List of poets
This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.
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A
Ab–Ak
- Aarudhra (1925–1968), Indian Telugu poet, born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry
- Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), US poet
- Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet
- Henry Abbey (1842–1911), US poet
- Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), US poet and fiction writer
- Siôn Abel (fl. 18th c.), Welsh balladeer
- Aria Aber (born 1991), Afghan poet and novelist, resides in the US, writes & publishes primarily in English
- Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic
- Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), US journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
- Sam Abrams (born 1935), US poet, editor and critic
- Seth Abramson (born 1976), US poet
- Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet
- Dannie Abse (1923–2014), Welsh poet in English
- Kathy Acker (1947–1997), US experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
- Diane Ackerman (born 1948), US author, poet and naturalist
- Duane Ackerson (1942–2020), US writer of speculative poetry and fiction
- Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer and playwright
- Harold Acton (1904–1994), English writer, scholar and dilettante
- János Aczél (died 1523), Hungarian poet and provost
- Tamás Aczél (1921–1994), Hungarian poet
- Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), Scottish novelist, poet and critic
- Virginia Hamilton Adair (1919–2004), US poet
- Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-US poet, collagist and photographer
- Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet
- John Adams (1704–1740), US poet
- Léonie Adams (1899–1988), US poet
- Ryan Adams (born 1974), US singer-songwriter and writer
- Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet
- Fleur Adcock (born 1934), New Zealand poet mainly in England
- Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Kim Addonizio (born 1954) US poet and novelist
- Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet
- Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
- Mariska Ady (1888–1977), Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus (525–456 BCE), Athenian tragedian
- Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BCE), Roman comic poet
- Anastasia Afanasieva (born 1982), Ukrainian physician, poet, writer, translator
- John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
- Patience Agbabi (born 1965), British poet and performer
- James Agee (1909–1955), US novelist, screenwriter, and poet
- Deborah Ager (born 1977), US poet and editor
- István Ágh (born 1938), Hungarian poet
- Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), US poet
- Dritëro Agolli (1931–2017), Albanian poet
- Carlos Martínez Aguirre (born 1974), Spanish poet
- Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet
- Ishaaq bin Ahmed (1095 – 12th century), Arab scholar, poet and ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family
- Ai (Florence Anthony, 1947–2010), US poet
- Ama Ata Aidoo (1940–2023), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
- Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), US poet and author
- Aganice Ainianos (1838–1892), Greek poet
- Akazome Emon (956–1041), Japanese poet and historian
- Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician
- Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
- Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1929–1990), Iranian poet
- Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Russian poet
- Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet
- Jan Nisar Akhtar (1914–1976), Indian Urdu poet
- Javed Akhtar (born 1945), Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
- Salman Akhtar (born 1946), Indian US professor and poet writing in English and Urdu
Al–Am
- Amina Al Adwan (born 1935), Jordanian writer, poet and critic
- Muhammad Taha Al-Qaddal (1951–2021), Sudanese poet
- Luigi Alamanni (1495–1556), Italian poet and statesman
- Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (c. 1698–1770), Scottish Gaelic poet
- Ave Alavainu (born 1942), Estonian poet
- Gillebríghde Albanach (fl. 1200–1230), Scottish Gaelic poet and crusader
- Alcaeus (4th c. BCE), Athenian comic poet in Greek
- Alcaeus of Messene (fl. late 3rd/early 2nd c. BCE), Greek writer of verse epigrams
- Alcaeus of Mytilene (7th–6th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet
- Guru Amar Das (1479–1574), Punjabi poet and Sikh guru
- Ammiel Alcalay (born 1956), US poet, scholar and critic
- Alcman (fl. 7th c. BCE), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888), US poet and teacher
- Richard Aldington (1892–1962), English poet and writer
- Vasile Alecsandri (1821–1890), Romanian poet
- Tudur Aled (c. 1465–1525), Welsh poet writing in Welsh
- Claribel Alegría (1924–2018), Central US poet writing in Spanish
- Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984), Spanish poet, Nobel Laureate 1977
- Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901), Slovene symbolist poet
- Sherman Alexie (born 1966), US poet and writer
- Felipe Alfau (1902–1999), Catalan US novelist and poet
- Agha Shahid Ali (1949–2001) Indian, Kashmiri and US poet
- Taha Muhammad Ali (1931–2011), Palestinian poet
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), Italian poet
- James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet
- August Alle (1899–1952), Estonian poet
- William Allegrezza (born 1974), US poet, professor and editor
- Dick Allen (1939–2017), US poet, critic and academic
- Donald Allen (1912–2004), US poet, editor and translator
- Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911), US author and poet
- Ron Allen (1947–2010), US poet and playwright
- Artur Alliksaar (1923–1966), Estonian poet
- William Allingham (1824 or 1828–1889), Irish poet and man of letters
- Washington Allston (1779–1843), US painter and poet
- Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist and critic
- Alta (Alta Gerrey; born 1942), US poet and writer
- Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist and translator
- Alurista (born 1947), Chicano poet and activist
- Al Alvarez (fl. 1929–2019), English poet
- Julia Alvarez (born 1950), Dominican-US poet, novelist and essayist
- Betti Alver (1906–1989), Estonian poet
- Moniza Alvi (born 1954), Pakistani-British poet and writer
- Ambroise (fl. c. 1190), Norman-French poet of Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000), Israeli poet
- Indran Amirthanayagam (born 1960), Sri Lankan US poet, essayist and translator
- Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), English author and poet
- A. R. Ammons (1926–2001), US author and poet
An–Aq
- Anacreon (570–488 BCE), Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), German writer and publisher
- Mir Anees or Anis) (1803–1874), Indian poet in Urdu
- Guda Anjaiah (1955–2016), Telugu Indian poet, singer, lyricist and writer from Telangana
- Ardan Angarkhaev (born 1946), Russian poet and writer
- Temsüla Ao (born 1945), Indian Naga poet, short story writer, and ethnographer
- Ana Paula Arendt (born 1980), Brazilian classical poet
- Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), Danish poet and children's writer
- Victor Henry Anderson (1917–2001), US poet, kahuna and teacher of the Feri Tradition
- Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987), Brazilian poet
- Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), Brazilian poet, novelist and critic
- Bernard André (1450–1522), French Augustinian poet: poet laureate to Henry VII of England
- Peter Andrej (born 1959), Slovenian poet and musician
- Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919–2004), Portuguese poet and writer
- Bruce Andrews (born 1948), US poet of language
- Kevin Andrews (1924–1989), Anglo-Greek philhellene writer and archeologist
- Ron Androla (born 1954), US poet
- Guru Angad (1504–1552), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Aneirin (fl. 6th c.), Brythonic epic poet
- Ralph Angel (1951–2020), US poet and translator
- Maya Angelou (1928–2014), US poet
- James Stout Angus (1830–1923), Shetland poet mainly in Shetland dialect
- Marion Angus (1865–1946), Scottish poet in Scots
- J. K. Annand (1908–1993), Scottish children's poet
- Mika Antić (1932–1986), Serbian poet
- David Antin (1932–2016), US poet and critic
- Antler (born 1946), US poet
- Susanne Antonetta (born 1956), US poet and author
- Brother Antoninus (1912–1994), US poet
- Raymond Antrobus (living), British
- Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), Indonesian poet
- Johannes Anyuru (born 1979), Swedish poet
- Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), French poet
- Apollonius of Rhodes (270 – post–245 BCE), Greek poet and librarian in Alexandria
- Maja Apostoloska (born 1976), Macedonian poet
- Philip Appleman (1926–2020), US poet and professor
- Lajos Áprily (1887–1967), Hungarian poet and translator
- Pawlu Aquilina (1929–2009), Maltese poet
Ar
- Louis Aragon (1897–1982), French poet, novelist and editor
- János Arany (1817–1882), Hungarian poet
- Archilochus (c. 680 – c. 645 BCE), Greek lyric poet
- Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), US dadaist, critic and poet
- Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), Italian poet
- Aristophanes (c. 446 – c. 386 BCE), Greek dramatic poet
- Guru Arjan (1563–1606), Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
- Rae Armantrout (born 1947), US language poet
- Simon Armitage (born 1963), English poet, playwright and novelist
- Richard Armour (1906–1989), US poet and author
- Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860), German author and poet
- Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859), German writer, composer and visual artist
- Ludwig Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), German poet and novelist
- Craig Arnold (1967–2009), US poet and professor
- Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), English poet and cultural critic
- Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls, c. 1012 – 1070s), Icelandic skald
- Jean Arp (1886–1966), German-French sculptor, painter and poet
- Franciszka Arnsztajnowa (1865–1942), Polish poet
- Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), French playwright, poet and essayist
As–Az
- M. K. Asante (born 1982), US author, poet and professor
- John Ashbery (1927–2017), US poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist
- Renée Ashley, US poet and novelist
- Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
- Adam Asnyk (1838–1897), Polish poet and dramatist
- Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), English poet
- Mina Assadi (born 1942), Iranian poet, author and songwriter
- Vishnu Raj Atreya (1944–2020), Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
- W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-US poet, essayist
- Imre Augustich (Imre Augustič, 1837–1879), Slovenian/Hungarian poet
- Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), US poet, anthologist and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
- Ausonius (c. 310–395), Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala (Bordeaux)
- Paul Auster (born 1947), US poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and translator
- James Avery (1948–2013), US actor, poet and screenwriter
- Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Viennese painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin
- Gennady Aygi (1934–2006), Russian poet
- Ayo Ayoola-Amale (born 1970), Nigerian poet
- Pam Ayres (born 1947), English humorous poet
- Robert Aytoun (1570–1638), Scottish poet
- Maryam Jafari Azarmani (born 1977), Iranian poet, essayist, critic and translator
- Jody Azzouni (born 1954), US philosopher and poet
B
Ba
- Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet and translator
- Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet
- Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), US poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
- Bacchylides (fl. 5th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet
- Bellamy Bach (fl. 1980s), joint pseudonym of fiction writers and poets
- Harivansh Rai Bachchan (fl. 20th c.), Hindi poet
- Joseph M. Bachelor (also Joseph Morris, 1889–1947), US author, poet and educator
- Simon Bacher (1823–1991), Hebrew poet in Hungary
- Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet and author
- Sutardji Calzoum Bachri (born 1941), Indonesian poet
- George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romanian poet
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), Polish poet and soldier
- Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian Esperanto author and poet
- Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist
- József Bajza (1804–1858), Hungarian poet and critic
- Józef Baka (1706/1707–1788), Polish/Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
- Vyt Bakaitis (born 1940), Lithuania-US translator, editor and poet
- David Baker (born 1954), US poet
- Hinemoana Baker (born 1968) New Zealand poet and musician
- Bâkî (1526–1600), Ottoman-Turkish language poet (pseudonym of Mahmud Abdülbâkî)
- John Balaban (born 1943), US poet and translator
- Bálint Balassi (1554–1594), Hungarian poet
- Béla Balázs (1884–1949), Hungarian poet and critic
- Edward Balcerzan (born 1937), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Stanisław Baliński (1898–1984), Polish poet and diplomat
- Jesse Ball (born 1978), US poet and novelist
- Zsófia Balla (born 1949), Hungarian poet from Romania
- Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), US poet and suffragist
- Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian symbolist poet and translator
- Russell Banks (born 1940), US fiction writer and poet
- Anne Bannerman (1765–1829), Scottish poet
- Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) (1934–2014), US writer, poet and dramatist
- Marcin Baran (born 1963), Polish poet and journalist
- Stanisław Barańczak (1946–2014), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist and children's author
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob (1883–1942), Colombian poet and writer
- John Barbour (c. 1320–1395), Scottish poet, first major writer in Scots
- Alexander Barclay (c. 1476–1552), English/Scottish poet
- George Barker (1913–1991), English poet and author
- Les Barker (born 1947), English poet
- Coleman Barks (born 1937), US poet
- Christine Barkhuizen le Roux (1959–2020), South African poet
- Mihály Barla (Miháo Barla, c. 1778–1824), Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
- Mary Barnard (1909–2001), US poet, biographer and translator
- Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), US writer
- William Barnes (1801–1886), English writer, poet and philologist
- Catherine Barnett (born 1960), US poet and educator
- Richard Barnfield (1574–1620), English poet
- Willis Barnstone (born 1927), US poet and literary translator
- Maria Barrell (died 1803), poet, playwright and writer of periodicals
- Laird Barron (born 1970), US poet, author
- Sándor Barta (1897–1938), Hungarian poet executed in USSR
- Bernard Barton (1784–1849), English poet and Quaker
- Bertha Hirsch Baruch (fl. late 18th – early 19th c.), US writer, poet and suffragist
- Todd Bash (born 1965), US avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
- Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japanese renku and haiku poet
- Michael Basinski (born 1950), US text, visual and sound poet
- Ellen Bass (born 1947), US poet
- Arlo Bates (1850–1918), US author, poet and educator
- David Bates (1809–1870), US poet
- Joseph Bathanti (born 1953), US poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
- János Batsányi (1763–1845), Hungarian poet
- Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), US poet, journalist and educator
- Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet, essayist and translator
- Cirilo Bautista (1941–2018), Philippines poet, writer and critic
- Charles Baxter (born 1947), US writer and poet
- James K. Baxter (1926–1972), New Zealand poet
Be
- Jan Beatty (born 1952), US poet
- Francis Beaumont (1584–1616), English poet and dramatist
- Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Irish avant-garde playwright, novelist and poet
- Joshua Beckman (living), US poet
- Matija Bećković (born 1939), Serbian writer and poet
- Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836–1870), Spanish poet and fiction writer
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849), English poet, dramatist and physician
- Patricia Beer (1919–1999), English poet and critic
- Sapargali Begalin (1895–1983), Kazakh poet
- Aphra Behn (1640–1689), English Restoration dramatist; early professional female writer
- Ferenc Békássy (1893–1915), Hungarian poet
- Erin Belieu (born 1967), US poet
- Marvin Bell (1937–2020), US poet and teacher; first Poet Laureate of State of Iowa
- Gioconda Belli (born 1948), Nicaraguan poet and novelist
- Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791–1863), Italian sonneteer in Romanesco
- Xuan Bello (born 1965), Asturian poet
- Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), Anglo-French writer and historian
- Andrei Bely (1880–1934), Russian novelist, poet and critic
- Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), US author, poet and fiction writer
- William Rose Benét (1886–1950), US poet, writer and editor
- Elizabeth Benger (1775–1827), English poet, biographer and novelist
- Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), German essayist, novelist and expressionist poet
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1902–1981), African-US writer and poet
- Jim Bennett (born 1951), English poet in Liverpool punk era
- Richard Berengarten (born 1943) English poet, writer and translator
- Bo Bergman (1869–1967), Swedish writer and critic
- İlhan Berk (1918–2008), Turkish poet
- Charles Bernstein (born 1950), US poet and scholar
- Béroul (12th c.), Norman poet of episodic Tristan
- Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016), US poet, priest and peace activist
- Ted Berrigan (1934–1983), US poet
- James Berry (1924–2017), Jamaican poet based in England
- Wendell Berry (born 1934), US man of letters, critic and farmer
- John Berryman (1914–1972), US poet and scholar
- Dániel Berzsenyi (1776–1836), Hungarian poet
- Mary Ursula Bethell (1874–1945), New Zealand poet and social worker
- John Betjeman (1906–1984), English poet, writer and broadcaster
- Elizabeth Beverley (fl. 1815–1830), English poet, writer and entertainer
- Helen Bevington (1906–2001), US poet, prose writer and educator
- L. S. Bevington (1845–1895), English anarchist poet and essayist
Bh–Bl
- Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), Tamil writer, poet and Indian independence activist
- Sujata Bhatt (born 1956), Indian poet in Gujarati
- Źmitrok Biadula (1886–1941), Jewish Belarusian poet, prose writer and independence activist
- Miron Białoszewski (1922–1983), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zbigniew Bieńkowski (1913–1994), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Biernat of Lublin (c. 1465 – post-1529), Polish poet and fabulist
- Laurence Binyon (1879–1943), English poet, dramatist and art scholar
- Earle Birney (1904–1995), Canadian poet, fiction writer and dramatist
- Nevin Birsa (1947–2003), Slovene poet
- Balázs Birtalan (1969–2016), Hungarian poet and publicist
- Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), US poet and short-story writer; US Poet Laureate
- Ram Prasad Bismil (1897–1927), poet and revolutionary writing in Urdu and Hindi
- Bill Bissett (born 1939), Canadian anti-conventional poet
- Sherwin Bitsui (born 1975), US Navajo poet
- Paul Blackburn (1926–1971) US poet
- Richard Palmer Blackmur (1904–1965), US literary critic and poet
- Lucian Blaga (1895–1961), Romanian philosopher, poet and playwright
- Lewis Blake (born 1946), English poet
- William Blake (1757–1827), English painter, poet and printmaker
- Don Blanding (1894–1957), US poet, journalist, writer and speaker
- Adrian Blevins (born 1964), US poet
- Mathilde Blind (1841–1896), German-born English poet and writer
- Alexander Blok (1880–1921), Russian lyrical poet
- Benjamin Paul Blood (1832–1919), US philosopher and poet
- Robert Bloomfield (1766–1823), English laboring-class poet
- Roy Blumenthal (born 1968), South African poet
- Edmund Blunden (1896–1974), English poet, author and literary critic
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), English poet and writer
- Robert Bly (1926–2021), US poet, author and leader of mythopoetic men's movement
Bo–Bri
- Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965), East German author and poet
- Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), Italian author and poet
- Jean Bodel (1165–1210), Old French poet
- Ádám Bodor (born 1936), Hungarian poet from Romania
- Louise Bogan (1897–1970), US poet; fourth US Poet Laureate
- Matteo Maria Boiardo (1440/1441–1494), Italian Renaissance poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636–1711), French poet and critic
- Michelle Boisseau (1955–2017), US poet
- Christian Bök (born 1966), experimental Canadian poet
- Osbern Bokenam (c. 1393 – c. 1464), English poet and friar
- Eavan Boland (1944–2020), Irish poet
- Alan Bold (1943–1998), Scottish poet, biographer and journalist
- Heinrich Böll (1917–1985), German novelist
- Edmund Bolton (c. 1575 – c. 1633), English historian and poet
- Nozawa Bonchō (c. 1640–1714), Japanese haikai poet
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German poet and Lutheran theologian
- Arna Wendell Bontemps (1902–1973), US poet and member of the Harlem Renaissance
- Luke Booker (1762–1835), English poet, cleric and antiquary
- Kurt Boone (born 1959), US poet
- Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), Argentine fiction writer, essayist and poet
- Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish writer and journalist
- Hristo Botev (1848–1876), Bulgarian poet and revolutionary
- Gordon Bottomley (1874–1948), English poet and verse dramatist
- David Bottoms (born 1949), US poet; Georgia Poet Laureate
- Cathy Smith Bowers (born 1949), US poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2010–2012
- Edgar Bowers (1924–2000), US poet and Bollingen Prize in Poetry winner
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (1874–1941), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Mark Alexander Boyd (1562–1601), Scottish poet and mercenary
- Kay Boyle (1902–1992), US writer, educator and political activist
- Alison Brackenbury (born 1953), English poet
- Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (c. 1612 – 1672) America's first published poet
- Di Brandt (born 1952), Canadian poet and literary critic
- Giannina Braschi (born 1953), US poet born in Puerto Rico
- Kamau Brathwaite (1930–2020), Barbadian writer
- Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), US fiction writer and poet
- Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), German playwright, poet and lyricist
- Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero (1585–1618), Dutch poet and playwright
- Radovan Brenkus (born 1974), Slovak writer and poet
- Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), Australian poet and scholar
- Joseph Payne Brennan (1918–1990), US poet and writer of fantasy and horror fiction
- Clemens Brentano (1778–1842), German poet and novelist
- André Breton (1896–1966), French writer, poet and founder of Surrealism
- Nicholas Breton (1545–1626), English poet and novelist
- Ken Brewer (1941–2006), US poet and scholar; Utah Poet Laureate
- Breyten Breytenbach (born 1939), South-African/French writer, poet and painter
