1887–1964), English poet and critic; eldest of three literary Sitwells
- Sjón (born 1962), Icelandic author and poet
Sk–Sn
- Egill Skallagrímsson (c. 910–c. 990), Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer, the protagonist of Egil's Saga
- John Skelton (1460–1529), English poet
- Sasha Skenderija (born 1968), Bosnian-American poet
- Ed Skoog (born 1971), American poet
- Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912), Bulgarian poet
- Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), Bulgarian poet, publicist, and folklorist
- Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971), Australian poet and journalist
- Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–1862), Slovene bishop, author, poet, and advocate of Slovene culture
- Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), Polish Romantic poet; one of "Three Bards" of Polish literature
- Boris Slutsky (1919–1986), Russian poet
- Christopher Smart (1722–1771), English poet, playwright
- Hristo Smirnenski (1898–1923), Bulgarian poet and writer
- Bruce Smith (born 1946), American poet
- Charlotte Turner Smith (1749–1806), English Romantic poet and novelist
- Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961), American poet, sculptor, painter and author
- Margaret Smith (born 1958), American poet, musician, and artist
- Patti Smith (born 1946), American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist
- Stevie Smith (1902–1971), English poet and novelist
- Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–1975), Scots poet in Lallans
- Tracy K. Smith (born 1972), American poet, 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- William Jay Smith (born 1918), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1968–70
- Tobias Smollett (1721–1771), Scottish poet and author
- William De Witt Snodgrass (1926–2009), American poet; 1960 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Gary Snyder (born 1930), American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmentalist; 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
So–Sp
- Edith Södergran (1892–1923), Swedish-speaking Finnish poet
- Sōgi (1421–1502), Japanese waka and renga poet
- David Solway (born 1941), Canadian poet, educational theorist, travel writer and critic
- William Somervile (1675–1742), English poet
- Sophocles, (c. 496 – 406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley (1895–1915), English war poet of World War I
- Gary Soto (born 1952), Mexican-American author and poet
- Robert Southey (1774–1843), English Romantic poet, a Lake Poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1813–1843
- Robert Southwell (1561–1595), English Catholic Jesuit priest, poet and clandestine missionary
- Wole Soyinka (born 1934), Nigerian poet and playwright and poet; 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Bernard Spencer (1909–1963), English poet, translator, and editor
- Stephen Spender (1909–1995), English poet, novelist. and essayist; US Poet Laureate 1965–66
- Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), English poet best known for The Faerie Queene
St
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957), Polish poet
- William Stafford (1914–1993), American poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–71
- A.E. Stallings (born 1968), American poet and translator
- Jon Stallworthy (born 1935), English academic, poet and literary critic
- Harold Standish (1919–1972), Canadian poet and novelist
- Ann Stanford (1916–1987), American poet
- George Starbuck (1931–1996), American neo-formalist poet
- Statius (c. 45–96 AD), Roman poet
- Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE (born 1932), New Zealand writer of novels, poetry, short stories, and criticism
- Stesichorus (c. 640–555 BC), first great poet of Greek West
- Joseph Stefan (1835–1893), Carinthian Slovene physicist, mathematician, and poet who lived in Austria
- Stefan Stefanović (1807–1828), Serbian poet
- Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), American Modernist innovator in prose and poetry, art collector
- Eric Stenbock (1860–1895), Baltic German poet and writer of macabre fantastic fiction
- Mattie Stepanek (1990–2004), American poet and advocate
- George Stepney (1663–1707), English poet and diplomat
- Gerald Stern (born 1925), American poet
- Marinko Stevanović (born 1961), Bosnian poet
- C. J. Stevens (born 1927), American writer of poetry, short stories, non-fiction, and biography
- Wallace Stevens (1880–1955), American Modernist poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer
- Trumbull Stickney (1874–1904), American classical scholar and poet
- James Still (1906–2001), American poet, novelist and folklorist
- Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1828–1878), Serbian poet
- Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-American poet, writer, essayist and philosopher
- Donna J. Stone (1933–1994), American poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone (1915–2011), American poet, author and teacher
- Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet (born 1968), American poet and editor
- Edward Storer (1880–1944), English writer, translator and poet, associated with Imagism
- Theodor Storm (1817–1888), German writer and poet
- Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Latin American Modernist poet
- Mark Strand (born 1934), Canadian-born American poet, essayist, and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–91
- Botho Strauß (born 1944), German playwright, poet, novelist and essayist
- Joseph Stroud (born 1943), American poet
- Jesse Stuart (1907–1984), American writer known for short stories, poetry, and novels about Southern Appalachia
Su–Sz
- Su Shi (1037–1101), Song Dynasty writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, etc.
