List of poets

This is an alphabetical list of internationally notable poets.

Ab–Ak

 * Jonathan Aaron (born 1941), US poet
 * Aarudhra (1925–1998), Indian Telugu poet, born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry
 * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian poet
 * Henry Abbey (1842–1911), US poet
 * Eleanor Hallowell Abbott (1872–1958), US poet and fiction writer
 * Siôn Abel (fl. 18th c.), Welsh balladeer
 * Aria Aber (born 1991), Afghan poet and novelist, resides in the US, writes and publishes primarily in English
 * Lascelles Abercrombie (1881–1938), English poet and literary critic
 * Arthur Talmage Abernethy (1872–1956), US journalist, minister, scholar; first North Carolina Poet Laureate
 * Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr (967–1049), Persian poet
 * Sam Abrams (born 1935), US poet, editor and critic
 * Seth Abramson (born 1976), US poet
 * Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet
 * Dannie Abse (1923–2014), Welsh poet in English
 * Kathy Acker (1947–1997), US experimental novelist, punk poet and playwright
 * Diane Ackerman (born 1948), US author, poet and naturalist
 * Duane Ackerson (1942–2020), US writer of speculative poetry and fiction
 * Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer and playwright
 * Harold Acton (1904–1994), English writer, scholar and dilettante
 * János Aczél (died 1523), Hungarian poet and provost
 * Tamás Aczél (1921–1994), Hungarian poet
 * Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), Scottish novelist, poet and critic
 * Virginia Hamilton Adair (1919–2004), US poet
 * Helen Adam (1909–1993), Scottish-US poet, collagist and photographer
 * Draginja Adamović (1925–2000), Serbian poet
 * John Adams (1704–1740), US poet
 * Léonie Adams (1899–1988), US poet
 * Ryan Adams (born 1974), US singer-songwriter and writer
 * Hendrik Adamson (1891–1946), Estonian poet
 * Fleur Adcock (born 1934), New Zealand poet mainly in England
 * Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
 * Kim Addonizio (born 1954), US poet and novelist
 * Artur Adson (1889–1977), Estonian poet
 * Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
 * Mariska Ady (1888–1977), Hungarian poet
 * Aeschylus (525–456 BCE), Athenian tragedian
 * Anastasia Afanasieva (born 1982), Ukrainian physician, poet, writer, translator
 * Lucius Afranius (fl. c. 94 BCE), Roman comic poet
 * John Agard (born 1949), Afro-Guyanese poet and children's writer
 * Patience Agbabi (born 1965), British poet and performer
 * James Agee (1909–1955), US novelist, screenwriter, and poet
 * Deborah Ager (born 1977), US poet and editor
 * István Ágh (born 1938), Hungarian poet
 * Kelli Russell Agodon (born 1969), US poet
 * Dritëro Agolli (1931–2017), Albanian poet
 * Carlos Martínez Aguirre (born 1974), Spanish poet
 * Delmira Agustini (1886–1914), Uruguayan poet
 * Ishaaq bin Ahmed (1095 – 12th century), Arab scholar, poet and ancestor of the Somali Isaaq clan-family
 * Ai (Florence Anthony, 1947–2010), US poet
 * Ama Ata Aidoo (1940–2023), Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and academic
 * Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), US poet and author
 * Aganice Ainianos (1838–1892), Greek poet
 * Akazome Emon (956–1041), Japanese poet and historian
 * Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician
 * Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), Austrian Jewish poet writing in German
 * Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1929–1990), Iranian poet, Persian poet
 * Bella Akhmadulina (1937–2010), Russian poet
 * Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet
 * Jan Nisar Akhtar (1914–1976), Indian Urdu poet
 * Javed Akhtar (born 1945), Indian poet, lyricist and scriptwriter
 * Salman Akhtar (born 1946), Indian US professor and poet writing in English and Urdu