- Robert Bridges (1844–1930), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Robert Bringhurst (born 1946), Canadian poet, typographer and author
Bro–By
- Geoffrey Brock (born 1964), US poet and translator
- Eve Brodlique (1867–1949), British-born Canadian/American poet, author and journalist
- Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), Russian poet and essayist
- Wladyslaw Broniewski (1897–1962), Polish poet and soldier
- William Bronk (1918–1999), US poet
- Anne Brontë (1820–1849), English novelist and poet, youngest of three Brontë sisters
- Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), English novelist and poet, eldest of three Brontë sisters
- Emily Brontë (1818–1848), English novelist and poet
- Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), English poet
- Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), African-US poet; US Poet Laureate
- Hans Adolph Brorson (1694–1764), Danish poet and Pietist bishop
- Joan Brossa (1919–1998), Catalan poet, playwright and artist
- Nicole Brossard (born 1943), French Canadian formalist poet and novelist
- Olga Broumas (born 1949), Greek poet in United States
- Flora Brovina (born 1949), Kosovar Albanian poet, pediatrician and women's rights activist
- Petrus Brovka (aka Pyotr Ustinovich Brovka) (1905–1980), Soviet Belarusian poet
- George Mackay Brown (1921–1996), Scottish poet, author and dramatist
- James Brown known as J. B. Selkirk (1832–1904), Scottish poet and essayist
- Sterling Brown (1901–1989), African-US academic writer and poet
- Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897), Manx poet, scholar and theologian
- Frances Browne (1816–1887), Irish poet and novelist
- William Browne (1590–1643), English poet
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), English poet
- Robert Browning (1812–1889), English poet and playwright
- William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), US romantic poet and journalist
- Colette Bryce (born 1970), Northern Irish poet
- Bryher (aka Annie Winifred Ellerman) (1894–1983), English novelist, poet and memoirist
- Valeri Bryusov (1873–1924), Russian poet, novelist and critic
- Jan Brzechwa (1898–1966), Polish poet and children's writer
- Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan) (1716–1768), Scottish poet in Scots and Scottish Gaelic
- Robert Williams Buchanan (1841–1901), Scottish poet, novelist and dramatist
- Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German writer, poet and dramatist
- August Buchner (1591–1661), German Baroque poet and professor
- Vincent Buckley (1927–1988), Australian poet, essayist and critic
- David Budbill (1940–2016), US poet and playwright
- Andrea Hollander Budy (born 1947), US poet
- Teodor Bujnicki (1907–1944), Polish poet
- Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), US poet, novelist and short story writer
- Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) Russian poet and novelist
- Basil Bunting (1900–1985), English modernist poet
- Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), English writer, poet and playwright
- Robert Burns (1759–1796), Scottish poet and a lyricist
- Stanley Burnshaw (1906–2005), US poet
- John Burnside (born 1955), Scottish poet and writer, winner of T. S. Eliot and Forward poetry prizes
- William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), US novelist, poet and essayist
- Andrzej Bursa (1932–1957), Polish poet and writer
- Yosa Buson (1716–1783), Japanese haikai poet and painter
- Raegan Butcher (born 1969), US poet and singer
- Ray Buttigieg (born 1955), poet, composer and musician
- Ignazio Buttitta (1899–1997), Sicilian language poet
- Anthony Butts (born 1969), US poet
- Kathryn Stripling Byer (1944–2017), US poet and teacher; North Carolina Poet Laureate 2005–09
- Witter Bynner (also Emanuel Morgan, 1881–1968), US poet, writer and scholar
- George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (1788–1824), English poet and literary figure
C
Cab–Cav
- Lydia Cabrera (1899–1991), Cuban anthropologist and poet
- Dilys Cadwaladr (1902–1979), Welsh poet and fiction writer in Welsh
- Cædmon (fl. 7th c.), earliest Northumbrian poet known by name
- Maoilios Caimbeul (born 1944), Scots poet and children's writer in Gaelic
- Scott Cairns (born 1954), US poet, memoirist and essayist
- Alison Calder, Canadian poet and educator
- Angus Calder (1942–2008), Scots poet, academic and educator
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (1600–1681), Spanish dramatist, poet and writer of Spanish Golden Age
- Musa Cälil (1906–1944), Soviet Tatar poet
- Barry Callaghan (born 1937), Canadian author, poet and anthologist
- Michael Feeney Callan (born 1955), Irish poet, novelist and biographer
- Callimachus (c. 305 – c. 240 BCE), Hellenistic poet, critic and scholar at Library of Alexandria
- Robert Calvert (1944–1988), South African writer, poet and musician
- Norman Cameron (1905–1953), Scottish poet
- Luís de Camões (c. 1524–1580), early Portuguese poet
- Angus Peter Campbell (aka Aonghas P(h)àdraig Caimbeul, born 1952), Scottish poet, novelist, broadcaster and actor
- David Campbell (1915–1979), Australian poet and wartime pilot
- Roy Campbell (1901–1957), South African poet and satirist
- Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), Scottish poet
- Jan Campert (1902–1943), Dutch poet and journalist
- Remco Campert (1929–2022), Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion (1567–1619), English composer, poet and physician
- Matilde Camus (1919–2012), Spanish poet and researcher
- Melville Henry Cane (1879–1980), US poet and lawyer
- Ivan Cankar (1876–1918), Slovene playwright, essayist and poet
- May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973), English poet
- Edip Cansever (1928–1986), Turkish poet
- Cao Cao (155–220), Chinese poet and warlord
- Cao Pi (formally Emperor Wen of Wei) (187–226), Chinese poet and first emperor of state of Cao Wei; second son of Cao Cao
- Cao Zhi (192–232), Chinese poet; third son of Cao Cao
- Vahni Capildeo (born 1973), Trinidadian poet
- Ernesto Cardenal (1925–2020), Nicaraguan Roman Catholic poet and priest
- Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), Italian poet and teacher
- Thomas Carew (1595–1639), English Cavalier poet
- Henry Carey (1687–1743), English poet, dramatist and songwriter
- Robert Carliell (died c. 1622), English didactic poet
- Bliss Carman (1861–1929), Canadian-US poet associated with Confederation Poets
- Fern G. Z. Carr (born 1956), Canadian poet, translator, teacher and lawyer
- Jim Carroll (1949–2009), US author, poet and punk musician
- Lewis Carroll (born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832–1898), English writer, mathematician and photographer
- Hayden Carruth (1921–2008), US poet and literary critic
- Ann Elizabeth Carson (born 1929), Canadian poet, artist and feminist
- Anne Carson (born 1950), Canadian poet, essayist and translator
- Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806), English poet and bluestocking
- Jared Carter (born 1939), US poet and editor
- William Cartwright (1611–1643), English dramatist and churchman
- Neal Cassady (1926–1968), figure in 1950s Beat Generation and 1960s psychedelic movement
- Cyrus Cassells (born 1957), US poet and professor
- Rosalía de Castro (1837–1885), Galician poet
- Catullus (c. 84–54 BCE), Latin poet under the Roman Republic
- Charles Causley (1917–2003), Cornish poet, schoolmaster and writer
- C. P. Cavafy (1863–1933), Greek poet, journalist and civil servant
- Guido Cavalcanti (1250s – 1300), Florentine poet and friend of Dante Alighieri
- Nick Cave (born 1957), Australian writer, musician and actor
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English writer, aristocrat and scientist
Ce–Cl
- Paul Celan (1920–1970), Romanian-born Jewish poet and translator
- Thomas Centolella (living), US poet
- Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), French poet and author
- Anica Černej (1900–1944), Slovene author and poet
- Luis Cernuda (1903–1963), Spanish poet and literary critic
- Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), French poet, author and politician from Martinique
- Mário Cesariny de Vasconcelos (1923–2006), Portuguese surrealist poet
- Úrsula Céspedes (1832–1874), Cuban poet
- Ashok Chakradhar (born 1951), Hindi author and poet
- John Chalkhill (fl. 1600), English poet
- Jean Chapelain (1595–1674), French poet and critic
- Arthur Chapman (1873–1935), US cowboy poet and columnist
- George Chapman (1559–1634), English dramatist, translator and poet
- Fred Chappell (born 1936), US author and poet; North Carolina Poet Laureate 1997–2002
- René Char (1907–1998), French poet
- Charles, Duke of Orléans (1394–1465), poet
- Craig Charles (born 1964), English writer, poet and comedian
- Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), English poet and forger of medieval poetry
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400), poet, philosopher and alchemist
- Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (1904–1948), Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Reverend Fr. Fray Angelico Chavez (1910–1996), US writer, poet and Franciscan priest
- Susana Chávez (1974–2011), Mexican poet and human rights activist
- Syl Cheney-Coker (born 1945), Sierra Leone poet and novelist
- Andrea Cheng (1957–2015), Hungarian-US poet and children's author
- Kelly Cherry (born 1940), US author and poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia 2010–2012
- G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), English writer and poet
- Choe Chiwon (born 857), Korean (Silla) poet
- Fukuda Chiyo-ni (1703–1775), female Japanese haiku poet of Edo period
- Henri Chopin (1922–2008), avant-garde poet and musician
- Jean Chopinel (or Jean de Meun) (c. 1240 – c. 1305), French writer
- Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 12th c.), French poet
- Ralph Chubb (1892–1960), poet, painter and printer
- Charles Churchill (1732–1764), English poet and satirist
- John Ciardi (1916–1986) Italian-US poet, translator and etymologist
- Colley Cibber (1671–1757), English playwright and Poet Laureate
- Jovan Ćirilov (1931–2014), Serbian drama expert, writer and poet
- Carson Cistulli (born 1979), US poet, essayist and English professor
- Hélène Cixous (born 1937), French feminist writer, poet and playwright
- Amy Clampitt (1920–1994), US poet and author
- Kate Clanchy (born 1965), Scottish poet and writer
- John Clanvowe (c. 1341–1391), Anglo-Welsh poet and diplomat
- John Clare (1793–1864), English poet
- Elizabeth Clark (1918–1978), Scottish poet and playwright
- Austin Clarke (1896–1974), Irish poet
- George Elliott Clarke (born 1960), Canadian poet and academic
- Gillian Clarke (born 1937), Welsh poet and playwright in English
- Paul Claudel (1868–1955), French poet, dramatist and diplomat
- Claudian (c. 370–404), Latin poet at court of Emperor Honorius
- Matthias Claudius (Asmus, 1740–1815), German poet
- Hugo Claus (1929–2008), Belgian author, poet and film director
- Brian P. Cleary (born 1959), US humorist, poet and author
- Jack Clemo (1916–1994), English Christian poet
- Michelle Cliff (1946–2016), Jamaican-US author of fiction, prose poems and literary criticism
- Lucille Clifton (1936–2010), educator and Poet Laureate of Maryland
- Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861), English poet, educationalist and assistant to Florence Nightingale
Coa–Con
- Grace Stone Coates (1881–1976), US poet and story writer
- Robbie Coburn (born 1994), Australian poet
- Alison Cockburn (1712–1794), Scottish poet, wit and socialite
- Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), French writer
- Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952–2016), Puerto Rican poet and author
- Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist
- Wanda Coleman (1946–2013), African-US poet
- Hartley Coleridge (1796–1849), English poet, biographer and essayist
- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907), English novelist, essayist and poet
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), English poet
- Edward Coletti (born 1944), Italian-US poet
- Billy Collins (born 1941), US poet; US Poet Laureate 2001–2003
- William Collins (1721–1759), English poet
- William Congreve (1670–1729), English playwright and poet
- Stewart Conn (born 1936), Scottish poet and playwright
- Paul Conneally (born 1959), English poet, artist and musician
- Robert Conquest (1917–2015), Anglo-US historian and poet
- Henry Constable (1562–1613), English poet
- David Constantine (born 1944), English poet and translator
Coo–Cz
- Clark Coolidge (born 1939), US poet
- Wendy Cope (born 1945), English poet
- Robert Copland (fl. 1508–1547), English printer, author and translator
- Julia Copus (born 1969), English poet and biographer
- Denys Corbet (1826–1909), Guernsey poet in Guernésiais
- Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), French poet
- Cid Corman (1924–2004), US poet, translator and editor
- Alfred Corn (born 1943), US poet and essayist
- Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet
- F. M. Cornford (1874–1943), English classical scholar and poet; husband of Frances Cornford
- Joe Corrie (1894–1968), Scottish miner, poet and playwright
- Gregory Corso (1930–2001), US Beat poet
- Jayne Cortez (1936–2012), US poet and performance artist
- George Coșbuc (1866–1918), Romanian poet, translator and teacher
- Charles Cotton (1630–1687), English poet, author and translator
- Abraham Cowley (1618–1667), English poet
- Malcolm Cowley (1898–1989), US novelist, poet and critic
- William Cowper (1731–1800), English poet and hymnist
- George Crabbe (1754–1832), English poet, naturalist and clergyman
- Hart Crane (1899–1932), US modernist poet
- Stephen Crane (1871–1900), US novelist, short story writer and poet
- Richard Crashaw (1613–1649), English Metaphysical poet
- Robert Creeley (1926–2005), US poet
- Octave Crémazie (1827–1879), French Canadian poet
- Ann Batten Cristall (1769–1848), English poet
- Charles Cros (1842–1888), French poet and inventor
- Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), English occultist and poet
- Andrew Crozier (1943–2008), English poet
- György Csanády (1895–1952), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Sándor Csoóri (1930–2016), Hungarian poet, essayist and politician
- Cui Hao (c. 704–754), Tang Dynasty Chinese poet
- Countee Cullen (1903–1946), US poet
- Necati Cumalı (1921–2001), Turkish writer of fiction writer, essayist and poet
- E. E. Cummings (1894–1962), US poet, essayist and playwright
- Allan Cunningham (1784–1842), Scottish poet and author
- James Vincent Cunningham (1911–1985), US poet, literary critic and teacher
- Allen Curnow (1911–2001), New Zealand poet and journalist
- Ivor Cutler (1923–2006), Scottish poet, songwriter and humorist
- Józef Czechowicz (1903–1939), Polish poet
- Gergely Czuczor (1800–1866), Hungarian poet, monk and academic
- Tytus Czyżewski (1880–1945), Polish poet, playwright and painter
D
Da–Dh
- Dalpatram (Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi) (1820–1898), Indian Gujarati language poet
- Roque Dalton (1935–1975), Salvador poet
- Ruby Dhal (born 1994), British-Afghan poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono (1940–2020), Indonesian poet
- Samuel Daniel (1562–1619), English poet and historian
- David Daniels (1933–2008), US visual poet
- Jeffrey Daniels (living), African-US poet
- Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet in Old French
- Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), Italian poet, journalist, novelist and dramatist
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843–1925), French-born poet and writer
- Rubén Darío (1867–1916), Nicaraguan poet initiating modernismo
- Keki Daruwalla (born 1937), Indian poet and fiction writer in English
- Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), English poet and herbalist
- Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008), Palestinian poet and author
- Elizabeth Daryush (1887–1977), English poet; daughter of Robert Bridges
- Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Bengali poet and author
- Petter Dass (died 1707), Norwegian poet
- Mina Dastgheib (born 1943), Iranian poet
- René Daumal (1908–1944), French para-surrealist writer and poet
- Jean Daurat (1508–1588), French poet, scholar and La Pléiade member
- William Davenant (1606–1668), English poet and playwright
- Guy Davenport (1927–2005), US writer, translator and illustrator
- Donald Davidson (1893–1968) US poet, essayist and critic
- John Davidson (1857–1909), Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
- Lucretia Maria Davidson (1808–1825), US poet
- Donald Davie (1922–1995), English poet and critic
- Alan Davies (born 1951), US poet, critic and editor
- Hugh Sykes Davies (1909–1984), English poet, novelist and communist
- Sir John Davies (1569–1626), English poet, lawyer and politician
- W. H. Davies (1871–1940), Welsh poet and writer
- Jon Davis, US poet
- Edward Davison (1898–1970), Scottish-US poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
- Peter Davison (1928–2004), US poet, essayist and editor; son of poet Edward Davison
- Denis Davydov (1784–1839), Russian soldier-poet of Napoleonic Wars
- Dayaram (1777–1853), Gujarati language poet
- Gábor Dayka (1769–1796), Hungarian poet
- Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972), Anglo-Irish poet; UK Poet Laureate 1968–1972
- James Deahl (born 1945), Canadian poet and publisher
- Dulcie Deamer (1890–1972), Australian poet and novelist
- John F. Deane (born 1943), Irish poet and novelist
- Aleš Debeljak (1961–2016), Slovenian critic, poet and essayist
- Jean Louis De Esque (1879–1956), US poet and author
- Madeline DeFrees (1919–2015), US poet
- Jacek Dehnel (born 1980), Polish poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Dekker (1572–1641), English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), Mexican poet
- Baltasar del Alcázar (1530–1606), Spanish poet
- Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), English poet, short story writer and novelist
- Leconte de Lisle (1818–1894), French poet of Parnassian movement
- Christine De Luca (born 1947), Scottish poet in English and Shetland dialect
- François de Malherbe (1555–1628), French poet, critic and translator
- Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), French poet
- Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), French poet, essayist and translator
- Sir John Denham (c. 1614–1669), English poet and courtier
- Tory Dent (1958–2005), US poet, critic and commentator
- Évariste de Parny (1753–1814), French poet
- Regina Derieva (1949–2013), Russian poet and writer
- Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw (1863–1919), Dutch poet and philosopher
- Toi Derricotte (born 1941), African-US poet
- Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), medieval French poet
- Lord de Tabley (1835–1895), poet and botanist
- Babette Deutsch (1895–1982), US poet, critic and novelist
- Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562–1635), Spanish playwright and poet
- Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier and poet praised also for lost plays
- Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863), French poet, playwright and novelist
- Lakshmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepali poet and essayist
- Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (born 1966), South African poet and performance artist
- Imtiaz Dharker (born 1954), Pakistan-born British poet, artist and filmmaker
- Dhurjati (c. 15th – 16th cc.), Telugu language poet
Di–Dr
- Souéloum Diagho (living), Tuareg poet
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco (1949–2019), Italian-Canadian poet; Poet Laureate of Toronto
- Jennifer K Dick (born 1970), US poet
- James Dickey (1923–1997), US poet and novelist; US Poet Laureate
- Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), US poet
- Matthew Dickman (born 1975), US poet, twin of Michael Dickman
- Michael Dickman (born 1975), US poet
- Blaga Dimitrova (1922–2003), Bulgarian poet and politician
- Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908–1974), Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academic
- Diane di Prima (1934–2020), US poet
- Paul Dirmeikis (born 1954), French poet
- Vladislav Petković Dis (1880–1917), Serbian poet
- Thomas M. Disch (1940–2008), US poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos (1950–1990), US poet
- Henry Austin Dobson (1840–1921), English poet and essayist
- Stephen Dobyns (born 1941), US author, novelist and poet
- Lajos Dóczi (1845–1918), Hungarian playwright, poet and politician
- Hendrik Doeff (1777–1835), Dutch lexicographer and poet (in Japanese) and Commissioner in the Dejima trading post
- Gojko Đogo (born 1940), Serbian poet
- Pete Doherty (born 1979), English musician, songwriter and poet
- Digby Mackworth Dolben (1848–1867), English poet
- Joe Dolce (born 1947), Australian songwriter, poet and essayist
- María Magdalena Domínguez (1922–2021), Spanish poet
- John Donne (1572–1631), English poet, satirist and Anglican cleric
- H.D., Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), US Imagist poet
- Ap Chuni Dorji, Bhutanese poet
- Edward Dorn (1929–1999), US poet and teacher
- Tishani Doshi (born 1975), Indian English poet and journalist
- Mark Doty (born 1953), US poet and memoirist
- Sarah Doudney (1841–1926), English poet and children's writer
- Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), English poet, writer and traveler
- Alice May Douglas (1865–1943), US poet and author
- Gavin Douglas (1474–1522), Scottish bishop, makar and translator
- Keith Douglas (1920–1944), English war poet
- Rita Dove (born 1952), US poet and author; US Poet Laureate
- Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), English poet, novelist and short-story writer
- Jane Draycott (living), English poet
- Michael Drayton (1563–1631), English poet of Elizabethan era
- Aleksander Stavre Drenova (1872–1947), Albanian poet
- John Drinkwater (1882–1937), English poet and dramatist
- Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797–1848), German poet
- William Drummond (1585–1649), Scottish poet
- William Henry Drummond (1854–1907), Irish-born Canadian poet
- Elżbieta Drużbacka (1695 or 1698–1765), Polish poet
- John Dryden (1631–1700), English poet, critic and playwright
- Toru Dutt (1856–1877), Indian poet and translator writing in French and English
Du–Dy
- Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas (1544–1590), French Huguenot poet
- Joachim du Bellay (c. 1522–1560), French poet, critic and La Pléiade member
- W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963), US writer and activist
- Norman Dubie (born 1945), US poet
- Jovan Dučić (1871–1943), Bosnian Serb poet, writer and diplomat
- Du Fu (712–770), Chinese poet of Tang Dynasty
- Du Mu (803–852), Chinese poet of late Tang Dynasty
- Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), Scottish poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Alan Dugan (1923–2003), US poet
- Sasha Dugdale (born 1974), English poet, playwright and translator
- Richard Duke (1658–1711), English clergyman and poet
- Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906), African-US poet, novelist and playwright
- William Dunbar (c. 1460 – c. 1520), Scots makar
- Robert Duncan (1919–1988), US poet
- Camille Dungy (born 1972), US poet, academic and essayist
- Douglas Dunn (born 1942), Scottish poet, academic and critic
- Stephen Dunn (1939–2021), US poet
- Helen Dunmore (1952–2017), English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany (1878–1957), Irish poet
- Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), English novelist, poet and dramatist
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873), Bengali poet and dramatist
- Stuart Dybek (born 1942), US poet, writer
- Sir Edward Dyer (1543–1607), English courtier and poet.