- Su Xiaoxiao (died c. 501 AD), courtesan and poet under Southern Qi Dynasty
- Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), English poet and inventor of card game cribbage
- Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), ruler of Ottoman Empire and Islamic poet
- Paul Summers (born 1967), English poet
- Jovan Sundečić (1825–1900), Serbian poet
- Cemal Süreya (1931–1990), Turkish poet and writer
- Abhi Subedi (born 1945), Nepalese poet, playwright, linguist, translator and critic.
- Robert Sward (born 1933), American and Canadian poet and novelist
- Cole Swensen (born 1955), American poet, translator, editor, and copywriter; Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry 2006
- Karen Swenson (born 1936), American poet
- May Swenson (1913–1989), American poet and playwright
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric
- Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909), English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic
- Anna Świrszczyńska (aka Anna Swir) (1909–1984), Polish poet
- Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
- Arthur William Symons (1865–1945), English poet, critic and magazine editor
- John Millington Synge (1871–1909), Irish dramatist, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore
- Lőrinc Szabó (1900–1957), Hungarian poet and literary translator
- Arthur Sze (born 1950), Chinese American poet
- Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012), Polish poet, essayist, and translator; Nobel Prize in Literature 1996
T
Ta–Te
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Bengali polymath; 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Taliesin (fl. 6th century), British poet of post-Roman period
- Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (1915–1983), Tamil poet, editor, critic and publisher
- Maxim Tank (1912–1996), Belarus poet
- Tao Qian (365–427), Chinese poet of Six Dynasties period
- Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan (born 1976), Macedonian poet, essayist and literary critic
- Alain Tasso (born 1962), Franco-Lebanese poet, painter, essayist, literary critic and art critic
- Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), Italian poet; best known for Jerusalem Delivered
- Allen Tate (1899–1979), American poet, essayist, social commentator; US Poet Laureate 1943–44
- James Tate (born 1943), American poet; 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Edward Taylor (c. 1642–1729), colonial American poet, physician, and pastor
- Henry Taylor (1800–1886), English poet and dramatist
- Henry S. Taylor (born 1942), American poet; 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), American lyric poet
- Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Telesilla (fl. 510 BC), Greek poet
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1850–1892
- Talib Khundmiri (1938–2011), Indian Urdu poet, humorist, artist, and orator
- Vahan Terian (1885–1920), Armenian poet, lyricist and public activist
- Elaine Terranova (born 1939), American poet
- Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), African-American poet; author of oldest known work of literature by African American
- A. S. J. Tessimond (1902–1962), English poet
- Neyzen Tevfik (1879–1953), Turkish poet, satirist, and ney performer"
Th–To
- Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), American writer and poet of "Casey at the Bat"
- Theocritus (fl. 3rd century BC), bucolic poet
- Jan Theuninck (born 1954), Belgian painter and poet
- Thiruvalluvar (31 AD), Tamil poet and philosopher
- Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), Welsh poet and writer
- Edward Thomas (1878–1917), Anglo-Welsh poet and essayist
- Lorenzo Thomas (1944–2005), American poet and critic
- R. S. Thomas (1913–2000), Welsh poet and Anglican priest
- John Thompson (1938–1976), English-born Canadian poet
- John Reuben Thompson (1823–1873), American poet, journalist, editor and publisher
- Francis Thompson (1859–1907), English poet and ascetic
- James Thomson (1700–1748), Scottish poet and playwright; lyrics of Rule, Britannia!
- James Thomson ( Bysshe Vanolis, 1834–1882), Scottish Victorian poet
- Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist etc.