Al–Am

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

An–Aq

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

Ar

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

As–Az

 * Asadi Tusi (1000–1073), Persian poet
 * M. K. Asante (born 1982), US author, poet and professor
 * John Ashbery (1927–2017), US poet, 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
 * Cliff Ashby (1919–2012), English poet and novelist
 * Renée Ashley, US poet and novelist
 * Anton Aškerc (1856–1912), Slovenian poet and Roman Catholic priest
 * Asjadi (10th–11th c.), Persian poet
 * Adam Asnyk (1838–1897), Polish poet and dramatist
 * Herbert Asquith (1881–1947), English poet
 * Mina Assadi (born 1942), Iranian poet, Persian poet, author and songwriter
 * Vishnu Raj Atreya (1944–2020), Nepali poet, author, songwriter and novelist
 * Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian poet, novelist and essayist
 * W. H. Auden (1907–1973), Anglo-US poet, essayist
 * Imre Augustich (Imre Augustič, 1837–1879), Slovenian/Hungarian poet
 * Joseph Auslander (1897–1965), US poet, anthologist and novelist; US Poet Laureate, 1937–1941
 * Ausonius (c. 310–395), Latin poet and rhetorician at Burdigala (Bordeaux)
 * Paul Auster (born 1947), US poet, novelist, playwright, essayist, and translator
 * James Avery (1948–2013), US actor, poet and screenwriter
 * Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
 * Krayem Awad (born 1948), Viennese painter, sculptor and poet of Syrian origin
 * Gennady Aygi (1934–2006), Russian poet
 * Ayo Ayoola-Amale (born 1970), Nigerian poet
 * Pam Ayres (born 1947), English humorous poet
 * Robert Aytoun (1570–1638), Scottish poet
 * Maryam Jafari Azarmani (born 1977), Iranian poet, Persian poet, essayist, critic and translator
 * Azraqi (11th c.), Persian poet
 * Jody Azzouni (born 1954), US philosopher and poet

Ba

 * Baba Tahir (11th c.), Persian poet
 * Mihály Babits (1883–1941), Hungarian poet and translator
 * Ken Babstock (born 1970), Canadian poet
 * Jimmy Santiago Baca (born 1952), US poet and writer of Apache/Chicano descent
 * Bacchylides (fl. 5th c. BCE), Greek lyric poet
 * Bellamy Bach (fl. 1980s), joint pseudonym of fiction writers and poets
 * Harivansh Rai Bachchan (fl. 20th c.), Hindi poet
 * Joseph M. Bachelor (also Joseph Morris, 1889–1947), US author, poet and educator
 * Simon Bacher (1823–1991), Hebrew poet in Hungary
 * Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), Austrian poet and author
 * Sutardji Calzoum Bachri (born 1941), Indonesian poet
 * George Bacovia (1881–1957), Romanian poet
 * Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), Polish poet and soldier
 * Vahshi Bafqi (1532–1583) Persian poet
 * Julio Baghy (1891–1967), Hungarian Esperanto author and poet
 * Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (1886–1951), Persian poet
 * Bai Juyi (772–846), Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty
 * Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), Scottish poet and dramatist
 * József Bajza (1804–1858), Hungarian poet and critic
 * Józef Baka (1706/1707–1788), Polish/Lithuanian poet and Jesuit priest
 * Vyt Bakaitis (born 1940), Lithuania-US translator, editor and poet
 * David Baker (born 1954), US poet
 * Hinemoana Baker (born 1968), New Zealand poet and musician
 * Bâkî (1526–1600), Ottoman-Turkish language poet (pseudonym of Mahmud Abdülbâkî)
 * John Balaban (born 1943), US poet and translator
 * Bálint Balassi (1554–1594), Hungarian poet
 * Béla Balázs (1884–1949), Hungarian poet and critic
 * Edward Balcerzan (born 1937), Polish poet, critic and translator
 * Stanisław Baliński (1898–1984), Polish poet and diplomat
 * Jesse Ball (born 1978), US poet and novelist
 * Zsófia Balla (born 1949), Hungarian poet from Romania
 * Addie L. Ballou (1837–1916), US poet and suffragist
 * Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian symbolist poet and translator
 * Russell Banks (born 1940), US fiction writer and poet
 * Anne Bannerman (1765–1829), Scottish poet
 * Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones) (1934–2014), US writer, poet and dramatist
 * Marcin Baran (born 1963), Polish poet and journalist
 * Stanisław Barańczak (1946–2014), Polish poet, critic and translator
 * Porfirio Barba-Jacob (1883–1942), Colombian poet and writer
 * Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743–1825), English poet, essayist and children's author
 * John Barbour (c. 1320–1395), Scottish poet, first major writer in Scots
 * Alexander Barclay (c. 1476–1552), English/Scottish poet
 * George Barker (1913–1991), English poet and author
 * Les Barker (born 1947), English poet
 * Christine Barkhuizen le Roux (1959–2020), South African poet
 * Coleman Barks (born 1937), US poet
 * Mihály Barla (Miháo Barla, c. 1778–1824), Slovenian poet and pastor in Hungary
 * Mary Barnard (1909–2001), US poet, biographer and translator
 * Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), US writer
 * William Barnes (1801–1886), English writer, poet and philologist
 * Catherine Barnett (born 1960), US poet and educator
 * Richard Barnfield (1574–1620), English poet
 * Willis Barnstone (born 1927), US poet and literary translator
 * Maria Barrell (died 1803), poet, playwright and writer of periodicals
 * Laird Barron (born 1970), US poet, author
 * Sándor Barta (1897–1938), Hungarian poet executed in USSR
 * Bernard Barton (1784–1849), English poet and Quaker
 * Bertha Hirsch Baruch (fl. late 18th – early 19th c.), US writer, poet and suffragist
 * Todd Bash (born 1965), US avant-garde playwright, poet and writer
 * Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japanese renku and haiku poet
 * Michael Basinski (born 1950), US text, visual and sound poet
 * Ellen Bass (born 1947), US poet
 * Arlo Bates (1850–1918), US author, poet and educator
 * David Bates (1809–1870), US poet
 * Joseph Bathanti (born 1953), US poet, writer and professor; North Carolina Poet Laureate
 * János Batsányi (1763–1845), Hungarian poet
 * Dawn-Michelle Baude (born 1959), US poet, journalist and educator
 * Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), French poet, essayist and translator
 * Cirilo Bautista (1941–2018), Philippines poet, writer and critic
 * Charles Baxter (born 1947), US writer and poet
 * James K. Baxter (1926–1972), New Zealand poet