- Bob Dylan (born 1941), US singer-songwriter and writer
E
- Joan Adeney Easdale (1913–1998), English poet
- Richard Eberhart (1904–2005), US poet
- Houshang Ebtehaj (1928–2022), Iranian poet
- Russell Edson (1935–2014), US poet, novelist and illustrator
- Terry Ehret (born 1955), US poet
- Max Ehrmann (1872–1945), US writer, poet, and attorney
- Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), German poet and novelist
- Kristín Eiríksdóttir (born 1981), Icelandic poet
- George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) (1819–1880), English novelist, journalist and translator
- T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), US/English publisher, playwright and critic
- Ebenezer Elliott ("Corn Law rhymer", 1781–1849), English poet
- Royston Ellis (born 1941), English poet
- Paul Éluard (1895–1952), French poet
- Odysseus Elytis (1911–1996) Greek poet
- Claudia Emerson (1957–2014), US poet; Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), US essayist, lecturer and poet
- Gevorg Emin (1918–1998), Armenian poet, essayist and translator
- Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889), Romanian poet, novelist and journalist
- William Empson (1906–1984), English literary critic and poet
- Yunus Emre (c. 1240 – c. 1321), Turkish poet and Sufi mystic
- Michael Ende (1929–1995), German fantasy and children's writer and poet
- Leszek Engelking (born 1955), Polish, poet, fiction writer and translator
- Paul Engle (1908–1991), US poet, novelist and playwright
- Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BCE), father of Latin poetry in Rome
- D. J. Enright (1920–2002), English poet, novelist and critic
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger (born 1929), German writer, poet and translator
- János Erdélyi (1814–1868), Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Louise Erdrich (born 1954), US novelist, poet and children's writer featuring Native US heritage
- Haydar Ergülen (born 1956), Turkish poet
- Max Ernst (1891–1976), German poet and artist
- Errapragada Erranna, 14th-century Telugu poet
- Wolfram von Eschenbach (c. 1170 – c. 1220), German Minnesinger poet and knight
- Clayton Eshleman (1935–2022), US poet, translator and editor
- Martín Espada (born 1957), US poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca (1894–1930), Portuguese poet
- Salvador Espriu (1913–1985), Catalan poet in Spain
- Jill Alexander Essbaum (born 1971), US poet
- Alter Esselin (1889–1974), Yiddish US poet
- Claude Esteban (1935–2006), French poet
- Maggie Estep (born 1963), US slam poet and musician
- Jerry Estrin (1947–1993), US poet and editor
- Euripides (480–406 BCE), Athenian tragedian
- Margiad Evans (1909–1958), English poet and novelist
- Mari Evans (1923–2017), African-US poet
- William Everson (Brother Antoninus) (1912–1994), US poet and critic
- Gavin Ewart (1916–1995), English poet
- Elisabeth Eybers (1915–2007), South African/Dutch poet; poetry in Afrikaans
F
Fa–Fn
- Frederick William Faber (1814–1863), English poet, hymnist and theologian
- Kinga Fabó (1953–2021), Hungarian poet and essayist
- Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911–1984), Indian/Pakistani poet
- Padraic Fallon (1905–1974), Irish poet
- Christian Falster (1690–1752), Danish poet and philologist
- Ferenc Faludi (1704–1779), Hungarian poet
- György Faludy (1910–2006), Hungarian poet and translator
- U. A. Fanthorpe (1929–2009), English poet
- Ahmad Faraz (1931–2008), Pakistani Urdu poet and scriptwriter
- Eleanor Farjeon (1881–1965), English children's writer, playwright and poet
- J. P. Farrell (born 1968), US poet and musician
- Forough Farrokhzad (1934–1967), Iranian poet
- Joseph Fasano (born 1982), American poet and novelist
- Elaine Feinstein (1930–2019), English poet, novelist and playwright
- Károly Fellinger (born 1963) Hungarian poet in Slovakia
- Fenggan (fl. 9th c.), Chinese Zen monk poet under Tang Dynasty
- Elijah Fenton (1683–1730), English poet, biographer and translator
- James Fenton (1931–2021), Northern Irish linguist and poet in Ulster Scots
- James Martin Fenton (born 1949), English poet, journalist and literary critic
- Ferdowsi (935–1020), Persian poet
- Teréz Ferenczy (1823–1853), Hungarian poet
- Robert Fergusson (1750–1774), Scottish poet
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), US poet, painter and activist
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760–1828), Spanish dramatist, translator and poet
- Jerzy Ficowski (1924–2006), Polish poet, writer and translator
- Henry Fielding (1707–1754), English novelist, dramatist and poet
- Juan de Dios Filiberto (1885–1964), Argentine poet and musician
- Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea (1661–1720), English nature poet
- Annie Finch (born 1956), US poet, librettist and translator
- Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), Scottish poet, writer and gardener
- Roy Fisher (1930–2017), English poet and jazz pianist
- Edward Fitzgerald (1809–1883), English poet and translator of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
- Robert Fitzgerald (1910–1985), US poet, critic and translator
- Marjorie Fleming (1803–1811), Scottish child poet and diarist
- Giles Fletcher the Elder (c. 1548–1611), English poet, diplomat and MP
- Giles Fletcher the Younger (c. 1586–1623), English poet
- John Fletcher (1579–1625), English playwright and poet
- John Gould Fletcher (1886–1950), US Imagist poet
- Phineas Fletcher (1582–1650), English poet; elder son of Giles Fletcher the elder, brother of Giles the younger
- F. S. Flint (1885–1960), English poet and translator
Fo–Fu
- Jean Follain (1903–1971), French author and poet
- Theodor Fontane (1819–1898), German novelist, poet and realist writer
- John Forbes (1950–1998), Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché (born 1950), US poet, editor and translator
- Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), English novelist, poet and critic
- John Ford (1586–1639), English playwright and poet
- John M. Ford (1957–2006), US SF and fantasy writer, game designer and poet
- Veronica Forrest-Thomson (1947–1975), Scots poet and critical theorist
- Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), Italian writer, revolutionary and poet
- William Fowler (c. 1560–1612), Scottish poet, writer and translator
- Janet Frame (1924–2004), New Zealand author
- Anatole France (1844–1924), French poet, journalist and novelist
- Robert Francis (1901–1987), US poet
- Veronica Franco (1546–1591), Italian poet and courtesan
- G S Fraser (1915–1980), Scots poet, critic and academic
- Gregory Fraser (born 1963), US poet, editor and professor
- Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), Albanian poet and writer
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette (1839–1908), Canadian poet, politician and playwright
- Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876), Polish poet and playwright
- Grace Beacham Freeman (1916–2002), US poet and fiction writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1985–1986
- Nicholas Freeston (1907–1978), English poet
- Erich Fried (1921–1988), Austrian-born British poet, writer and translator
- Jean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 1405), French chronicler and court poet
- Robert Frost (1874–1963), US poet
- Gene Frumkin (1928–2007), US poet and teacher
- John Fuller (born 1937), English poet and author, son of Roy Fuller
- Roy Fuller (1912–1991), English poet
- Alice Fulton (born 1952), US poet and novelist; Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
- John Furnival (1933–2020), British visual and concrete poet
- Milán Füst (1888–1967), Hungarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Fuzûlî (c. 1483–1556), Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet
G
Ga–Go
- Tadeusz Gajcy (1922–1944), Polish poet
- Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1905–1953), Polish poet and stage writer
- Karina Galvez (born 1964), Ecuadorian poet
- James Galvin (born 1951), US poet
- Etienne-Paulin Gagne (1808–1876), French poet, essayist and inventor
- János Garay (1812–1853), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Robert Garioch (wrote as Robert Garioch Sutherland, 1909–1981), Scottish poet and translator
- Hamlin Garland (1860–1940), US novelist, poet and essayist
- Raymond Garlick (1926–2011), Anglo-Welsh poet and editor
- Richard Garnett (1835–1906), English scholar, biographer and poet
- Jean Garrigue (1914–1972), US poet
- Samuel Garth (1661–1719), English physician and poet
- George Gascoigne (1535–1577), English poet, soldier and would-be courtier
- David Gascoyne (1916–2001), English poet of the Surrealist movement
- Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), French poet, dramatist and novelist
- John Gay (1685–1732), English poet and dramatist
- Yehonatan Geffen (born 1947), Israeli author, poet and playwright
- Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (1904–1991), US writer, poet and cartoonist
- Juan Gelman (1930–2014), Argentinian poet, writer and translator
- Stefan George (1868–1933), German poet, editor and translator
- Dan Gerber (born 1940), US poet
- Ágnes Gergely (born 1933), Hungarian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676), German hymnist
- Cezary Geroń (1960–1998), Polish poet, journalist and translator
- Mirza Asadulla Khan Ghalib (1797–1869) Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
- Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) (born 1946), US children's author, poet and feature writer
- Reginald Gibbons (born 1947), US poet, fiction writer and critic
- Khalil Gibran (1883–1931), Lebanese-US artist, poet and writer
- Wilfrid Wilson Gibson (1878–1962), English poet
- Ryan Giggs (born 1973), Welsh poet, footballer and homewrecker
- Jack Gilbert (1925–2012), US poet
- W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), English poet
- Zuzanna Ginczanka (Sara Ginzburg, 1917–1945), Polish poet
- Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), US Beat Generation poet
- Dana Gioia (born 1950), US writer, critic and poet
- Nikki Giovanni (born 1943), US poet, writer and educator
- Zinaida Gippius (1869–1945), Russian poet, playwright and religious thinker
- Giglio Gregorio Giraldi (1479–1552), Italian scholar and poet
- Giuseppe Giusti (1809–1850), Italian poet
- Denis Glover (1912–1980), New Zealand poet and publisher
- Louise Glück (born 1943), US poet; US Poet Laureate
- Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), Indian poet in Punjabi, Urdu, etc.