- Anthony Thwaite (born 1930), English poet and writer
- Tibullus (c. 54 BC–19 BC), Latin poet and writer of elegies
- Chidiock Tichborne (1558–1586), English conspirator and poet
- Thomas Tickell (1685–1740), English poet and man of letters
- Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), German poet, translator, editor, novelist, and critic
- Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade (1920–1973), Somali poet
- Nick Toczek (born 1950), English writer, poet, journalist, magician, vocalist, lyricist and radio broadcaster
- Melvin B. Tolson (1898–1966), American Modernist poet, educator, columnist, and politician
- Charles Tomlinson (born 1927), English poet and translator
- Jean Toomer (1894–1967), American poet and novelist; important figure in Harlem Renaissance
- Cyril Tourneur (1575–1626), English poetic dramatist
Tr–Tz
- Thomas Traherne (1636/37–1674), English poet, clergyman, theologian, and religious writer
- Georg Trakl (1887–1914), Austrian poet considered important Austrian Expressionists
- Elizabeth Treadwell (born 1967), American poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay (born 1972), French Canadian author, poet, scriptwriter, development producer and science-fiction consultant
- Duško Trifunović (1933–2006), Serbian poet and writer
- Calvin Trillin (born 1935), American journalist, humorist, food writer, poet, memoirist and novelist
- Quincy Troupe (born 1939), American poet, editor, journalist and professor
- Tõnu Trubetsky (Tony Blackplait) (born 1963), Estonian glam punk musician, film and music videodirector and poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), Russian Soviet poet
- Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935), German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer
- Tulsidas (1497/1532–1623), Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher
- Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869–1923), Armenian writer and public activist; considered national poet of Armenia
- Ğabdulla Tuqay (1886–1913), Tatar poet, critic and publisher
- George Turberville (c. 1540–c. 1597), English poet
- Charles Tennyson Turner (1808–1879), English poet, elder brother of Alfred Tennyson
- Julian Turner (born 1955), English poet and mental health worker
- Thomas Tusser (1524–1580), English poet and farmer
- Hone Tuwhare (1922–2008), New Zealand poet of Māori ancestry
- Julian Tuwim (1894–1953), Polish poet of Jewish descent
- Jan Twardowski (1915–2006), Polish poet and priest
- Chase Twichell (born 1950), American poet, professor, and publisher
- Pontus de Tyard, (c. 1521–1605), French poet and priest; member of "La Pléiade"
- Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873) Russian poet; last of three great Romantic poets of Russia
- Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian and French avant-garde poet, performance artist; a founder of Dada movement
U
- Laura Ulewicz (1930–2007), American Beat poet
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha (1885–1945), Telugu poet; sixth Peethadhipathi of Sri Viswa Viznana Vidya Adhyatmika Peetham
- Jeff Unaegbu (born 1979), Nigerian writer, actor, artist and documentary film maker
- Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher
- Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), Italian poet, critic, and academic; 1970 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
- Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977), American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor; US Poet Laureate 1961–62
- John Updike (1932–2009), American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic
- Allen Upward (1863–1926), Irish-English poet, lawyer, politician and teacher; Imagist poet
- Amy Uyematsu (born 1947), Japanese-American poet
V
Va–Ve
- Paul Valéry (1871–1945), French author and poet of the Symbolist school
- Alfonso Vallejo (born 1943), Spanish artist, playwright, poet, painter and neurologist
- César Vallejo (1892–1938), Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955), French-speaking Swiss poet and writer
- Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
- Cor Van den Heuvel, (born 1931), American haiku poet, editor, commentator, archivist
- Mona Van Duyn (1921–2004), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1992–93
- Lin Van Hek (born 1944), Australian poet, writer, painter, singer and fashion designer
- Nikola Vaptsarov (1909-1942), Bulgarian Communist poet
- Varand, (born 1954), Armenian poet, writer, and professor of literature
- Dimitris Varos (born 1949), modern Greek poet, journalist, and photographer
- Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet
- Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden (1509–1556), English poet
- Vazha-Pshavela (aka Luka Razikashvili) (1861–1915), Georgian poet and writer
- Reetika Vazirani (1962–2003), American poet and educator
- Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Maffeo Vegio (Latin: Maphaeus Vegius) (1407–1458), Italian poet who wrote in Latin
- Vemana (aka Kumaragiri Vema Reddy), Indian Telugu language poet
- Gavril Stefanović Venclović (fl. 1680–1749), Serbian priest, writer, poet, and illuminator
- Helen Vendler (born 1933), American poetry critic and professor
- Jacint Verdaguer (1845–1902), Catalan poet; prominent figure in Renaixença
- Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), French poet associated with Symbolist movement