Be

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

Bh–Bl

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

Bo–Bri

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

Bro–By

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

Cab–Cav

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

Ce–Cl

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

Coa–Con

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

Coo–Cz

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

Da–Dh

 * Dalpatram (Dalpatram Dahyabhai Travadi) (1820–1898), Indian Gujarati language poet
 * Abraham ben Daniel (1511-1578), Italian poet and rabbi
 * Roque Dalton (1935–1975), Salvador poet
 * Daqiqi (died 977), Persian poet
 * Ruby Dhal (born 1994), British-Afghan poet
 * Sapardi Djoko Damono (1940–2020), Indonesian poet
 * Samuel Daniel (1562–1619), English poet and historian
 * David Daniels (1933–2008), US visual poet
 * Jeffrey Daniels (living), African-US poet
 * Thomas d'Angleterre, 12th-century poet in Old French
 * Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863–1938), Italian poet, journalist, novelist and dramatist
 * Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843–1925), French-born poet and writer
 * Rubén Darío (1867–1916), Nicaraguan poet initiating modernismo
 * Keki Daruwalla (born 1937), Indian poet and fiction writer in English
 * Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), English poet and herbalist
 * Mahmoud Darwish (1941–2008), Palestinian poet and author
 * Elizabeth Daryush (1887–1977), English poet; daughter of Robert Bridges
 * Jibanananda Das (1899–1954), Bengali poet and author
 * Petter Dass (died 1707), Norwegian poet
 * Mina Dastgheib (born 1943), Iranian poet, Persian poet
 * René Daumal (1908–1944), French para-surrealist writer and poet
 * Jean Daurat (1508–1588), French poet, scholar and La Pléiade member
 * William Davenant (1606–1668), English poet and playwright
 * Guy Davenport (1927–2005), US writer, translator and illustrator
 * Donald Davidson (1893–1968), US poet, essayist and critic
 * John Davidson (1857–1909), Scottish balladeer, playwright and novelist
 * Lucretia Maria Davidson (1808–1825), US poet
 * Donald Davie (1922–1995), English poet and critic
 * Alan Davies (born 1951), US poet, critic and editor
 * Hugh Sykes Davies (1909–1984), English poet, novelist and communist
 * Sir John Davies (1569–1626), English poet, lawyer and politician
 * W. H. Davies (1871–1940), Welsh poet and writer
 * Jon Davis, US poet
 * Edward Davison (1898–1970), Scottish-US poet and critic; father of poet Peter Davison
 * Peter Davison (1928–2004), US poet, essayist and editor; son of poet Edward Davison
 * Denis Davydov (1784–1839), Russian soldier-poet of Napoleonic Wars
 * Dayaram (1777–1853), Gujarati language poet
 * Gábor Dayka (1769–1796), Hungarian poet
 * Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972), Anglo-Irish poet; UK Poet Laureate 1968–1972
 * James Deahl (born 1945), Canadian poet and publisher
 * Dulcie Deamer (1890–1972), Australian poet and novelist
 * John F. Deane (born 1943), Irish poet and novelist
 * Aleš Debeljak (1961–2016), Slovenian critic, poet and essayist
 * Jean Louis De Esque (1879–1956), US poet and author
 * Madeline DeFrees (1919–2015), US poet
 * Jacek Dehnel (born 1980), Polish poet, translator and painter
 * Thomas Dekker (1572–1641), English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer
 * Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), Mexican poet
 * Baltasar del Alcázar (1530–1606), Spanish poet
 * Walter de la Mare (1873–1956), English poet, short story writer and novelist
 * Leconte de Lisle (1818–1894), French poet of Parnassian movement
 * Christine De Luca (born 1947), Scottish poet in English and Shetland dialect
 * François de Malherbe (1555–1628), French poet, critic and translator
 * Alfred de Musset (1810–1857), French poet
 * Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855), French poet, essayist and translator
 * Sir John Denham (c. 1614–1669), English poet and courtier
 * Tory Dent (1958–2005), US poet, critic and commentator
 * Évariste de Parny (1753–1814), French poet
 * Regina Derieva (1949–2013), Russian poet and writer
 * Johan Andreas Dèr Mouw (1863–1919), Dutch poet and philosopher
 * Toi Derricotte (born 1941), African-US poet
 * Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406), medieval French poet
 * Lord de Tabley (1835–1895), poet and botanist
 * Babette Deutsch (1895–1982), US poet, critic and novelist
 * Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562–1635), Spanish playwright and poet
 * Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, courtier and poet praised also for lost plays
 * Alfred de Vigny (1797–1863), French poet, playwright and novelist
 * Lakshmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959), Nepali poet and essayist
 * Phillippa Yaa de Villiers (born 1966), South African poet and performance artist
 * Imtiaz Dharker (born 1954), Pakistan-born British poet, artist and filmmaker
 * Dhurjati (c. 15th – 16th cc.), Telugu language poet