- Cyprian Godebski (1765–1809), Polish poet and novelist
- Gérald Godin (1938–1994), Canadian poet in French
- Patricia Goedicke (1931–2006), US poet
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), German writer, artist and politician
- Octavian Goga (1881–1938), Romanian poet, playwright and translator
- Leah Goldberg (1911–1970), Hebrew-language poet, playwright and writer
- Rumer Godden (1907–1998), English children's writer and poet
- Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924), Turkish sociologist, writer and poet
- Oliver Goldsmith (1730–1774), Anglo-Irish writer and poet
- Pavel Golia (1887–1959), Slovenian poet and playwright
- George Gomri (born 1934), Hungarian poet and journalist (also in English)
- Luis de Góngora (1561–1627), Spanish lyric poet
- Lorna Goodison (born 1947), Jamaican poet
- Paul Goodman (1911–1972), US novelist, playwright and poet
- Barnabe Googe or Gooche (1540–1594), English pastoral poet and translator
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833–1870), Australian poet and politician
- Gábor Görgey (born 1929), Hungarian poet and politician
- Sergei Gorodetsky (1884–1967), Russian poet
- Hedwig Gorski (born 1949), US performance poet and artist
- Herman Gorter (1864–1927), Dutch poet and socialist
- Sir Edmund William Gosse (1849–1928), English poet, author and critic
- Remy de Gourmont (1858–1915), French poet, novelist and critic
- John Gower (c. 1330–1408), English poet and friend of Chaucer
Gr–Gy
- Anders Abraham Grafström (1790–1870), Swedish historian, priest and poet
- James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612–1650), Scottish nobleman, soldier and poet
- Jorie Graham (born 1950), US poet and first female Boylston Professor at Harvard
- W S Graham (1918–1986), Scottish poet
- Mark Granier (born 1957), Irish poet and photographer
- Alex Grant (living), Scottish US poet and teacher
- Günter Grass (1927–2015), German novelist, poet and playwright; 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Richard Graves (1715–1804), English poet and essayist
- Robert Graves (1895–1985), English author and scholar
- Sir Alexander Gray (1882–1968), Scottish translator, writer and poet
- Thomas Gray (1716–1771), English poet
- Robert Greene (1558–1592), English author and poet
- Dora Greenwell (1821–1882), English poet
- Linda Gregg (1942–2019) US poet
- Horace Gregory (1898–1982), US poet, translator and critic
- Eamon Grennan (born 1941), Irish poet
- Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628), English poet, dramatist and statesman
- Susan Griffin (born 1943), US poet and writer
- Ann Griffiths (1776–1805), Welsh poet and hymnist
- Bill Griffiths (1948–2007), English poet and Anglo-Saxon scholar
- Jane Griffiths (born 1970), English poet and literary historian
- Rachel Eliza Griffiths (born 1978), US poet, photographer and visual artist
- Mariela Griffor (born 1961), Chilean poet, short-story writer and scholar
- Geoffrey Grigson (1905–1985), English poet and critic
- Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), Austrian writer, poet and dramatist
- Nicholas Grimald (1519–1562), English poet and dramatist
- Angelina Weld Grimké (1880–1958), African-US playwright and poet
- Charlotte Forten Grimké (1835–1914), African-US poet
- Rufus W. Griswold (1815–1857), US anthologist, poet and critic
- Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
- Nikanor Grujić (1810–1887), Serbian writer, poet and bishop
- Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976), Polish poet and dramatist
- Philip Gross (born 1952), English poet, novelist and playwright
- Igo Gruden (1893–1948), Slovene poet and translator
- N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783–1872), Danish poet, pastor and historian
- Wioletta Grzegorzewska (born 1974), Polish poet and writer
- Barbara Guest (1920–2006), US poet and prose stylist
- Edgar Guest (1881–1959), English-born US poet
- Paul Guest (living), US poet and memoirist
- Bimal Guha (born 1952), Bangladesh poet writing in Bengali
- Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1200 – c. 1240), French scholar and poet
- Jorge Guillén (1893–1984), Spanish poet
- Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989), Cuban poet, activist and writer
- Guido Guinizelli (c. 1230–1276), Italian poet
- Guiot de Provins (died after 1208), French poet and trouvère
- Malcolm Guite (born 1957)
- Gül Baba (died 1541), Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet
- Nikolay Gumilyov (1886–1921), Russian poet who founded acmeism
- Ivan Gundulić (Gianfrancesco Gondola) (1589–1638), Croatian Baroque poet
- Thom Gunn (1929–2004), Anglo-US poet
- Lee Gurga (born 1949), US haiku poet
- Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), English composer and poet
- Lars Gustafsson (1936–2016), Swedish poet, novelist and scholar
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (born 1950), Cuban novelist and poet
- Beth Gylys (born 1964), US poet and professor
- István Gyöngyösi (1620–1704), Hungarian poet
- Géza Gyóni (1884–1917), Hungarian poet
- Brion Gysin (1916–1986), English writer and sound poet
- Gabor G. Gyukics (born 1958), Hungarian-US poet and translator (also in English)
H
Ha
- Rafey Habib (living), Indian-born Muslim poet and scholar
- Marilyn Hacker (born 1942), US poet, translator and critic
- Hadraawi (born 1943), Somaliland poet and songwriter
- Hafez (1315–1390), Persian poet
- Hai Zi (1964–1989), Chinese poet
- John Haines (1924–2011), US poet and educator
- Donald Hall (1928–2018), US poet, writer and critic; US Poet Laureate
- Arthur Hallam (1811–1833), English poet, subject of In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred Tennyson
- Michael Hamburger (1924–2007), English translator, poet and academic
- Han Yu (768–824), Chinese essayist and poet of Tang dynasty
- Hanshan (fl. 9th c.), Chinese poet of Tang dynasty
- Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English novelist and poet
- Charles Harpur (1813–1868), Australian poet
- Sir Theodore Wilson Harris (1921–2018), Guyanese poet, novelist and essayist
- Jim Harrison (1937–2016), US poet, novelist and essayist
- Tony Harrison (born 1937), English poet and playwright
- Carla Harryman (born 1952), US poet, essayist and playwright
- David Harsent (born 1942), English poet and TV scriptwriter
- Paul Hartal (born 1936), Hungarian-born Canadian poet, painter and critic
- Peter Härtling (1933–2017), German writer and poet
- Michael Hartnett (1941–1999), Irish poet writing in English and Irish
- Julia Hartwig (1921–2017), Polish poet, writer and translator
- Gwen Harwood (1920–1995), Australian poet and librettist
- Alamgir Hashmi (born 1951), English poet of Pakistani origin
- Ahmet Haşim (c. 1884–1933), Turkish poet
- Robert Hass (born 1941), US poet; former Poet Laureate
- Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856–1920), emir of the Dervish movement, of which Diiriye Guure was sultan[1]
- Olav H. Hauge (1908–1994), Norwegian poet
- Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946), German dramatist, poet and novelist; Nobel Prize in Literature, 1912
- Stephen Hawes (died 1523), English poet
- Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875), English poet, antiquarian and Anglican priest
- George Campbell Hay (1915–1984), Scottish poet and translator in Scottish Gaelic, Lowland Scots and English
- Gilbert Hay (fl. 15th c.), Scottish poet and translator in Middle Scots
- Robert Hayden (1913–1980), US poet, essayist and educator; 1976 US Poet Laureate
- William Hayley (1745–1820), English writer
- Tony Haynes (born 1960), US poet, songwriter and lyricist
- Ha Seung-moo((born October 13, 1963), Korean poet, professor and theologian
He
- Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), Irish poet, playwright and translator; 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Josephine D. Heard (1861 – c. 1921), US teacher and poet
- John Heath-Stubbs (1918–2006), English poet and translator
- Anne Hébert (1916–2000), Canadian poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht (1923–2004), US poet
- Jennifer Michael Hecht (born 1965), US poet, historian and philosopher
- Allison Hedge Coke (born 1958), US poet, writer and performer
- Markus Hediger (born 1959), Swiss writer and translator
- Ilona Hegedűs (living), poet
- John Hegley (born 1953), English performance poet, comedian and songwriter
- Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), German poet, essayist and literary critic
- Lyn Hejinian (born 1941), US poet, essayist and translator
- Acharya Hemachandra (1089–1172), Jain scholar, poet and polymath
- Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), English poet
- Marian Hemar (1901–1972), Polish poet, songwriter and playwright
- Essex Hemphill (1957–1995), US poet and activist
- Hamish Henderson (1919–2002), Scottish poet, songwriter and catalyst for folk revival in Scotland
- William Ernest Henley (1849–1903), English poet, critic and editor
- Adrian Henri (1932–2000), English poet and painter
- Robert Henryson (died c. 1500), Scottish poet
- Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (1583–1648), Anglo-Welsh soldier, historian, poet and philosopher; brother of George Herbert
- George Herbert (1593–1633), public orator and poet
- Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561–1621) (née Sidney), early English woman in literature
- Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998), Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), German philosopher, theologian and literary critic
- Miguel Hernández (1910–1942), Spanish poet and playwright of Generation of '27 and Generation of '36 movements
- Herodas or Herondas (3rd c. BCE), Greek poet and author of humorous dramatic scenes in verse
- Antoine Héroet (died 1568), French poet
- Robert Herrick (1591–1674), English poet
- Thomas Kibble Hervey (1799–1859), Scottish-born English poet and critic
- Hesiod (fl. 750–650 BCE), Ancient Greek poet
- Phoebe Hesketh (1909–2005), English poet
- Hermann Hesse (1877–1962), German-Swiss poet, novelist and painter
- Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002), Australian feminist poet, novelist and playwright
- John Harold Hewitt (1907–1987), Northern Irish poet
- William Heyen (born 1940), US poet, literary critic, novelist
- Thomas Heywood (c. 1570s – 1641), English playwright, actor and author
Hi–Hy
- Dick Higgins (1938–1998), English poet and publisher
- Scott Hightower (born 1952), US poet and teacher
- Nâzım Hikmet (1902–1963), Turkish poet, playwright and novelist
- Geoffrey Hill (1932–2016), English poet and professor
- Selima Hill (born 1945), English poet
- Hilda Hilst (1930–2004), Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist
- Ellen Hinsey (born 1960), US poet
- Hipponax (6th c. BCE) of Ephesus, Ancient Greek iambic poet
- Hirato Renkichi (1893–1922), Japanese avant-garde poet
- Rozalie Hirs (born 1965), Dutch poet
- Jane Hirshfield (born 1953), US poet
- George Parks Hitchcock (1914–2010), US poet, playwright and painter
- H. L. Hix (born 1960), US poet and academic
- Marian Hluszkewycz (1877–1935), Russian poet
- Thomas Hoccleve or Occleve (c. 1368 – 1426), English poet and clerk
- Michael Hofmann (born 1957), German-born poet and translator in English
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929), Austrian novelist, poet and dramatist
- James Hogg (1770–1835), Scottish poet and novelist
- David Holbrook (1923–2011), English writer, poet and academic
- Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843), German lyric poet
- Margaret Holford (1778–1852), English poet and novelist
- Barbara Holland (1933–2010), US author
- John Hollander (1929–2013), Jewish-US poet and literary critic
- Matthew Hollis (born 1971), English poet
- Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), US poet, professor and author
- Homer (fl. 8th c. BCE), Greek epic poet
- Thomas Hood (1799–1845), English humorist and poet; father of playwright and editor Tom Hood
- A. D. Hope (1907–2000), Australian satirical poet and essayist
- Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889), English poet and Jesuit priest
- Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–08 BCE), Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton (1797–1884), African-US poet
- Joan Houlihan, US poet
- A. E. Housman (1859–1936), English poet and classicist
- Libby Houston (living), English poet, botanist and rock climber
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547), English Renaissance poet
- Richard Howard (1929–2022), US poet, critic and essayist
- Fanny Howe (born 1940), US poet and fiction writer
- Susan Howe (born 1937), US poet, scholar and essayist
- Hrotsvitha (died c. 1002), poet and first known female dramatist, from Lower Saxony
- Mohammad Nurul Huda (born 1949), Bangladeshi poet in Bengali
- John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet in Welsh
- Langston Hughes (1902–1967), US poet, novelist and playwright
- Ted Hughes (1930–1998), English poet and children's writer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
- Richard Hugo (1923–1982), US poet
- Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French poet, novelist and dramatist
- Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948), Chilean poet
- Lynda Hull (1954–1994), US poet
- Keri Hulme (1947–2021), New Zealand poet and fiction writer
- Thomas Ernest Hulme (1883–1917), English critic and poet
- Alexander Hume (1560–1609), Scottish poet
- Leigh Hunt (1784–1859), English critic, essayist and poet
- Sam Hunt (born 1946), New Zealand poet
- Hồ Xuân Hương (1772–1822), Vietnamese poet
- Aldous Huxley (1894–1963), English novelist, poet and travel writer
- Helen von Kolnitz Hyer (1896–1983), US poet and writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate 1974–1983
I
- Khadijah Ibrahiim (fl. 2022), British poet[2]
- Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828–1906), Norwegian playwright, director and poet
- Ibycus (fl. late 6th c. BCE), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Ikkyu (1394–1481), Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and poet
- Vojislav Ilić (1860–1894), Serbian poet
- Gyula Illyés (1902–1983), Hungarian poet and novelist
- Maria Ilnicka (1825 or 1827–1897), Polish poet, novelist and translator
- Tonya Ingram (1991–2022), US poet
- Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), Indian poet in Urdu and Persian
- Avetik Isahakyan (1875–1957), Armenian lyric poet
- Sabit Ince (born 1954), Turkish lyric poet
- Inge Israel (1927–2019), Canadian poet and playwright
- Wacław Iwaniuk (1912–2001), Polish poet and journalist
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (Eleuter, 1894–1980), Polish poet, dramatist and translator
- Sergey Izgiyaev (1922–1972), Russian poet, playwright and translator of Mountain Jewish descent
J
- FP Jac (1955–2008), Danish poet
- Violet Jacob (1863–1946), Scottish poet in Scots
- Rolf Jacobsen (1907–1994), Norwegian poet and writer
- Ada Jafarey (1924–2015) Pakistani poet in Urdu
- Richard Jago (1715–1781), English poet
- Đura Jakšić (1832–1878), Serbian poet, painter and dramatist
- James I, King of Scots (1394–1437), author of The Kingis Quair
- James VI and I (1566–1625), King of Scots and of England and Ireland
- Christine James (born 1954), Welsh poet and academic
- Clive James (1939–2019), Australian author, poet and memoirist
- Ernst Jandl (1925–2000), Austrian writer, poet and translator
- Klemens Janicki (1516–1543), Polish poet in Latin
- Janus Pannonius (1434–1472), Hungarian/Slavonian poet in Latin
- Patricia Janus (1932–2006), US poet and artist
- Mark F. Jarman (born 1952), US poet and critic
- Randall Jarrell (1914–1965), US poet, children's author and novelist; US Poet Laureate
- Bruno Jasieński (1901–1938), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Mieczysław Jastrun (1903–1983), Polish poet and essayist
- László Jávor (1903–1992), Hungarian poet
- Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962), US poet
- Vojin Jelić (1921–2004), Croatian Serb poet and writer
- Rod Jellema (1927–2018), US poet, teacher and translator
- Simon Jenko (1835–1869), Slovene poet, lyricist and writer
- Elizabeth Jennings (1926–2001), English poet
- Jia Dao (779–843), Chinese poet active under Tang Dynasty
- John of the Cross (1542–1591), Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John (1883–1917), English poet
- Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880–1966), US poet
- Helene Johnson (1906–1995), African-US poet
- James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938), US author, poet and folklorist
- Lionel Johnson (1867–1902), English poet, essayist and critic
- Emily Pauline Johnson (in Mohawk: Tekahionwake) (1861–1913), Canadian writer, performer and poet marking First Nations heritage
- Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), English poet, essayist and lexicographer
- George Benson Johnston (1913–2004), Canadian poet, translator and academic
- Anna Jókai (1932–2017), Hungarian poet and prose writer
- David Jones (1895–1974), English artist and poet
- Edward Smyth Jones (1881–1968), African-American poet
- Richard Jones (living), English US poet
- Ben Jonson (1573–1637), English poet and dramatist
- June Jordan (1936–2002), US poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph (born 1966), British/Trinidadian poet, novelist and musician
- Jenny Joseph (1932–2018), English poet
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (1833–1904), Serbian poet, physician
- James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist and poet
- Attila József (1905–1937), Hungarian poet
- Frank Judge (1946–2021), US editor, poet and film critic
- Ferenc Juhász (1928–2015), Hungarian poet
- Gyula Juhász (1883–1937), Hungarian poet
- Jamal Jumá, Iraqi poet and researcher
- Donald Justice (1925–2004), US poet
- Juvenal (fl. 1st c. – 2nd c. CE), Roman poet and satirist
- Jumoke Verissimo (born 1979), Nigerian poet
- Jaydeep Sarangi (born 1973), Indian poet in English
K
Ka–Kh
- Abhay K (born 1980), Indian poet and diplomat
- Kabir (1440–1518), mystic poet and sant of India
- Margit Kaffka (1880–1918), Hungarian poet and novelist
- Kālidāsa (fl. c. 4th c.), Sanskrit poet
- Kambar (c. 1180–1250), Tamil poet
- Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, translator and critic
- Kannadasan (1927–1981), Tamil poet, author and lyricist
- Jim Kacian (born 1953), US haiku poet and editor
- Uuno Kailas (1901–1933), Finnish poet, author and translator
- Chester Kallman (1921–1975), US poet, librettist and translator
- László Kálnoky (1912–1985), Hungarian poet and translator
- Kálmán Kalocsay (1891–1976), Hungarian and Esperanto poet
- Anna Kamieńska (1920–1986), Polish poet, writer and critic
- Ilya Kaminsky (born 1977), Russian-US poet, critic and translator
- Orhan Veli Kanik (1914–1950), Turkish poet
- Sándor Kányádi (1929–2018), Hungarian poet and translator from Romania
- Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021), Estonian poet, philosopher and critic
- Adeena Karasick (born 1965), Canadian/US poet, media artist and essayist
- Vim Karenine (born 1933), US poet, essayist and novelist
- György Károly (1953–2018), Hungarian poet and critic
- Franciszek Karpiński (1741–1825), Polish poet
- Mary Karr (born 1955), US poet, essayist and memoirist
- Siavash Kasrai (1927–1996), Iranian poet
- Julia Kasdorf (born 1962), US poet
- Laura Kasischke (born 1961), US poet and fiction writer
- Jan Kasprowicz (1860–1926), Polish poet, playwright and critic
- Lajos Kassák (1887–1967), Hungarian poet, novelist and painter
- Erich Kästner (1899–1974), German author, poet and satirist
- József Katona (1791–1830), Hungarian playwright and poet
- Bob Kaufman (1925–1986), US beat poet and surrealist
- Shirley Kaufman (1923–2016), US poet and translator
- Rupi Kaur (born 1992), Indo-Canadian poet and photographer
- Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967), Irish poet and novelist
- Nikos Kavvadias (1910–1975), Greek poet
- Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976), Bengali poet, musician and revolutionary
- John Keats (1795–1821), English Romantic poet
- Weldon Kees (1914–1955), US poet, novelist and critic
- Isabella Kelly (1759–1857), Scottish poet and novelist
- Arthur Kelton (died 1549/1550), rhymer on Welsh history
- Miranda Kennedy (born 1975), US poet
- Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), English poet
- Walter Kennedy (c. 1455–1518), Scottish makar
- X. J. Kennedy (born 1929), US poet, anthologist and children's writer
- Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), US poet and translator
- Géza Képes (1909–1989), Hungarian poet and translator
- Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), US novelist and poet
- Sidney Keyes (1922–1943), English poet killed in action in World War II
- Keorapetse Kgositsile (1938–2018), South African poet
- Mimi Khalvati (born 1944), Iranian-born British poet
- Dilwar Khan (1937–2013), Bangladeshi poet
- Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689), Pashtun Afghan poet, warrior and tribal chief
- Omar Khayyám (1048–1122), Persian mathematician, astronomer and poet
- Kherdian, David (born 1931), Armenian-American writer, poet, and editor
- Vladislav Khodasevich (1886–1939), Russian poet and literary critic
- Talib Khundmiri (1938–2011), Indian poet and humorist in Urdu
- Ab'ul Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrow (1253–1325), Sufi poet, scholar and musician
Ki–Ky
- Saba Kidane (born 1978), Eritrean poet
- Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), Danish philosopher and poet
- Emelihter Kihleng Pohnpeian poet and academic
- Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski (born 1954), Polish poet and politician
- Takarai Kikaku (1661–1707), Japanese haikai poet and disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), US writer and poet
- Edward King (1612–1637), Irish-born subject of Milton's Lycidas
- Henry King (1592–1669), English poet and bishop
- William King (1663–1712), English poet
- Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703), Danish bishop, poet and hymnist
- Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), German poet and revolutionary
- Galway Kinnell (1927–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
- John Kinsella (born 1963), Australian poet, novelist and essayist
- Thomas Kinsella (1928–2021), Irish poet, translator and editor
- Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), English fiction writer and poet
- Easterine Kire (born 1959), Naga poet and novelist
- Danilo Kiš (1935–1989), Serbian fiction writer and poet
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet, novelist and playwright
- Atala Kisfaludy (1836–1911), Hungarian poet
- Iya Kiva (born 1984), Ukrainian poet
- Eila Kivikk'aho (1921–2004), Finnish poet
- Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
- Sarah Klassen (born 1932), Canadian poet and fiction writer
- August Kleinzahler (born 1949), US poet
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), German poet
- Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1750–1807), Polish poet and Jesuit
- Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), African-US poet
- Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish Renaissance poet
- Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), US poet, playwright and professor
- Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish poet
- Petar Kočić (1877–1916), Bosnian Serb writer
- István Koháry (1649–1731), Hungarian poet
- Ferenc Kölcsey (1790–1838), Hungarian poet
- Aladár Komját (1891–1937), Hungarian poet
- Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1947), US poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
- Béla Kondor (1931–1972), Hungarian poet, prose writer and painter
- Faik Konitza (1875–1942), Albanian poet
- Halina Konopacka (1900–1989), Polish poet and athlete
- Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910), Polish poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ted Kooser (born 1939), US poet; US Poet Laureate 2004–2006
- Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski (1876–1901), Polish poet and translator
- Julian Kornhauser (born 1946), Polish poet, novelist and critic
- Apollo Korzeniowski (1820–1869), Polish expressionist poet
- József Kossics (Jožef Košič, 1788–1867), Hungarian/Slovenian poet and priest
- Laza Kostić (1841–1910), Serbian poet, writer and polyglot
- Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936), Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Gopi Kottoor (born 1956), Indian poet, playwright and editor
- Urszula Kozioł (born 1931), Polish poet
- Taja Kramberger (born 1970), Slovenian poet, translator and anthropologist
- Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Polish poet and novelist
- Zygmunt Krasiński (1812–1859), Polish poet
- Zlatko Krasni (1951–2008), Serbian poet
- Ruth Krauss (1901–1993), US poet and children's book author
- Krayem Awad (born 1948), Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor and poet
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (born 1946), US writer; Poet Laureate of Virginia
- Katarzyna Krenz (born 1953), poet, novelist and painter
- Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981), Croatian/Yugoslav poet and novelist
- Antjie Krog (born 1952), South African poet, academic and writer
- Józef Krupiński (1930–1998), Polish poet
- Ryszard Krynicki (born 1943), Polish poet and translator
- Marilyn Krysl (born 1942), US poet and fiction writer
- Andrzej Krzycki (1482–1537), Polish poet and archbishop
- Žofia Kubini (fl. 17th c.), Hungarian poet in early Czech
- Paweł Kubisz (1907–1968), Polish poet and journalist
- Péter Kuczka (1923–1999), Hungarian poet and critic
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky (born 1954), Russian/Irish novelist, poet and translator
- Endre Kukorelly (born 1951), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Maxine Kumin (1925–2014), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
- Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
- Yanka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus poet
- Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010), US counterculture poet and author
- Jalu Kurek (1904–1983), Polish poet and prose writer
- Momoko Kuroda (黒田杏子, born 1938), Japanese haiku poet
- Mira Kuś (born 1958), Polish poet
- Kusumagraj (1912–1999), Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
- Onat Kutlar (1936–1995), Turkish writer and poet
- Stephen Kuusisto (born 1955), US poet
- Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642), English poet
L
La
- Jean de La Fontaine (1621–1695), French fabulist
- Ilmar Laaban (1921–2000), Estonian poet
- Pierre Labrie (born 1972), Canadian poet in French
- László Ladányi (1907–1992), Hungarian-Israeli poet and writer
- Jules Laforgue (1860–1887), Franco-Uruguayan poet
- Jarkko Laine (1947–2006), Finnish poet, writer and playwright
- Ivan V. Lalić (1931–1996), Serbian poet
- Philip Lamantia (1927–2005), US poet and lecturer
- Kendrick Lamar (born 1987), US poet and hip-hop artist
- Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), French writer, poet and politician
- Charles Lamb (1775–1834), English essayist and poet
- Peter Lampe (born 1954), German scholar, writer and poet
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) (1802–1838), English poet and novelist.
- Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864), English writer and poet
- Antoni Lange (1863–1929), Polish poet, philosopher and translator
- William Langland (c. 1332 – c. 1386) probable English author of dream-vision Piers Plowman
- Emilia Lanier (1569–1645), English poet
- Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos (c. 1510–1556), Hungarian poet and historian
- Laozi (Lau-tzu) (fl. 6th c. BCE), Chinese philosopher and poet
- Alda Lara (1930–1962), Angolan poet
- Rebecca Hammond Lard (1772–1855), US poet
- Bruce Larkin (born 1957), US children's author and poet
- Philip Larkin (1922–1985), English poet and novelist
- Claudia Lars (1899–1974), Salvadoran poet
- Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945), German poet and playwright
- Lasus of Hermione (6th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet from Hermione in Argolid
- Evelyn Lau (born 1971), Canadian poet and novelist
- James Laughlin (1914–1997), US poet and publisher
- Ann Lauterbach (born 1942), US poet, essayist and professor
- Comte de Lautréamont (1846–1870), Uruguayan/French poet
- Dorianne Laux (born 1952), US poet
- Christine Lavant (1915–1973), Austrian poet and novelist
- D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930), English novelist, poet and critic
- Henry Lawson (1867–1922), Australian writer and poet; son of Louisa Lawson
- Louisa Lawson (1848–1920), Australian poet and feminist
- Robert Lax (1915–2000), US poet
- Laxmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepalese poet and scholar
- Henryka Łazowertówna (1909–1942), Polish poet
Le
- Edward Lear (1812–1888), English poet, artist and illustrator
- Stanisław Jerzy Lec (1909–1966), Polish poet and aphorist
- Joanna Lech (born 1984), Polish poet and novelist
- Jan Lechoń (1899–1956), Polish poet, critic and diplomat
- Francis Ledwidge (1887–1917), Irish war poet
- David Lee (born 1966), US poet
- Dennis Lee (born 1939), Canadian poet, editor and critic
- David Lehman (born 1948), US poet and editor
- Ágnes Lehóczky (born 1976), Hungarian poet, academic and translator
- Eino Leino (1878–1926), Finnish poet and journalist
- Brad Leithauser (born 1953), US poet, novelist and essayist
- Alexander Lenard (1910–1972) Hungarian writer and poet
- Sue Lenier (born 1957), English poet and playwright
- Lalitha Lenin (born 1946), Indian poet
- Krystyna Lenkowska (born 1957), Polish poet and translator
- Charlotte Lennox (c. 1730–1804), Scottish poet and novelist
- John Leonard (born 1965), Australian poet
- Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), Italian poet, essayist and philologist
- Mikhail Lermontov (1814–1841), Russian writer, poet and painter
- Ben Lerner (born 1979), US poet, novelist and critic
- Bolesław Leśmian (1877–1937), Polish poet and artist
- Rika Lesser (born 1953), US poet and translator
- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German writer, philosopher and dramatist
- Denise Levertov (1927–1997), British-born US poet
- Dana Levin (born 1965), US poet and teacher
- Philip Levine (1928–2015), US poet; 2011–2012 US Poet Laureate
- Larry Levis (1946–1996), US poet
- D. A. Levy (1942–1968), US poet, artist and publisher
- William Levy (1939–2019), US poet, fiction writer and editor
- Oswald LeWinter (1931–2013), poet
- Alun Lewis (1915–1944), Welsh poet in English
- C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), Northern Irish novelist, poet and essayist
- Gwyneth Lewis (born 1959), Welsh poet; inaugural National Poet of Wales
- J. Patrick Lewis (born 1942), US children's poet
- Saunders Lewis (1893–1985), Welsh poet, dramatist and critic
- Wyndham Lewis (1884–1957), English painter and author
Li–Ly
- Li Houzhu (937–978), Chinese poet and ruler of Southern Tang Kingdom (961–975 CE)
- José Lezama Lima (1910–1976), Cuban writer and poet
- Tim Liardet (born 1959), English poet, critic and professor
- Li Bai (701–762), Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- Jerzy Liebert (1904–1931), Polish poet
- Li Jiao, poet under Tang and Zhou dynasties
- Li Qingzhao (1084–1151), Chinese Song dynasty writer and poet
- Li Shangyin (813–858), Chinese late Tang-dynasty poet
- Tim Lilburn (born 1950), Canadian poet and essayist
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906–2001), US author and aviator; wife of Charles Lindbergh
- Jack Lindeman (fl. late 20th c.), US poet and critic
- Sarah Lindsay (born 1958), US poet
- Rossy Evelin Lima (born 1986), Mexican poet
- Vachel Lindsay (1879–1931), US poet
- Ewa Lipska (born 1945), Polish poet
- László Listi (1628–1662), Hungarian poet
- Józef Łobodowski (1909–1988), Polish poet and political thinker
- Terry Locke (born 1946), New Zealand poet, anthologist and academic
- Thomas Lodge (1558–1625), English dramatist and writer
- Iain Lom (c. 1624 – c. 1710), Scottish Gaelic poet
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882), US poet and educator
- Michael Longley (born 1939), Northern Irish poet
- Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), Spanish poet, dramatist and stage director
- Audre Lorde (1934–1992), Caribbean-US writer, poet and librarian
- Richard Lovelace (1618–1658), English Cavalier poet
- Amy Lowell (1874–1925), US poet
- James Russell Lowell (1819–1891), US poet, critic and diplomat
- Robert Lowell (1917–1977), US poet; 1947 US Poet Laureate
- Maria White Lowell (1821–1853), US poet and abolitionist
- Solomon Löwisohn (1788–1821), Hungarian Jewish poet and historian in Hebrew and German
- Mina Loy (1882–1966), English poet, playwright and novelist
- Lu You (1125–1209), Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski (1642–1702), Polish poet, writer and politician
- Gherasim Luca (1913–1994), Romanian poet and surrealist
- Lucan (39–65 CE), Roman poet
- Edward Lucie-Smith (born 1933), English writer, poet and broadcaster
- Gaius Lucilius (fl. 2nd c. BCE), Roman satirist
- Lucilius Junior (fl. 1st c. CE), poet and Procurator of Sicily
- Lucretius (c. 99 BCE – c. 55 BCE), Roman poet and philosopher
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836–1870), US author, journalist and explorer
- Edith Gyömrői Ludowyk (1896–1987), Hungarian poet and politician
- Luo Binwang (640–684), Chinese Tang-dynasty writer and poet
- Thomas Lux (1946–2017), US poet
- Mario Luzi (1914–2005), Italian poet
- John Lydgate (1370–1450), English monk and poet
- John Lyly (1553–1606), English writer, poet and dramatist
- Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (c. 1490 – c. 1555), Scottish Lord Lyon and poet
- Sandford Lyne (1945–2007), US poet, educator and editor
- George Lyttelton (1709–1773), English poet, statesman and arts patron
M
Ma
- Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859), Anglo-Scottish poet and historian
- George MacBeth (1932–1992), Scottish poet and novelist
- Norman MacCaig (1910–1996), Scottish poet
- Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald (1864–1922), Canadian poet and writer
- Hugh MacDiarmid (1892–1978), Scottish poet
- George MacDonald (1824–1905), Scottish poet and novelist
- Sorley MacLean (1911–1996), Scottish Gaelic poet
- Gwendolyn MacEwen (1941–1987), Canadian writer and poet
- Antonio Machado (1875–1939), Spanish poet
- Arthur Machen (1863–1947), Welsh author and mystic
- Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972), Scottish writer, memoirist and poet
- Archibald MacLeish (1892–1987), US modernist poet and writer
- Aonghas MacNeacail (born 1942), writer in Scottish Gaelic
- Louis MacNeice (1907–1963), Irish poet and playwright
- Hector Macneill (1746–1818), Scottish poet and songwriter
- James Macpherson (1736–1796), Scottish writer and poet
- Haki R. Madhubuti (born 1942), African-US writer, poet and educator
- Jayanta Mahapatra (born 1928), Indian English poet
- John Gillespie Magee Jr. (1922–1941), US poet and aviator
- Eric Magrane (born 1975), US poet and geographer
- Derek Mahon (1941–2020), Northern Irish poet
- Rudolf Maister (1874–1934), Slovene poet and activist
- Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar (1919–1977), Marathi and Hindi poet and playwright
- János Majláth (1786–1855), Hungarian historian and poet
- Clarence Major (born 1936), US poet, painter and novelist
- Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993), Serbian poet and professor
- Majeed Amjad (1914–1974), Indian/Pakistani poet in Urdu
- Antoni Malczewski (1793–1826), Polish poet
- Marcin Malek (born 1975), Polish poet, writer and playwright
- Josh Malihabadi (born Shabbir Hasan Khan) (1898–1982), Indian Urdu poet
- Madayyagari Mallana (fl. 15th c.), Telugu poet
- Stephane Mallarme (1842–1898), French poet and critic
- David Mallet (c. 1705–1765), Scottish dramatist and poet
- Thomas Malory (1405–1471), English author of Le Morte d'Arthur
- Goffredo Mameli (1827–1849), Italian patriot, poet and writer
- Osip Mandelstam (also Mandelshtam, 1891–1938), Russian poet
- James Clarence Mangan (1803–1849), Irish poet
- Bill Manhire (born 1946), New Zealand poet and fiction writer; New Zealand Poet Laureate
- Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st c. CE), Roman poet and astrologer
- Maurice Manning (born 1966), US poet
- Ruth Manning-Sanders (1895–1988), Welsh-born English poet and author
- Robert Mannyng (1275–1340), English chronicler and monk in Middle English, French and Latin
- Chris Mansell (born 1953), Australian poet and publisher
- Jakobe Mansztajn (born 1982), Polish poet and blogger
- Manuchehri (Abu Najm Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Qaus Manuchehri; 11th c.), royal poet in Persia
- Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873), Italian poet and novelist
- Sándor Márai (1900–1989), Hungarian/US poet and novelist
- Ausiàs March (1397–1459), Valencian poet and knight
- Morton Marcus (1936–2009), US poet and author
- Mareez (1917–1983), Indian poet in Gujarati
- Paul Mariani (born 1940), US poet and academic
- Marie de France (fl. 12th c.), poet probably French-born and resident in England
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944), Italian poet and editor
- Giambattista Marino (1569–1625), Italian poet
- E. A. Markham (1939–2008), Montserrat poet, playwright and novelist
- Edwin Markham (1852–1940), US poet
- Đorđe Marković Koder (1806–1891), Serbian poet
- Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator
- Clément Marot (1496–1544), French Renaissance poet
- Don Marquis (1878–1937), US novelist, poet and playwright
- Edward Garrard Marsh (1783–1862), English poet and cleric
- John Marston (1576–1634), English playwright, poet and satirist
- José Martí (1853–1895), Cuban poet and writer
- Martial (40 – c. 102 CE), Roman epigrammatist
- Camille Martin (born 1956), Canadian poet and collage artist
- Harry Martinson (1904–1978), Swedish sailor, author and poet
- Andrew Marvell (1621–1678), English metaphysical poet and politician
- John Masefield (1878–1967), English poet and writer; UK Poet Laureate (1930–1967)
- Edgar Lee Masters (1868–1950), US poet, biographer and dramatist
- Dafydd Llwyd Mathau (fl. earlier 17th c.), Welsh poet in Welsh
- János Mattis-Teutsch (1884–1960), Hungarian-Romanian poet and artist
- Glyn Maxwell (born 1962), British poet, playwright and librettist
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930), Russian/Soviet poet and playwright
- Karl May (1842–1912), German writer, poet and musician
- Bernadette Mayer (born 1945), US poet and prose writer
- Ben Mazer (born 1964), US poet and editor
Mc–Me
- James McAuley (1917–1976), Australian poet and critic
- Susan McCaslin (born 1947), Canadian/US poet and critic
- J. D. McClatchy (1945–2018), US poet and critic
- Michael McClure (1932–2020), US poet, playwright and novelist
- John McCrae (1872–1918), Canadian poet, physician and artist
- Walt McDonald (1934–2022), US poet; Poet Laureate of Texas
- Dermit McEncroe (fl. early 18th century), Irish doctor and poet
- Elvis McGonagall, Scottish poet and comedian
- William Topaz McGonagall (1825–1902), Scottish writer of doggerel
- Roger McGough (born 1937), English comedian and poet
- Campbell McGrath (born 1962), US poet
- Wendy McGrath, Canadian poet and novelist
- Thomas McGrath (1916–1990), US poet
- Heather McHugh (born 1948), US poet, translator and educator
- Duncan Ban McIntyre (1724–1812), Scottish poet in Scottish Gaelic
- James McIntyre (1827–1906), Canadian writer of doggerel
- Claude McKay (1889–1948), Jamaican-US writer and poet
- Don McKay (born 1942), Canadian poet, editor and educator
- Rod McKuen (1933–2015), US poet, composer and singer
- James McMichael (born 1939), US poet
- Ian McMillan (born 1956), English poet, playwright and broadcaster
- Meera (1498–1546), Indian Hindu mystic poet and Krishna devotee
- Narsinh Mehta (c. 1414 – c. 1481), Indian poet-saint of Gujarat
- Mei Yaochen (1002–1060), Chinese Song dynasty poet
- Peter Meinke (born 1932), US poet and fiction writer
- Cecília Meireles (1901–1964), Brazilian poet
- Herman Melville (1819–1891), US fiction writer and poet
- Meng Haoran (689 or 691–740), Chinese Tang dynasty poet
- George Meredith (1828–1909), English poet and novelist
- Kersti Merilaas (1913–1986), Estonian poet
- Alda Merini (1931–2009) Italian writer and poet
- Stuart Merrill (1863–1915), US poet writing mainly in French
- James Merrill (1926–1995), US poet; 1977 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- Thomas Merton (1915–1968), US writer and Trappist monk
- W. S. Merwin (1927–2019), US poet and author; 1971 and 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; 2010 US Poet Laureate
- Sarah Messer (born 1966), US poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew (1869–1928), English poet
- Henry Meyer (1840–1925), US poet writing in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Ferenc Mező (1885–1961), Hungarian poet
Mi–Mo
- Henri Michaux (1899–1984), Belgian/French poet, writer and painter
- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564), Italian poet and sculptor
- Tadeusz Miciński (1873–1918), Polish poet and playwright
- Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), Polish poet, essayist and publicist
- Veronica Micle (1850–1889), Austrian/Romanian poet
- Christopher Middleton (c. 1560–1628), English poet and translator
- Christopher Middleton (c. 1690–1770), Royal Navy officer and navigator
- Christopher Middleton (1926–2015), English poet
- Thomas Middleton (1580–1627), English poet and playwright
- Agnes Miegel (1879–1964), German writer and poet
- Josephine Miles (1911–1985), US poet and critic
- Jennifer Militello, US poet and professor
- Branko Miljković (1934–1961), Serbian poet
- Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950), US lyric poet, playwright and feminist
- Alice Duer Miller (1874–1942), US writer and poet
- Grazyna Miller (1957–2009), Italian/Polish poet and translator
- Jace Miller, US poet
- Jane Miller (born 1949), US poet
- Joaquin Miller (1837–1913), US poet
- Leslie Adrienne Miller (born 1956), US poet
- Thomas Miller (1807–1874), English poet
- Vassar Miller (1924–1998), US writer and poet
- Spike Milligan (1918–2002), Irish comedian, poet and musician
- Czesław Miłosz (1911–2004), Polish poet; 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature
- John Milton (1608–1674), English poet and polemicist
- Sima Milutinović Sarajlija (1791–1847), Serbian adventurer, writer and poet
- Marijane Minaberri (1926–2017), French/Basque poet and radio broadcaster
- Robert Minhinnick (born 1952), Welsh poet, essayist and novelist
- Matthew Minicucci (born 1981), US poet and teacher
- Mir Taqi Mir (1725–1810), Indian poet in Urdu
- Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957), Chilean poet and feminist; 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008), English poet, novelist and playwright.