- Paul Vermeersch (born 1973), Canadian poet
Vi–Vz
- Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864–1937), French symbolist poet
- Peter Viereck (1916–2006), American poet, professor and political thinker
- Gilles Vigneault (born 1928), Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
- Jose Garcia Villa (1908–1997), Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter
- Xavier Villaurrutia (1903–1950), Mexican poet and playwright
- François Villon (c. 1431–1464), French poet, thief, killer, barroom brawler, and vagabond
- Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro; 70–19 BC), ancient Roman poet of Augustan period
- Roemer Visscher (1547–1620), Dutch salesman, writer and poet
- Walther von der Vogelweide, (c. 1170–c. 1230), celebrated Middle High German lyric poet
- Vincent Voiture (1597–1648), French poet
- Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694–1778), French Enlightenment writer
- Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679), Dutch playwright and poet
- Andrei Voznesensky (1933–2010), Soviet Russian poet
- Stanko Vraz (1810–1851), Croatian-Slovenian language poet
- Vyasa, revered Hindu figure; considered the author of Mahabharata and some Vedas
W
Wa
- Wace (c. 1110–after 1174), Norman poet
- Sidney Wade (born 1951), American poet and professor
- John Wain (1925–1994), English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with The Movement
- Diane Wakoski (born 1937), American poet; associated with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
- Derek Walcott (born 1930), Saint Lucian poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Anne Waldman (born 1945), American poet
- Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935), German-American poet, translator and publisher
- Arthur Waley (1889–1966), English orientalist and Sinologist; poet and translator
- Alice Walker (born 1944), American author, poet, and activist
- Margaret Walker (1915–1998), African-American writer
- Edmund Waller (1606–1687), English poet and politician
- Martin Walser (born 1927), German writer
- Robert Walser (1878–1956), German-speaking Swiss writer
- Connie Wanek (born 1952), American poet
- Wang Wei (1597–1647), Chinese priestess and poet
- Wang Wei (701–761), Tang Dynasty Chinese poet, musician, painter, and statesman
- Emily Warn, American poet
- Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978), English novelist and poet.
- Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), American poet, novelist, and literary critic; a founder of New Criticism
- Thomas Warton (1728–1790), English literary historian, critic, and poet
- Vernon Watkins (1906–1967), Welsh poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Watson (1555–1592), English lyrical poet writing in English and Latin
- George Watsky (born 1986), American poet and rapper.
- Barrett Watten (born 1948), American poet, editor, and educator; associated with Language poets
- Isaac Watts (1674–1748), English hymnist and logician
- Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832–1914), English critic and poet
We–Wh
- Francis Webb (1925–1973), Australian poet
- John Webster (c. 1580–c. 1634), English dramatist
- Rebecca Wee, American poet, professor
- Hannah Weiner (1928–1997), American Language poet
- Wei Yingwu (737–792) Chinese poet
- Wen Yiduo (1899–1946), Chinese poet
- Marjory Heath Wentworth (born 1958), American poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate
- Charles Wesley (1707–1788), English leader of Methodist movement, prolific hymnist
- Gilbert West (1703–1756), English poet, translator and Christian apologist
- Philip Whalen (1923–2002), American poet, Zen Buddhist, and figure in San Francisco Renaissance
- Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet
- Johan Herman Wessel (1742–1785), Norwegian-Danish poet
- Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), first African-American poet
- Billy Edd Wheeler (born 1932), American songwriter, performer, poet, novelist, and visual artist
- E.B. White (1899–1985), American essayist, author, humorist, and poet
- Henry Kirke White (1785-1806), English poet
- James L. White (1936–1981), American poet, editor and teacher
- Walt Whitman (1819–1892), American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist
- Isabella Whitney (fl. 1567–1573), English poet
- Reed Whittemore (1919–2012), American poet, biographer, critic, and college professor
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), American poet
- Jay Wright (born 1935), African-American poet, playwright, and essayist
Wi
- Anna Wickham (Edith Alice Mary Harper) (1884–1947), English poet brought up in Australia
- Les Wicks (born 1955), Australian poet, publisher, and editor
- Ulrika Widström (1764–1841), Swedish poet and translator
- John Wieners (1934–2002), American lyric poet
- Richard Wilbur (born 1921), American poet; US Poet Laureate 1987–88, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1957 and 1989
- Jane Wilde (1826–1896), Irish poet and nationalist
- Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), Irish writer, playwright, and poet
- John Wilkinson (born 1953), English poet
- William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (1071–1126), best known as earliest troubadour whose works have survived
- Emmett Williams (1925–2007), American poet and visual artist