Di–Dr

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

Du–Dy

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

E

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

Fa–Fn

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

Fo–Fu

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

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)

Ha



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

He

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

Hi–Hy

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

I

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

J

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

Ka–Kh

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

Ki–Ky

 * Saba Kidane (born 1978), Eritrean poet
 * Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), Danish philosopher and poet
 * Emelihter Kihleng, Pohnpeian poet and academic
 * Andrzej Tadeusz Kijowski (born 1954), Polish poet and politician
 * Takarai Kikaku (1661–1707), Japanese haikai poet and disciple of Matsuo Bashō
 * Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918), US writer and poet
 * Edward King (1612–1637), Irish-born subject of Milton's Lycidas
 * Henry King (1592–1669), English poet and bishop
 * William King (1663–1712), English poet
 * Thomas Hansen Kingo (1634–1703), Danish bishop, poet and hymnist
 * Gottfried Kinkel (1815–1882), German poet and revolutionary
 * Galway Kinnell (1927–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1982
 * John Kinsella (born 1963), Australian poet, novelist and essayist
 * Thomas Kinsella (1928–2021), Irish poet, translator and editor
 * Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), English fiction writer and poet
 * Easterine Kire (born 1959), Naga poet and novelist
 * Danilo Kiš (1935–1989), Serbian fiction writer and poet
 * Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet, novelist and playwright
 * Atala Kisfaludy (1836–1911), Hungarian poet
 * Iya Kiva (born 1984), Ukrainian poet
 * Eila Kivikk'aho (1921–2004), Finnish poet
 * Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014), US poet; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1985
 * Sarah Klassen (born 1932), Canadian poet and fiction writer
 * August Kleinzahler (born 1949), US poet
 * Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803), German poet
 * Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1750–1807), Polish poet and Jesuit
 * Etheridge Knight (1931–1991), African-US poet
 * Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828), Japanese haikai poet
 * Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish Renaissance poet
 * Kenneth Koch (1925–2002), US poet, playwright and professor
 * Jan Kochanowski (1530–1584), Polish poet
 * Petar Kočić (1877–1916), Bosnian Serb writer
 * István Koháry (1649–1731), Hungarian poet
 * Ferenc Kölcsey (1790–1838), Hungarian poet
 * Aladár Komját (1891–1937), Hungarian poet
 * Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1947), US poet and teacher; Pulitzer Prize for Poetry 1994
 * Béla Kondor (1931–1972), Hungarian poet, prose writer and painter
 * Faik Konitza (1875–1942), Albanian poet
 * Halina Konopacka (1900–1989), Polish poet and athlete
 * Maria Konopnicka (1842–1910), Polish poet, novelist and children's writer
 * Ted Kooser (born 1939), US poet; US Poet Laureate 2004–2006
 * Stanisław Korab-Brzozowski (1876–1901), Polish poet and translator
 * Julian Kornhauser (born 1946), Polish poet, novelist and critic
 * Apollo Korzeniowski (1820–1869), Polish expressionist poet
 * József Kossics (Jožef Košič, 1788–1867), Hungarian/Slovenian poet and priest
 * Laza Kostić (1841–1910), Serbian poet, writer and polyglot