- Silas Weir Mitchell (1829–1914), US physician and writer
- Stephen Mitchell (born 1943) US poet, translator and anthologist
- Waddie Mitchell (born 1950), US poet
- Ndre Mjeda (1866–1937), Albanian Gheg poet
- Stanisław Młodożeniec (1895–1959), poet
- Anis Mojgani (born 1977), US spoken-word poet and visual artist
- Molière (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1622–1673), French playwright
- Atukuri Molla (1440–1530), Indian Telugu poet
- Aja Monet, Black American poet
- Harold Monro (1879–1932), English poet
- Harriet Monroe (1860–1936), US scholar, critic and poet
- John Montague (1929–2016), Irish poet
- Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (1661–1715), English poet and statesman
- Eugenio Montale (1896–1981), Italian poet, writer and translator; 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Alexander Montgomerie (c. 1550–1598), Scottish Jacobean courtier and makar
- Alan Moore (born 1960), Irish writer and poet
- Marianne Moore (1887–1972), US poet and writer
- Merrill Moore (1903–1957), US psychiatrist and poet
- Thomas Moore (1779–1852), Irish poet, singer and songwriter
- Dom Moraes (1938–2004), Goan writer, poet and columnist
- Kelly Ana Morey (born 1968), New Zealand novelist and poet
- Edwin Morgan (1920–2010), Scottish poet and translator
- J. O. Morgan (born 1978), Scottish poet
- John Morgan (1688–1733), Welsh clergyman, scholar and poet
- Lorin Morgan-Richards (born 1975), US poet and author
- Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914), German author and poet
- Eduard Mörike (1804–1875), German poet
- William Morris (1834–1896), English writer, poet and designer
- Jim Morrison (1943–1971), US songwriter and poet
- Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621–1693), Polish poet
- Zbigniew Morsztyn (c. 1628–1689), Polish poet
- Valzhyna Mort (born 1981), Belarus poet
- Viggo Mortensen (born 1958), US poet, actor and musician
- Moschus (fl. 2nd c. BCE), Greek bucolic poet
- Howard Moss (1922–1987), US poet, dramatist and critic
- Andrew Motion (born 1952), English poet, novelist and biographer; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1999–2009
- Enrique Moya (born 1958), Venezuelan poet, fiction writer and critic
Mu–My
- Micere Githae Mugo (1942–2023), Kenyan playwright, author and poet
- Erich Mühsam (1878–1934), German-Jewish essayist, poet and, playwright
- Edwin Muir (1887–1959), Scottish Orcadian poet, novelist and translator
- Paul Muldoon (born 1951), Irish poet
- Lale Müldür (born 1956), Turkish poet and writer
- Laura Mullen (born 1958), US poet
- Anthony Munday (1553–1633), English playwright and writer
- George Murnu (1868–1957), Romanian archeologist, historian and poet
- Sheila Murphy (born 1951), US text and visual poet
- George Murray (born 1971), Canadian poet
- Joan Murray (born 1945), US poet, writer and playwright
- Les Murray (1938–2019), Australian poet, anthologist and critic
- Richard Murphy (1927–2018), Irish poet
- Susan Musgrave (born 1951), Canadian poet and children's writer
- Lukijan Mušicki (1777–1837), Serbian poet, prose writer and polyglot
- Nikola Musulin (fl. 19th c.), Serbian poet
- Togara Muzanenhamo (born 1975), Zimbabwean poet
- Christopher Mwashinga (born 1965), Tanzanian poet, author and Christian minister
- Lam Quang My (born 1944), Vietnamese poet in Polish and Vietnamese
N
- Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian novelist and poet in Russian and English
- Daniel Naborowski (1573–1640), Polish poet
- Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), Spanish nun, mystic, writer, and poet
- Ágnes Nemes Nagy (1922–1991), Hungarian poet and translator
- Gáspár Nagy (1949–2007), Hungarian poet
- Lajos Parti Nagy (born 1953), Hungarian poet, playwright and critic
- László Nagy (1925–1978), Hungarian poet and translator
- Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539), first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Nannaya (c. 11th c.), earliest known Telugu author
- Philip Nanton (living), Vincentian poet
- Adam Naruszewicz (1733–1796), Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
- Ogden Nash (1902–1971), US poet known for light verse
- Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), English playwright, poet and satirist
- Imadaddin Nasimi (died c. 1417), Azerbaijani poet
- Momčilo Nastasijević (1894–1938), Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist
- Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), Japanese novelist and poet
- Gellu Naum (1915–2001), Romanian poet, dramatist and children's writer
- Nedîm (c. 1681–1730), Ottoman poet
- John Neal (1793–1876), US writer, critic, activist and poet
- Henry Neele (1798–1828), English poet and scholar
- Walela Nehanda, Black American poet
- John Neihardt (1881–1973), US poet, historian and ethnographer
- Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Quebec poet
- Marilyn Nelson (born 1946), US poet, translator and children's writer
- Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1963–1964
- István Péter Németh (born 1960), Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Condetto Nénékhaly-Camara (1930–1972), Guinean poet and playwright
- Jan Neruda (1834–1891), Czech journalist, writer and poet
- Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), Chilean poet and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
- Neşâtî (died 1674), Ottoman Sufi poet
- Henry John Newbolt (1862–1938), English historian and poet
- John Henry Newman (1801–1890), writer, poet and hymnist
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil (born 1974), Asian US poet
- Nguyễn Du (1766–1820), Vietnamese poet in ancient Chữ Nôm script
- B. P. Nichol (bpNichol, 1944–1988), Canadian poet
- Nicholas I of Montenegro (1841–1921), poet and king of Montenegro
- Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese poet
- Norman Nicholson (1914–1987), English poet
- Lorine Niedecker (1903–1970), US poet
- Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1758–1841), Polish poet, playwright and statesman
- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, poet and philologist
- Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (Migjeni) (1911–1938), Albanian poet and writer
- Nisami (1141–1209), Persian poet
- Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682), Japanese haikai poet
- Moeen Nizami (born 1965), Pakistani poet, scholar and writer
- Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813–1851), Serbian poet, playwright and prince-bishop
- Yamilka Noa (born 1980), Cuban–Costa Rican poet
- Gábor Nógrádi (born 1947), Hungarian poet, essayist and children's novelist
- Christopher Nolan (1965–2009), Irish poet and author
- Fan S. Noli (1882–1965), Albanian/US writer, diplomat and historian
- Olga Nolla (1938–2001), Puerto Rican poet, writer and professor
- Harry Northup (born 1940), US actor and poet
- Caroline Norton (1808–1877), English writer, feminist and reformer
- Cyprian Norwid (1821–1883), Polish poet, dramatist and artist
- Alice Notley (born 1945), US poet
- Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg) (1772–1801), German poet and novelist
- Franciszek Nowicki (1864–1935), Polish poet and conservationist
- Alfred Noyes (1880–1958), English poet
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993), first Aboriginal Australian published poet
- Julia Nyberg (1784–1854), Swedish poet and songwriter
- Naomi Shihab Nye (born 1952), Palestinian-US poet, songwriter and novelist
- Robert Nye (1939–2016), English poet, novelist and children's writer
- Niyi Osundare (born 1947), Nigerian poet, dramatist and literary critic
O
- Dositej Obradović (1742–1811), Serbian philosopher, writer and poet
- Sean O'Brien (born 1952), British poet, critic and playwright
- D. Michael O'Connor aka Damond Jiniya(Born 1974), North American singer, writer and poet
- Philip O'Connor (1916–1998), Anglo-French writer and poet
- Antoni Edward Odyniec (1804–1885), Polish poet
- Ron Offen (1930–2010), US poet, playwright and producer
- Dennis O'Driscoll (1954–2012), Irish poet
- Frank O'Hara (1926–1966), US writer, poet and art critic
- Hisashi Okuyama (born 1941), Japanese poet
- Porsha Olayiwola (born 1988), US poet
- Sharon Olds (born 1942), US poet
- Mary Oliver (1935–2015), US poet
- Charles Olson (1910–1970), US modernist poet
- Saishu Onoe (1876–1957), Japanese poet
- Onomacritus (c. 530–480 BCE), Attic poet, priest and seer
- George Oppen (1908–1984), US poet
- Artur Oppman (Or-Ot, 1867–1931), Polish poet
- Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II (1858–1923), US poet and painter
- Zaharije Orfelin (1726–1785), Serbian polymath and poet
- Władysław Orkan (1875–1930), Polish poet
- Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010), US poet and actor; partner of Allen Ginsberg
- Gregory Orr (born 1947), US poet
- Agnieszka Osiecka (1936–1997), Polish poet, writer and screenplay author
- Alice Oswald (born 1966), English poet
- Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), Chinese Song Dynasty historian, essayist and poet
- Ovid (43 BCE – 17 CE), Roman poet
- Wilfred Owen (1893–1918), English poet and soldier
- İsmet Özel (born 1944), Turkish poet and scholar
P
Pa
- Ruth Padel (born 1946), English poet, author and critic
- Ron Padgett (born 1942), US poet, writer and translator
- Padmanābha (15th century) Dingal (Old Gujarati) poet and historian
- Dan Pagis (1930–1986), Israeli poet and Holocaust survivor
- Grace Paley (1922–2007), US short story writer and poet
- Francis Turner Palgrave (1824–1897), English critic and poet
- Palladas (fl. 4th c.), Greek poet
- Michael Palmer (born 1943), US poet and translator
- Sima Pandurović (1883–1960), Serbian poet
- Sumitranandan Pant (1900–1977), Indian poet in Hindi
- Daniele Pantano (born 1976), Swiss poet, translator, editor and scholar
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymnist in Welsh
- Park Yong-rae (1925–1980), Korean poet
- Andrew Park (1807–1863), Scottish poet
- Dorothy Parker (1893–1967), US poet, fiction writer and satirist
- Amy Parkinson (1855–1938), British-born Canadian poet
- Thomas Parnell (1679–1718), Irish poet and clergyman
- Nicanor Parra (1914–2018), Chilean mathematician and poet
- Henry Parrot (fl. 1600–1626), English epigrammatist
- Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912), Italian poet
- Ámbar Past (born 1949), Mexican poet, visual artist
- Boris Pasternak (1890–1960), Russian poet, novelist and translator
- Leon Pasternak (1910–1969), Polish poet and satirist
- Benito Pastoriza Iyodo (born 1954), Puerto Rican poet and fiction and literature writer
- Kenneth Patchen (1911–1972), US poet and novelist
- Ravji Patel (1939–1968), Indian poet
- Banjo Paterson (Andrew Barton Paterson) (1864–1941), Australian bush poet, journalist and author
- Don Paterson (born 1963), Scottish poet, writer and musician
- Coventry Patmore (1823–1896), English poet and critic
- Brian Patten (born 1946), English poet
- Lekhnath Paudyal (1885–1966), Nepalese poet
- Paul I, Prince Esterházy (1635–1713) Austro-Hungarian poet
- Cesare Pavese (1908–1950), Italian poet, novelist and critic
- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891–1945), Polish poet and dramatist
- Octavio Paz (1914–1998), Mexican writer, poet and diplomat
Pe–Pl
- Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866), English poet and novelist
- Patrick Pearse (1879–1916), Irish poet and writer
- James Larkin Pearson (1879–1981), US poet and publisher
- Allasani Peddana (fl. 15th/16th cc.), Telugu poet
- Charles Péguy (1873–1914), French poet, essayist and editor
- Kathleen Peirce (born 1956), US poet
- Gabino Coria Peñaloza (1881–1975), Argentine poet and lyricist
- Sam Pereira (living), US poet
- Lucia Perillo (1958–2016), US poet
- Persius (34–62 CE), Roman poet and satirist of Etruscan origin
- Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), Portuguese poet, philosopher and critic
- Lenrie Peters (1932–2009), Gambian surgeon, novelist, poet and educationist
- Robert Peters (1924–2014), US poet, scholar and playwright
- Pascale Petit (born 1953), French-Welsh poet and artist
- Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) (1304–1374), Italian scholar and poet
- Kata Szidónia Petrőczy (1659–1708), Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Marine Petrossian (born 1960), Armenian poet, essayist and columnist
- Veljko Petrović (1884–1967), Serbian poet, prose writer and theorist
- Mirko Petrović-Njegoš (1820–1867), Serbian and Montenegrin poet, soldier and diplomat
- Mario Petrucci (born 1958), English poet, author and translator of Italian origin
- Ambrose Philips (1674–1749), English poet and politician
- Katherine Philips (1632–1664), Anglo-Welsh poet
- Savitribai Phule (1831–1897), Indian social reformer, educationalist, and poet from Maharashtra
- Pi Rixiu (c. 834–883), Tang Dynasty poet
- Tom Pickard (born 1946), English poet and film maker
- Pindar (522–443 BCE), Theban lyric poet in Greek
- Robert Pinsky (born 1940), US poet, critic and translator; 1997–2000 US Poet Laureate
- Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), English poet
- Christine de Pizan (c. 1365 – c. 1430), Venetian historian, poet and philosopher
- Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), US poet and novelist
- William Plomer (1903–1973), South African novelist, poet and editor in English
Po–Pu
- Jacek Podsiadło (born 1964), Polish poet, translator and essayist
- Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), US author, poet and critic
- Suman Pokhrel (born 1967), Nepalese poet, playwright and artist
- Wincenty Pol (1807–1872), Polish poet and geographer
- Margaret Steuart Pollard (1904–1996), English poet
- Edward Pollock (1823–1858), US poet
- John Pomfret (1667–1702), English poet and clergyman.
- Marie Ponsot (1921–2019), US poet, critic and essayist
- Vasko Popa (1922–1991), Serbian poet of Romanian descent
- Alexander Pope (1688–1744), English poet
- Antonio Porchia (1885–1968), Italian Argentinian poet
- Judith Pordon (born 1954), US poet, writer and editor
- Peter Porter (1929–2010), Australian poet based in England
- Halina Poświatowska (1935–1967), Polish poet and writer
- Roma Potiki (born 1958), New Zealand poet and playwright
- Wacław Potocki (1621–1696), Polish poet and moralist
- Ezra Pound (1885–1972), US expatriate poet and critic
- Alishetty Prabhakar (1952–1993), Telugu poet
- Tapan Kumar Pradhan (born 1972), Indian poet, translator and activist
- Adélia Prado (born 1935), Brazilian writer and poet
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839), English politician and poet
- Jaishankar Prasad (1889–1937), Indian poet in Hindi
- E. J. Pratt (1882–1964), Canadian poet
- Petar Preradović (1818–1872), Croatian poet, writer and general
- France Prešeren (1800–1849), Carniolan Romantic poet
- Jacques Prévert (1900–1977), French poet and screenwriter
- Richard Price (born 1966), Scottish poet, novelist and translator
- Robert Priest (born 1951), English-born Canadian poet, children's author and singer/songwriter
- F. T. Prince (1912–2003), English poet and academic
- Matthew Prior (1664–1721), English poet and diplomat
- Bryan Procter (1787–1874), English poet
- Sextus Propertius (50 or 45–15 BCE), Latin elegiac poet
- Kevin Prufer (born 1969), US poet, academic and essayist
- J. H. Prynne (born 1936), English poet
- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer (1865–1940), Polish poet, novelist and playwright
- Zenon Przesmycki (Miriam, 1861–1944), Polish poet, translator and critic
- Jeremi Przybora (1915–2004), Polish poet, writer and singer
- Luigi Pulci (1432–1484), Italian poet known for Morgante
- Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837), Russian poet, novelist and playwright
Q
- Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), Syrian diplomat, poet and publisher
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri (born 1951), Pakistani Sufi poet and scholar
- Sayyid Ahmedullah Qadri (1909–1985), Indian poet, writer and politician
- Aref Qazvini (1882–1934), Iranian poet, lyricist and musician
- Qu Yuan (343–278 BCE), Chinese poet
- Francis Quarles (1592–1644), English Christian poet
- Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), Italian author and poet; 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature
R
Ra–Re
- Jean Racine (1639–1699), French dramatist
- Branko Radičević (1824–1853), Serbian lyric poet
- Leetile Disang Raditladi (1910–1971) poet from Botswana
- Sam Ragan (1915–1996), US poet, journalist and writer
- Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006), Bangladeshi poet and columnist
- Craig Raine (born 1944), English poet
- Kathleen Raine (1908–2003), English poet, critic and scholar
- Samina Raja (born 1961), Pakistani poet, writer and broadcaster
- Milan Rakić (1876–1938), Serbian poet
- Carl Rakosi (1903–2004), US Objectivist poet
- Martin Rakovský (c. 1535–1579), Hungarian poet and scholar
- Zsuzsa Rakovszky (born 1950), Hungarian poet and translator
- Maraea Rakuraku (living), New Zealand Māori poet, playwright and short story writer
- Sir Walter Raleigh (c. 1554–1618), English writer, poet and explorer
- Tenali Rama (16th c., CE), Telugu poet
- Ayyalaraju Ramabhadrudu (16th c., CE), Telugu poet
- Ramarajabhushanudu (mid 16th c. CE), Telugu poet and musician
- Guru Ram Das (1534–1581), Sikh guru and Punjabi poet
- Simón Darío Ramírez (1930–1992), Venezuelan poet
- Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), Scottish poet, playwright and publisher
- Dudley Randall (1914–2000), African-US poet and publisher
- Thomas Randolph (1605–1635), English poet and dramatist
- John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974), US poet, essayist and editor
- Addepalli Ramamohana Rao (1936–2016), Telugu poet and literary critic
- Ágnes Rapai (born 1952), Hungarian poet, writer and translator
- Noon Meem Rashid (1910–1975), Pakistani poet writing in Urdu
- Stephen Ratcliffe (born 1948), US poet and critic
- Dahlia Ravikovitch (1936–2005), Israeli poet and translator
- Tom Raworth (1938–2017), British poet and visual artist
- Herbert Read (1893–1968), English anarchist, poet and arts critic
- Peter Reading (1946–2011), English poet
- Angela Readman (born 1973), English poet
- James Reaney (1926–2008), Canadian poet, playwright and professor
- Malliya Rechana (mid-10th c. CE), Telugu poet
- Peter Redgrove (1932–2003), English poet
- Beatrice Redpath (1886–1937), Canadian poet and short story writer
- Henry Reed (1914–1986), English poet, translator and radio dramatist
- Ishmael Reed (born 1938), US poet, playwright and novelist
- Ennis Rees (1925–2009), US poet, professor and translator
- James Reeves (1909–1978), English poet, children's writer and writer on song
- Abraham Regelson (1896–1981), Israeli Hebrew poet, author and children's author
- Christopher Reid (born 1949), Hong Kong-born English poet, essayist and cartoonist
- James Reiss (1941–2016), US poet
- Mikołaj Rej (1505–1569), Polish poet and prose writer
- Robert Rendall (1898–1967), Orkney Scottish poet and amateur naturalist
- Pierre Reverdy (1889–1960), French poet of Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism
- Jacobus Revius (born Jakob Reefsen) (1586–1658), Dutch poet, theologian and church historian
- Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), US poet, translator and critical essayist
- Sydor Rey (1908–1979), Polish poet and novelist
- Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976), US Objectivist poet
- Raees Warsi (born 1963), Pakistani poet, writer and lyricist writing in Urdu
Ri–Ry
- Francisco Granizo Ribadeneira (1925–2009), Ecuadorian poet
- Anne Rice (1941–2021), US fiction writer
- Stan Rice (1943–2002), US poet and artist; husband of Anne Rice
- Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), US poet, essayist and feminist
- John Richardson (1817–1886), English Lake District poet
- Edgell Rickword (1898–1982), English poet, critic and journalist
- Lola Ridge (1873–1941), Irish-born US anarchist poet and editor
- Laura Riding (1901–1981), US poet, critic and novelist
- Anne Ridler (1912–2001), English poet and editor
- James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916), US writer and poet