- Jonathan Williams (1929–2008), American poet, publisher, essayist, and photographer
- Miller Williams (born 1930), American poet, translator, and editor
- Oscar Williams (1900–1964), Jewish Ukrainian-American anthologist and poet
- Saul Williams (born 1972), African-American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor
- Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999), African-American poet, novelist, professor and social critic
- Waldo Williams (1904–1971), Welsh language poet; pacifist and Welsh nationalist
- William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), poet and physician; associated with modernism and imagism
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymnist
- Clive Wilmer (born 1945), English poet,
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), English poet, courtier, and satirist
- Eleanor Wilner (born 1937), American poet and editor
- Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey, born 1945), American political and cultural writer, essayist, and poet
- Christian Wiman (born 1966), American poet and editor
- Yvor Winters (1900–1968), American poet and literary critic
- George Wither (1588–1667), English poet, pamphleteer, and satirist
Wo–Wy
- Woeser (born 1966), Tibetan activist, blogger, poet and essayist
- Rafał Wojaczek (1945–1971), Polish poet
- Christa Wolf (1929–2011), German literary critic, novelist, poet, and essayist
- Charles Wolfe (1791–1823), Irish poet
- Hans Wollschläger (1935–2007), German writer, translator, historian, and editor
- Sholeh Wolpe (born 1962), Iranian-American poet, literary translator, editor and playwright
- George Woodcock (1912–1995), Canadian writer of biography and history, anarchist thinker, essayist, poet, and critic
- Gregory Woods (born 1953), English poet who grew up in Ghana
- Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855), English author, poet and diarist; sister of William Wordsworth
- William Wordsworth (1770–1850), English Romantic poet
- Philip Stanhope Worsley (1835–1866), English poet
- Carolyn D. Wright (born 1949), American poet
- Charles Wright (born in 1935), American poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- David Wright (1920–1994) South African-born poet and author
- Franz Wright (born 1953), American poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Wright (1927–1980), American poet, father of Franz Wright; 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Judith Wright (1915–2000), Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights
- Lady Mary Wroth (1587 – c. 1651), English poet of the Renaissance
- Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542), English ambassador and lyrical poet
- Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), American poet and novelist
- Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), Welsh language poet
- Edward Alexander Wyon (1842−1872), English architect and poet
X
- Xenokleides (4th century BCE) poet of Athens
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi (aka Yam Yam) (1946–2005), Somali poet active in the 1960s
- Xu Zhimo (1897–1931), Chinese poet
- Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (born 1947), Uzbek poet; awarded title of People's Poet of Uzbekistan
Y
- Jūkichi Yagi (1898–1927), Japanese poet on modern religious themes
- Leo Yankevich (born 1961), American poet and editor
- Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914), Bulgarian Symbolist poet
- W. B. Yeats (1865–1939), Irish poet; 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), Russian lyrical poet
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko (born 1933), Soviet Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director
- Akiko Yosano (1878–1942), Japanese author, poet, feminist and pacifist
- Andrew Young (1885–1971), Scottish poet and clergyman
- Edward Young (1681–1765), English poet
- Kevin Young (born 1970), American poet and teacher
- Marguerite Young (1908–1995), American author of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and criticism
- A. W. Yrjänä (Aki Ville Yrjänä; born 1967), Finnish poet, singer, bassist, and songwriter with band CMX
- Yuan Mei (1716–1797), Chinese poet, scholar, artist, and gastronome of Qing Dynasty
- Yunus Emre (c. 1238–c. 1320), Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
Z
- Adam Zagajewski (born 1945), Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist
- Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011), Italian poet
- Matthew Zapruder (born 1967), American poet, editor, translator, and professor
- Marya Zaturenska (1902–1982), American lyric poet; 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Robert Zend (1929–1985), Hungarian-Canadian poet, fiction writer, and artist
- Benjamin Zephaniah (born 1958), English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
- Hristofor Zhefarovich, (c. 1690–1753), Serbian painter, engraver, writer and poet; proponent of Pan-Slavism
- Calvin Ziegler (1854–1930), German-American poet; wrote in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Radovan Zogović, Serbian/Montenegrin poet
- Zuhayr ibn Abī Sūlmā (520–609), pre-Islamic Arabian poet
- Louis Zukofsky (1904–1978), American poet; one of primary Objectivist poets
- Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), leader of Reformation in Switzerland; poet, hymnist, author of Pestlied
References
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