- John Riley (1937–1978), English poet of British Poetry Revival
- Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), Bohemian-Austrian poet
- Gopal Prasad Rimal (1918–1973), Nepali poet and playwright
- Arthur Rimbaud (1854–1891), French symbolist poet of Decadent movement
- Alberto Ríos (born 1952), US poet and professor
- Khawar Rizvi (1938–1981), Pakistani poet and scholar in Urdu and Persian
- Emma Roberts (1794–1840), English travel writer and poet
- Michael Roberts (1902–1948), English poet, writer and editor
- Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935), US poet
- Mary Robinson (1757–1800), English poet and novelist
- Peter Robinson (born 1953), English poet
- Roland Robinson (1912–1992), Australian poet and writer
- Georges Rodenbach (1855–1898), Belgian Symbolist poet and novelist
- W R Rodgers (1909–1969), Northern Irish poet, essayist and Presbyterian minister
- José Luis Rodríguez Pittí (born 1971), Panamanian poet and artist
- Theodore Roethke (1908–1963), US poet
- Samuel Rogers (1763–1855), English poet
- Rognvald Kali Kolsson (c. 1103–1158), Earl of Orkney and saint
- Matthew Rohrer (born 1970), US poet
- Géza Röhrig (born 1967), Hungarian poet and actor
- Radoslav Rochallyi (born 1980), Slovak writer
- David Romtvedt (living), US poet
- Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585), French poet
- Peter Rosegger (1843–1918), Austrian poet
- Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), US poet, artist and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Penelope Rosemont (born 1942), US poet, writer and co-founder of Chicago Surrealist Group
- Michael Rosen (born 1946) UK children's poet and former children's poet laureate
- Isaac Rosenberg (1890–1918), English poet
- Barbara Rosiek (1959–2020), Polish poet, writer and psychologist
- Alan Ross (1922–2001), English poet, cricket writer and editor
- Christina Rossetti (1830–1894), English poet
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882), English poet, illustrator and painter
- Andrus Rõuk (born 1957), Estonian artist and poet
- Raymond Roussel (1877–1933), French poet, novelist and playwright
- Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718), English dramatist, poet and miscellanist; UK Poet Laureate 1715
- Samuel Rowlands (c. 1573–1630), English poet and pamphleteer
- Susanna Roxman (1946–2015), English poet born in Sweden
- Istvan Rozanich (1912–1984), Hungarian poet exiled in Venezuela
- Tadeusz Różewicz (1921–2014), Polish poet and writer
- Ljubivoje Ršumović (born 1939), Serbian poet
- Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866), German poet, translator and academic
- Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980), US poet and political activist
- Zygmunt Rumel (1915–1943), Polish poet and partisan
- Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhi Rumi (1207–1273), Persian Muslim poet, jurist and Sufi mystic
- Paul-Eerik Rummo (born 1942), Estonian poet
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877), Finnish poet in Swedish
- Nipsey Russell (1918–2005), US poet and comedian
- Lucjan Rydel (1870–1918), Polish poet and playwright
- Jarosław Marek Rymkiewicz (1935–2022), Polish poet, essayist and dramatist
- Ryōkan (1758–1831), Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa–Se
- Umberto Saba (1883–1957), Italian poet and novelist
- Jaime Sabines (1926–1999), Mexican poet
- Nelly Sachs (1891–1970), Jewish German poet and playwright; 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex (1638–1706), English poet and courtier
- Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset (1536–1608), English statesman, poet and dramatist
- Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962), English author, poet and gardener
- Saʿdī Shīrāzī (1184–1283/1291), Persian poet
- Benjamin Alire Sáenz (born 1954), US poet, novelist and children's writer
- Ali Ahmad Said (Adunis) (born 1930), Syrian poet, essayist and translator
- Mellin de Saint-Gelais (c. 1491–1558), French Renaissance poet
- Akim Samar (1916–1943), Soviet poet and novelist seen as first Nanai language writer
- Sonia Sanchez (born 1934), African-US poet associated with Black Arts Movement
- Michal Šanda (born 1965), Czech writer and poet
- Carl Sandburg (1878–1967), US poet, writer and editor; three Pulitzer Prizes
- Jacopo Sannazaro (1458–1530), Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples
- Ann Sansom, English poet and writing tutor
- Aleksa Šantić (1868–1924), Bosnian Serb poet
- Taneda Santōka (1882–1940), Japanese free verse haiku poet
- Genrikh Sapgir (1928–1999), Russian poet and fiction writer
- Sappho (c. 630–612 – c. 570 BCE), ancient Greek lyric poet from Lesbos
- Jaydeep Sarangi (born 1973), Indian poet in English
- Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640), Polish poet in Latin
- William Saroyan (1908–1981), US author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon (1886–1967), English war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo (1924–1995), Indonesian poet, fiction writer and literary critic
- Satsvarupa Das Goswami (born 1939), US poet and artist
- William Saunders (1806–1851), Welsh poet in Welsh
- Richard Savage (c. 1697–1743), English poet
- Leslie Scalapino (1944–2010), US poet, writer and playwright
- Maurice Scève (c. 1500–1564), French poet
- Hermann Georg Scheffauer (1876–1927), US poet, architect and fiction writer
- Georges Schehadé (1905–1989), Lebanese playwright and poet in French
- Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), German poet, philosopher and playwright
- Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), German author and translator
- Dennis Schmitz (1937–2019), US poet
- Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout (1910–1992), Surinamese poet and community leader, wrote in Sranan Tongo and English
- Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), Austrian author and dramatist
- Anton Schosser (1801–1849), Austrian dialect poet
- Philip Schultz (born 1945), US poet
- James Schuyler (1923–1991), US poet
- Delmore Schwartz (1913–1966), US poet and fiction writer
- Alexander Scott (c. 1520–1582/1583), Scottish poet
- Alexander Scott (1920–1989), Scottish poet and playwright
- Frederick George Scott (1861–1944), Canadian poet and author, father of F. R. Scott
- F. R. Scott (1899–1985), Canadian poet, academic and constitutional expert
- Tom Scott (1918–1995), Scottish poet
- Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet
- Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011), US soul musician and jazz poet
- George Bazeley Scurfield (1920–1991), English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Peter Seaton (1942–2010), US Language poet
- Władysław Sebyła (1902–1940), Polish poet
- Johannes Secundus (1511–1536), Dutch Neo-Latin poet
- Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (1639–1701), English poet, wit and dramatist
- George Seferis (pen name of Geōrgios Seferiádēs) (1900–1971), Greek poet and Nobel laureate
- Hugh Seidman (born 1940), US poet
- Rebecca Seiferle (living), US poet
- Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986), Czech writer, poet and journalist; 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Lasana M. Sekou (born 1959), Sint Maarten poet, essayist and journalist
- Semonides of Amorgos (c. 7th c. BCE), Greek iambic and elegiac poet
- Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001), Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist
- Robert W. Service (1874–1958), Scottish-Canadian poet
- Vikram Seth (born 1952), Indian author and poet
- Anne Sexton (1928–1974), US poet; Confessional poetry, 1967 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- John W. Sexton (born 1958), Irish poet, fiction and children's writer
Sh–Sj
- Thomas Shadwell (c. 1642–1692), English poet and playwright; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, 1689–1692
- Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1565–1612), sultan of Golkonda and poet in Persian, Telugu and Urdu
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (1941–2001), Pakistani Sufi spiritual leader, poet and author
- Parveen Shakir (1952–1994) Pakistani poet, teacher and a civil servant of the government of Pakistan
- William Shakespeare (c. 1564–1616), English poet and playwright
- Tupac Shakur (1971–1996), US rapper, actor and black activist
- Otep Shamaya (born 1979), US singer-songwriter, actress and poet
- Ahmad Shamlou (1925–2000), Iranian poet
- Paata Shamugia (born 1983), Georgian poet
- Ntozake Shange (1948–2018), US playwright and poet
- Jo Shapcott (born 1953), English poet, editor and lecturer
- Karl Shapiro (1913–2000), US poet; US Poet Laureate, 1946–1947
- Brenda Shaughnessy (born 1970), US poet
- Luci Shaw (born 1928), English-born Christian poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), English Romantic poet
- William Shenstone (1714–1763), English poet
- Bhupi Sherchan (1935–1989), Nepalese poet
- Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), Ukrainian poet and artist
- Mustafa Sheykhoghlu (1340/1341 – 1410), Turkish poet and translator
- Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902), Japanese author, poet and literary critic
- Hovhannes Shiraz (1915–1984), Armenian poet
- James Shirley (1596–1666), English dramatist
- Avraham Shlonsky (1900–1973), Israeli poet and editor
- Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), English poet, courtier and soldier
- Eli Siegel (1902–1978), Latvian-US poet, critic and philosopher
- Robert Siegel (1939–2012), US poet and novelist
- August Silberstein (1827–1900), Austro-Hungarian poet and writer in German
- Jon Silkin (1930–1997), English poet
- Hilda Siller (1861-1945), American poet and short story writer
- Ron Silliman (born 1946), US poet of Language poetry
- Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), US poet, musician and children's writer
- Simeon Simev (born 1949), Macedonian poet, essayist and journalist
- Charles Simic (born 1938), Serbian-US poet; US Poet Laureate, 2007–2008
- Simonides of Ceos (c. 556–468 BCE), Greek lyric poet, born at Ioulis on Kea
- Louis Simpson (1923–2012), Jamaican poet
- Bennie Lee Sinclair (1939–2000), US poet, novelist and story writer; South Carolina Poet Laureate, 1986–2000
- Burns Singer (1928–1964), US poet raised in Scotland
- Marilyn Singer (born 1948), US children's writer and poet
- Ervin Šinko (1898–1967), Croatian-Hungarian poet and prose writer
- Lemn Sissay (born 1967), English author and broadcaster
- Charles Hubert Sisson (1914–2003), English poet and translator
- Edith Sitwell (1887–1964), English poet and critic; eldest of three literary Sitwells
- Sjón (born 1962), Icelandic author and poet
Sk–Sp
- Egill Skallagrímsson (c. 910 – c. 990), Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer, protagonist of Egil's Saga
- John Skelton (1460–1529), English poet
- Sasha Skenderija (born 1968), Bosnian-US poet
- Ed Skoog (born 1971), US poet
- Jan Stanisław Skorupski (born 1938), Polish poet, essayist and esperantist
- Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912), Bulgarian poet
- Petko Slaveykov (1827–1895), Bulgarian poet, publicist and folklorist
- Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971), Australian poet and journalist
- Anton Martin Slomšek (1800–1862), Slovene bishop, author and culture advocate
- Antoni Słonimski (1895–1976), Polish poet, playwright and artist
- Michaël Slory (1935–2018), Surinamese poet in Sranan Tongo, also in English, Dutch and Spanish
- Juliusz Słowacki (1809–1849), Polish Romantic poet
- Boris Slutsky (1919–1986), Russian poet
- Christopher Smart (1722–1771), English poet and playwright
- Hristo Smirnenski (1898–1923), Bulgarian poet and writer
- Bruce Smith (born 1946), US poet
- Charlotte Smith (1749–1806), English Romantic poet and novelist
- Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961), US poet, sculptor and author
- Margaret Smith (born 1958), US poet, musician and artist
- Patti Smith (born 1946), US singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist
- Stevie Smith (1902–1971), English poet and novelist
- Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915–1975), Scottish poet in Braid Scots
- Tracy K. Smith (born 1972), US poet
- William Jay Smith (1918–2015), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1968–1970
- Tobias Smollett (1721–1771), Scottish poet and author
- William De Witt Snodgrass (1926–2009), US poet
- Gary Snyder (born 1930), US poet, essayist and environmentalist
- Edith Södergran (1892–1923), Finnish poet in Swedish
- Sōgi (1421–1502), Japanese waka and renga poet
- David Solway (born 1941), Canadian poet, educational theorist and travel writer
- Marie-Ange Somdah (born 1959), Burkinabe poet and writer
- William Somervile (1675–1742), English poet
- Sophocles (c. 496–406 BCE), Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley (1895–1915), English war poet
- Gary Soto (born 1952), Mexican-US author and poet
- William Soutar (1898–1943), Scottish poet in English and Braid Scots
- Caroline Anne Southey (1786–1854), English poet
- Robert Southey (1774–1843), English Romantic poet and UK Poet Laureate, 1813–1843
- Robert Southwell (1561–1595), English Catholic Jesuit priest, poet and clandestine missionary
- Wole Soyinka (born 1934), Nigerian poet and playwright and poet; 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Bernard Spencer (1909–1963), English poet, translator and editor
- Stephen Spender (1909–1995), English poet, novelist. and essayist; US Poet Laureate 1965–66
- Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), English poet
St–Sz
- Edward Stachura (1937–1979), poet, prose writer and translator
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957), Polish poet
- William Stafford (1914–1993), US poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–1971
- A. E. Stallings (born 1968), US poet and translator
- Jon Stallworthy (1935–2014), English academic, poet and literary critic
- Harold Standish (1919–1972), Canadian poet and novelist
- Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983), Romanian poet
- Ann Stanford (1916–1987), US poet
- Anna Stanisławska (1651–1701), Polish poet
- George Starbuck (1931–1996), US neo-Formalist poet
- Andrzej Stasiuk (born 1960), Polish poet and novelist
- Statius (c. 45–96, CE), Roman poet
- Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE (born 1932), New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
- Stesichorus (c. 640–555 BCE), Greek lyric poet
- Joseph Stefan (1835–1893), Carinthian Slovenes physicist, mathematician and poet in Austria
- Stefan Stefanović (1807–1828), Serbian poet
- Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), US modernist in prose and poetry
- Eric Stenbock (1860–1895), Baltic German poet and writer of fantastic fiction
- Mattie Stepanek (1990–2004), US poet and advocate
- George Stepney (1663–1707), English poet and diplomat
- Anatol Stern (1899–1968), Polish poet and art critic
- Gerald Stern (1925–2022), US poet
- Marinko Stevanović (born 1961), Bosnian poet
- C. J. Stevens (1927–2021), US writer of poetry, fiction and biography
- Wallace Stevens (1880–1955), US modernist poet
- Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer
- Margo Taft Stever, US poet
- Trumbull Stickney (1874–1904), US classical scholar and poet
- James Still (1906–2001), US poet, novelist and folklorist
- Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1828–1878), Serbian poet
- Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-US poet, writer and philosopher
- Donna J. Stone (1933–1994), US poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone (1915–2011), US poet, author and teacher
- Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet (born 1968), US poet and editor
- Edward Storer (1880–1944), English writer, translator and poet linked with Imagism
- Theodor Storm (1817–1888), German writer and poet
- Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Latin US Modernist poet
- Mark Strand (1934–2014), Canadian-born US poet, essayist and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–1991
- Botho Strauß (born 1944), German playwright, poet and novelist
- Joseph Stroud (born 1943), US poet
- Jesse Stuart (1907–1984), US writer of fiction and poetry
- Jacquie Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni) (1927–2009), New Zealand poet, fiction writer and librarian
- Su Shi (1037–1101), Song dynasty writer, poet and artist
- Su Xiaoxiao (died c. 501 CE), courtesan and poet under Southern Qi Dynasty
- Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), English poet and inventor of card game cribbage
- Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), Islamic poet and Ottoman ruler
- Robert Sullivan (born 1967) New Zealand Māori poet, academic and editor
- Jovan Sundečić (1825–1900), Serbian poet
- Cemal Süreya (1931–1990), Turkish poet and writer
- Abhi Subedi (born 1945), Nepalese poet, playwright and critic
- Pingali Surana (16th c.), Telugu poet
- Robert Sward (1933–2022), US and Canadian poet and novelist
- Cole Swensen (born 1955), US poet, translator and copywriter
- Karen Swenson (born 1936), US poet
- May Swenson (1913–1989), US poet and playwright
- Marcin Świetlicki (born 1961), Polish poet, prose writer and musician
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist and pamphleteer
- Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909), English poet, playwright and novelist
- Anna Świrszczyńska (also Anna Swir) (1909–1984), Polish poet
- Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
- Arthur William Symons (1865–1945), English poet, critic and editor
- John Millington Synge (1871–1909), Irish dramatist, poet and folklore collector
- Władysław Syrokomla (1823–1862), Polish poet and translator in Russian Empire
- Lőrinc Szabó (1900–1957), Hungarian poet and literary translator
- Fruzina Szalay (1864–1926), Hungarian poet and translator
- Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (c. 1550 – c. 1581), poet in Polish and Latin
- Arthur Sze (born 1950), Chinese US poet
- Bertalan Szemere (1812–1869), Hungarian poet and politician
- Gyula Szentessy (1870–1905), Hungarian poet
- George Szirtes (born 1948), Hungary-born British poet and translator
- Janusz Szpotański (1929–2001), Polish poet, satirist and translator
- Włodzimierz Szymanowicz (1946–1967), Polish poet and painter
- Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012), Polish poet, essayist and translator; 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Szymon Szymonowic (1558–1629), Polish poet
T
Ta–Te
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Bengali polymath; 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Judit Dukai Takách (Malvina, 1795–1836), Hungarian poet
- Bogi Takács (born 1983), Hungarian poet and fiction writer in US
- Kyoshi Takahama (1874–1959), Japanese poet
- Taliesin (fl. 6th c.), British poet of post-Roman period
- Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (1915–1983), Tamil poet, editor and critic
- Maxim Tank (1912–1996), Belarus poet
- Tao Qian (365–427), Chinese poet
- Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan (born 1976), Macedonian poet, essayist and literary critic
- Alain Tasso (born 1962), Franco-Lebanese poet, painter and critic
- Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), Italian poet
- Allen Tate (1899–1979), US poet, essayist and commentator; US Poet Laureate 1943–1944
- James Tate (1943–2015), US poet
- Emma Tatham (1829–1855), English poet
- Tracey Tawhiao (born 1967), New Zealand Maori poet and artist
- Apirana Taylor (born 1955), New Zealand poet, novelist and story-teller
- Edward Taylor (c. 1642–1729), colonial American poet, physician and pastor
- Emily Taylor (1795–1872), English poet and children's writer
- Henry Taylor (1800–1886), English poet and dramatist
- Henry S. Taylor (born 1942), US poet
- Jane Taylor (1783–1824), English poet and novelist
- Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), US lyric poet
- Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
- Telesilla (fl. 510 BCE), Greek poet
- Raipiyel Tennakoon (1899–1965), Sri Lankan poet
- William Tennant (1784–1848), Scottish scholar and poet.
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1850–1892
- Vahan Terian (1885–1920), Armenian poet, lyricist and public activist
- Elaine Terranova (born 1939), US poet
- Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), African-US poet; author of oldest known work by African American
- A. S. J. Tessimond (1902–1962), English poet
- Neyzen Tevfik (1879–1953), Turkish poet, satirist and performer
Th–To
- Kálmán Thaly (1839–1909), Hungarian poet and politician
- Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), US writer and poet
- John Thelwall (1764–1834), English poet and essayist
- Theocritus (fl. 3rd c. BCE), Greek bucolic poet
- Antony Theodore (born 1954), German pastor poet and educator
- Jan Theuninck (born 1954), Belgian painter and poet
- Nandi Thimmana (15th – 16th cc.), Telugu poet
- Thiruvalluvar (around 31 BCE), Tamil poet and philosopher
- Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), Welsh poet and writer in English
- Edward Thomas (1878–1917), Welsh poet and essayist in English
- Lorenzo Thomas (1944–2005), US poet and critic
- R. S. Thomas (1913–2000), Welsh poet in English and Anglican priest
- John Thompson (1938–1976), English-born Canadian poet
- John Reuben Thompson (1823–1873), US poet, journalist, editor and publisher
- Francis Thompson (1859–1907), English poet and ascetic
- James Thomson (1700–1748), Scottish poet and playwright
- James Thomson (Bysshe Vanolis, 1834–1882), Scottish Victorian poet
- Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), US author, poet and philosopher
- Georg Thurmair (1909–1984), German poet and hymn writer
- Maria Luise Thurmair (1918–2005), German poet and hymn writer
- Joseph Thurston (1704–1732), English poet
- Anthony Thwaite (1930–2021), English poet and writer
- Tibullus (c. 54–19 BCE), Latin poet and elegy writer
- Chidiock Tichborne (1558–1586), English conspirator and poet
- Thomas Tickell (1685–1740), English poet and man of letters
- Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), German poet, translator, editor and critic
- Tikkana (1205–1288), Telugu poet, translator of Mahabharata
- Gary Tillery (born 1947), US writer, poet and artist
- Abdillahi Suldaan Mohammed Timacade (1920–1973), Somali poet
- Eugeniusz Tkaczyszyn-Dycki (born 1962), Polish poet
- Nick Toczek (born 1950), English writer, poet and broadcaster
- Melvin B. Tolson (1898–1966), US Modernist poet, educator and columnist
- Charles Tomlinson (1927–2015), English poet and translator
- Jean Toomer (1894–1967), US poet and novelist
- Mihály Tompa (1819–1868), Hungarian poet and pastor
- Álvaro Torres-Calderón (born 1975), Peruvian poet
- Kálmán Tóth (1831–1881), Hungarian poet
- Krisztina Tóth (born 1967), Hungarian poet and translator
- Sándor Tóth (1939–2019), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Cyril Tourneur (1575–1626), English poetic dramatist
- Ann Townsend (born 1962) US poet and essayist
Tr–Tz
- Thomas Traherne (1636/1637–1674), English poet, clergyman and religious writer
- Georg Trakl (1887–1914), Austrian Expressionist poet
- Chrysanthemum Tran, Vietnamese-American poet
- Elizabeth Treadwell (born 1967), US poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay (born 1972), French Canadian writer and poet
- William S. Tribell (born 1977), US poet
- Duško Trifunović (1933–2006), Serbian poet and writer
- Calvin Trillin (born 1935), US humorist, poet and novelist
- Geeta Tripathee (born 1972), Nepali poet, lyricist, essayist and scholar
- Suryakant Tripathi (1896–1961), Indian poet in Hindi and Bengali
- Quincy Troupe (born 1939), US poet, editor and professor
- Tõnu Trubetsky (Tony Blackplait) (born 1963), Estonian glam punk musician and poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva (1892–1941), Russian/Soviet poet
- Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935), German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer
- Charlotte Maria Tucker (1821–1893), English poet and religious writer
- Tulsidas (1497/1532–1623), Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher
- Hovhannes Tumanyan (1869–1923), Armenian writer and public activist
- Ğabdulla Tuqay (1886–1913), Tatar poet, critic and publisher
- George Turberville (c. 1540 – c. 1597), English poet
- Charles Tennyson Turner (1808–1879), English poet, elder brother of Alfred Tennyson
- Julian Turner (born 1955), English poet and mental health worker
- Thomas Tusser (1524–1580), English poet and farmer
- Hone Tuwhare (1922–2008), New Zealand Māori poet
- Julian Tuwim (1894–1953), Polish poet of Jewish descent
- Jan Twardowski (1915–2006), Polish poet and priest
- Chase Twichell (born 1950), US poet, professor and publisher
- Pontus de Tyard (c. 1521–1605), French poet and priest
- Fyodor Tyutchev (1803–1873), Russian Romantic poet
- Tristan Tzara (1896–1963), Romanian and French avant-garde poet and performance artist
U
- Kornel Ujejski (1823–1897) Polish poet and political writer
- Erzsi Újvári (1899–1940), Hungarian poet
- Laura Ulewicz (1930–2007), US beat poet
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha (1885–1945), Telugu poet
- Jeff Unaegbu (born 1979), Nigerian writer, actor and documentary film maker
- Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), Spanish essayist, novelist and poet
- Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), Italian poet, critic and academic
- Unorthodox Australian Poet (born 1965), Australian poet
- Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977), US poet, anthologist and critic; US Poet Laureate 1961–1962
- John Updike (1932–2009), US novelist, poet and critic
- Allen Upward (1863–1926), Irish-English Imagist poet and teacher
- Amy Uyematsu (1947–2023), Japanese-US poet
V
- János Vajda (1827–1897), Hungarian poet and journalist
- Paul Valéry (1871–1945), French Symbolist author and poet
- Alfonso Vallejo (1943–2021), Spanish artist, playwright and poet
- César Vallejo (1892–1938), Peruvian poet, writer and playwright
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton (born 1955), French-Swiss poet and writer
- Valmiki poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature
- Cor Van den Heuvel (born 1931), US haiku poet, editor and archivist
- Mona Van Duyn (1921–2004), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1992–1993
- Lin Van Hek (born 1944), Australian poet, writer and fashion designer
- Nikola Vaptsarov (1909–1942), Bulgarian poet
- Varand (born 1954), Armenian poet, writer and professor of literature
- Mahadevi Varma (1907–1987), Indian poet writing in Hindi
- Dimitris Varos (1949–2017), modern Greek poet, journalist and photographer
- Henry Vaughan (1621–1695), Welsh author, physician and metaphysical poet
- Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden (1509–1556), English poet
- Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877–1968), African-American poet, painter and sculptor
- Joana Vaz (c. 1500 – after 1570), Portuguese poet and courtier
- Vazha-Pshavela (aka Luka Razikashvili) (1861–1915), Georgian poet and writer
- Reetika Vazirani (1962–2003), US poet and educator
- Ivan Vazov (1850–1921), Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright
- Attila Végh (born 1962), Hungarian poet and philosopher
- Maffeo Vegio (Latin: Maphaeus Vegius) (1407–1458), Italian poet in Latin
- Vemana (aka Kumaragiri Vema Reddy), Indian Telugu poet
- Gavril Stefanović Venclović (fl. 1680–1749), Serbian priest, writer, poet and illuminator
- Helen Vendler (born 1933), US poetry critic and professor
- Jacint Verdaguer (1845–1902), Catalan poet in Spain
- Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), French poet associated with Symbolist movement
- Paul Vermeersch (born 1973), Canadian poet
- Veturi (1936–2010), Telugu poet and songwriter
- Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864–1937), French symbolist poet
- Peter Viereck (1916–2006), US poet, professor and political thinker
- Gilles Vigneault (born 1928), Canadian Quebecois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter
- Judit Vihar (born 1944), Hungarian poet and literary historian
- Jose Garcia Villa (1908–1997), Philippines poet, literary critic and painter
- Xavier Villaurrutia (1903–1950), Mexican poet and playwright
- François Villon (c. 1431–1464), French poet, thief and barroom brawler
- Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro; 70–19 BCE), ancient Roman poet
- Roemer Visscher (1547–1620), Dutch writer and poet
- Mihály Csokonai Vitéz (1773–1805), Hungarian poet
- Mihailo Vitković (1778–1829), Hungarian poet in Serbian and lawyer
- Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170 – c. 1230), celebrated Middle High German lyric poet
- Vincent Voiture (1597–1648), French poet
- Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694–1778), French Enlightenment writer
- Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679), Dutch playwright and poet
- Andrei Voznesensky (1933–2010), Soviet Russian poet
- Stanko Vraz (1810–1851), Croatian-Slovenian language poet
- Vyasa, considered author of Mahabharata and some Vedas
W
Wa–Wh
- Wace (c. 1110 – post-1174), Norman poet
- Sidney Wade (born 1951), US poet and professor
- John Wain (1925–1994), English poet, novelist and critic
- Diane Wakoski (born 1937), US poet linked with deep image, confessional and Beat generation poets
- Derek Walcott (1930–2017), Saint Lucia poet and playwright; 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Anne Waldman (born 1945), US poet
- Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935), German-US poet, translator and publisher
- Arthur Waley (1889–1966), English orientalist and Sinologist, poet and translator
- Alice Walker (born 1944), US author, poet and activist
- Margaret Walker (1915–1998), African-US writer
- Edmund Waller (1606–1687), English poet and politician
- Martin Walser (born 1927), German writer
- Robert Walser (1878–1956), German-speaking Swiss writer
- Wan Shenzi (1856–1923), Chinese couplet writer
- Connie Wanek (born 1952), US poet
- Wang Wei (王維, 701–761), Tang Dynasty Chinese poet, musician and painter
- Wang Wei (王微, 1597–1647), Chinese priestess and poet
- Emily Warn, US poet
- Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978), English novelist and poet
- Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), US poet, novelist and critic
- Lewis Warsh (1944–1920), US poet, writer and visual artist
- Thomas Warton (1728–1790), English literary historian, critic and poet
- Albert Wass (1908–1998), Hungarian poet and novelist exiled in US
- Aleksander Wat (1900–1967), Polish poet and memoirist
- Vernon Watkins (1906–1967), Welsh poet, translator and painter
- Thomas Watson (1555–1592), English lyric poet in English and Latin
- Samuel Wagan Watson (born 1972), Australian poet
- George Watsky (born 1986), US poet and rapper
- Barrett Watten (born 1948), US poet, editor and educator linked with Language poets
- Isaac Watts (1674–1748), English hymnist and logician
- Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832–1914), English critic and poet
- Tom Wayman (born 1945), Canadian poet, author and educator
- Adam Ważyk (1905–1982), Polish poet and essayist
- Francis Webb (1925–1973), Australian poet
- John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1634), English dramatist
- Rebecca Wee, US poet and professor
- Hannah Weiner (1928–1997), US Language poet
- Sándor Weöres (1913–1989), Hungarian poet and translator
- Wei Yingwu (737–792), Chinese poet
- Wen Yiduo (1899–1946), Chinese poet
- Marjory Heath Wentworth (born 1958), US poet; South Carolina Poet Laureate
- Charles Wesley (1707–1788), English Methodist leader and hymnist
- Gilbert West (1703–1756), English poet, translator and Christian apologist
- Philip Whalen (1923–2002), US poet, Zen Buddhist and figure in San Francisco Renaissance
- Franz Werfel (1890–1945), Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright and poet
- Johan Herman Wessel (1742–1785), Norwegian-Danish poet
- Mary Whateley (1738–1825), English poet and playwright
- Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784), first African-US poet
- Billy Edd Wheeler (born 1932), US songwriter, performer and poet
- E.B. White (1899–1985), US essayist, author and humorist
- Henry Kirke White (1785–1806), English poet
- James L. White (1936–1981), US poet, editor and teacher
- Walt Whitman (1819–1892), US poet, essayist and humanist
- Isabella Whitney (fl. 1567–1573), English poet
- Reed Whittemore (1919–2012), US poet, biographer and critic
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), US poet
Wi–Wy
- Anna Wickham (Edith Alice Mary Harper) (1884–1947), English poet raised in Australia
- Les Wicks (born 1955), Australian poet, publisher and editor
- Ulrika Widström (1764–1841), Swedish poet and translator
- John Wieners (1934–2002), US lyric poet
- Kazimierz Wierzyński (1894–1969), Polish poet and journalist
- Richard Wilbur (1921–2017), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1987–1988
- Peter Wild ((1940–2009) US poet and historian
- Jane Wilde (1826–1896), Irish poet and nationalist
- Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), Irish writer, playwright and poet
- John Wilkinson (born 1953), English poet
- William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (1071–1126), earliest troubadour poet whose work survives
- Aeneas Francon Williams (1886–1971), Anglo-Scottish poet, writer and missionary
- Emmett Williams (1925–2007), US poet and visual artist
- Jonathan Williams (1929–2008), US poet, publisher and essayist
- Heathcote Williams (1941–2017), English poet, political activist and dramatist
- Miller Williams (1930–2015), US poet, translator and editor
- Oscar Williams (1900–1964), Jewish Ukrainian-US anthologist and poet
- Saul Williams (born 1972), African-US singer, poet, writer and actor
- Sherley Anne Williams (1944–1999), African-US poet, novelist and social critic
- Waldo Williams (1904–1971), Welsh poet in Welsh
- William Carlos Williams (1883–1963), poet and physician linked with modernism and imagism
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717–1791), Welsh poet and hymnist
- Clive Wilmer (born 1945), English poet
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), English poet, courtier and satirist
- Eleanor Wilner (born 1937), US poet and editor
- Anne Elizabeth Wilson (1901–1946) US-born Canadian poet, writer, editor
- Peter Lamborn Wilson (Hakim Bey, 1945–2022), US political and cultural writer, essayist and poet
- Christian Wiman (born 1966), US poet and editor
- David Wingate (1828–1892), Scottish poet
- Yvor Winters (1900–1968), US poet and literary critic
- George Wither (1588–1667), English poet, pamphleteer and satirist
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy, 1885–1939), Polish poet, writer and philosopher
- Stefan Witwicki (1801–1847), Polish poet
- Woeser (born 1966), Tibetan activist, poet and essayist
- Rafał Wojaczek (1945–1971), Polish poet
- Grażyna Wojcieszko (born 1957), Polish poet and essayist
- Christa Wolf (1929–2011), German literary critic, novelist and poet
- Charles Wolfe (1791–1823), Irish poet
- Hans Wollschläger (1935–2007), German writer, translator and historian
- Sholeh Wolpe (born 1962), Iranian-US poet, literary translator and playwright
- Maryla Wolska (Iwo Płomieńczyk, 1873–1930), Polish poet
- George Woodcock (1912–1995), Canadian poet and writer of biography and history
- Gregory Woods (born 1953), English poet who grew up in Ghana
- Dorothy Wordsworth (1771–1855), English author, poet and diarist; sister of William Wordsworth
- William Wordsworth (1770–1850), English Romantic poet
- Philip Stanhope Worsley (1835–1866), English poet
- Carolyn D. Wright (1949–2016), US poet
- Charles Wright (born 1935), US poet; 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- David Wright (1920–1994), South African-born poet and author
- Franz Wright (1953–2015), US poet, son of James Wright; 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
- James Wright (1927–1980), US poet, father of Franz Wright
- Jay Wright (born 1935), African-US poet, playwright and essayist
- Judith Wright (1915–2000), Australian poet and environmentalist
- Lady Mary Wroth (1587 – c. 1651), English poet
- Thomas Wyatt (1503–1542), English ambassador and lyric poet
- Józef Wybicki (1747–1822), Polish poet and national-anthem writer
- Elinor Wylie (1885–1928), US poet and novelist
- Hedd Wyn (1887–1917), Welsh poet in Welsh
- Edward Alexander Wyon (1842−1872), English architect and poet
- Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907), Polish poet, playwright and painter
X
- Xenokleides (4th c. BCE), Athenian poet
- Xin Qiji (1140–1207), Chinese poet
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi (also Yam Yam) (1946–2005), Somali poet active in 1960s
- Xu Pei (born 1966), Chinese-born German poet
- Xu Zhimo (1897–1931), Chinese poet
- Halima Xudoyberdiyeva (1947–2018), Uzbek poet
Y
- Jūkichi Yagi (1898–1927), Japanese religious poet
- Leo Yankevich (born 1961), US poet and editor
- Peyo Yavorov (1878–1914), Bulgarian Symbolist poet
- Raushan Yazdani (1918–1967), Bengali poet and researcher
- W. B. Yeats (1865–1939), Irish poet; 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature
- Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), Russian lyrical poet
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017), Soviet Russian poet, dramatist and film director
- Yi Suhyeong (1435–1528), politician and Confucian scholar, writer, and poet
- Lin Yining (1655 – c. 1730), Chinese poet, painter and composer
- Akiko Yosano (1878–1942), Japanese poet, feminist and pacifist
- Nima Yooshij (1895–1960), Iranian poet
- Andrew Young (1885–1971), Scottish poet and clergyman
- Edward Young (1681–1765), English poet
- Ian Young (born 1945), English/Canadian poet
- Kevin Young (born 1970), US poet and teacher
- Marguerite Young (1908–1995), US author of poetry, fiction and non-fiction
- Simpson Charles Younger (1850–1943), baseball player, soldier during the American Civil War, Civil Rights campaigner, and poet
- A. W. Yrjänä (Aki Ville Yrjänä; born 1967), Finnish poet, musician and songwriter
- Yuan Mei (1716–1797), Chinese poet, scholar and gastronome
Z
- Tymon Zaborowski (1799–1828), Polish poet
- Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), Polish poet, novelist and essayist
- Józef Bohdan Zaleski (1802–1886), Polish poet
- Wacław Michał Zaleski (1799–1849), Polish poet, critic and politician
- Esperanza Zambrano (1901–1992), Mexican poet
- Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011), Italian poet
- Matthew Zapruder (born 1967), US poet, translator and professor
- Marya Zaturenska (1902–1982), US lyric poet
- Kazimiera Zawistowska (1870–1902), Polish poet and translator
- Abd al-Wahhab Abu Zayd (living), Saudi poet and translator
- Piotr Zbylitowski (1569–1649), Polish poet and courtier
- Katarzyna Ewa Zdanowicz-Cyganiak (born 1979), Polish poet and journalist
- Emil Zegadłowicz (1888–1941), Polish poet, playwright and translator
- Ludwig Zeller (1927–2019) Chilean poet
- Robert Zend (1929–1985), Hungarian-Canadian poet, fiction writer and artist
- Benjamin Zephaniah (born 1958), English writer, dub poet and Rastafarian
- Hristofor Zhefarovich (c. 1690–1753), Serbian painter, writer and poet
- Calvin Ziegler (1854–1930), German-US poet in Pennsylvania Dutch
- Narcyza Żmichowska (Gabryella, 1819–1876), Polish poet and novelist
- Radovan Zogović (1907–1986), Serbian/Montenegrin poet
- Miklós Zrínyi (1620–1664), Hungarian poet and statesman
- Zuhayr ibn Abī Sūlmā (520–609), pre-Islamic Arabian poet
- Louis Zukofsky (1904–1978), US objectivist poets
- Jerzy Żuławski (1874–1915), Polish poet, novelist and philosopher
- Juliusz Żuławski (1910–1999), Polish poet, critic and translator
- Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531), Swish poet, hymnist and Reformation leader
- Eugeniusz Żytomirski (1911–1975), Polish poet, playwright and novelist in Russia and Canada
References
- Omar, Mohamed (2001). The Scramble in the Horn of Africa. p. 402.
This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera.... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects.... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. The letter he intended to establish himself as Ruler of the Dolbahanta
- "Khadijah Ibrahim". First Story. Retrieved 2022-12-19.
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