 * Dezső Kosztolányi (1885–1936), Hungarian poet and prose writer
 * Gopi Kottoor (born 1956), Indian poet, playwright and editor
 * Urszula Kozioł (born 1931), Polish poet
 * Taja Kramberger (born 1970), Slovenian poet, translator and anthropologist
 * Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Polish poet and novelist
 * Zygmunt Krasiński (1812–1859), Polish poet
 * Zlatko Krasni (1951–2008), Serbian poet
 * Ruth Krauss (1901–1993), US poet and children's book author
 * Krayem Awad (born 1948), Syrian-Austrian painter, sculptor and poet
 * Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (born 1946), US writer; Poet Laureate of Virginia
 * Katarzyna Krenz (born 1953), poet, novelist and painter
 * Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981), Croatian/Yugoslav poet and novelist
 * Antjie Krog (born 1952), South African poet, academic and writer
 * Józef Krupiński (1930–1998), Polish poet
 * Ryszard Krynicki (born 1943), Polish poet and translator
 * Marilyn Krysl (born 1942), US poet and fiction writer
 * Andrzej Krzycki (1482–1537), Polish poet and archbishop
 * Žofia Kubini (fl. 17th c.), Hungarian poet in early Czech
 * Paweł Kubisz (1907–1968), Polish poet and journalist
 * Péter Kuczka (1923–1999), Hungarian poet and critic
 * Anatoly Kudryavitsky (born 1954), Russian/Irish novelist, poet and translator
 * Endre Kukorelly (born 1951), Hungarian poet and journalist
 * Maxine Kumin (1925–2014), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1981–82
 * Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1974 and 2000
 * Yanka Kupala (1882–1942), Belarus poet
 * Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010), US counterculture poet and author
 * Jalu Kurek (1904–1983), Polish poet and prose writer
 * Momoko Kuroda (黒田杏子, born 1938), Japanese haiku poet
 * Mira Kuś (born 1958), Polish poet
 * Kusumagraj (1912–1999), Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
 * Onat Kutlar (1936–1995), Turkish writer and poet
 * Stephen Kuusisto (born 1955), US poet
 * Sir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston (1587–1642), English poet

La

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

Le

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

Li–Ly

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

Ma

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

Mc–Me

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

Mi–Mo

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

Mu–My

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

N

 * Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), Russian novelist and poet in Russian and English
 * Daniel Naborowski (1573–1640), Polish poet
 * Cecilia del Nacimiento (1570–1646), Spanish nun, mystic, writer, and poet
 * Ágnes Nemes Nagy (1922–1991), Hungarian poet and translator
 * Gáspár Nagy (1949–2007), Hungarian poet
 * Lajos Parti Nagy (born 1953), Hungarian poet, playwright and critic
 * László Nagy (1925–1978), Hungarian poet and translator
 * Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1539), first Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
 * Nannaya (c. 11th c.), earliest known Telugu author
 * Philip Nanton (living), Vincentian poet
 * Adam Naruszewicz (1733–1796), Polish-Lithuanian poet, historian and dramatist
 * Ogden Nash (1902–1971), US poet known for light verse
 * Thomas Nashe (1567–1601), English playwright, poet and satirist
 * Nasir Khusraw (1004–1088), Persian poet
 * Imadaddin Nasimi (died c. 1417), Azerbaijani poet
 * Momčilo Nastasijević (1894–1938), Serbian poet, novelist and dramatist
 * Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), Japanese novelist and poet
 * Gellu Naum (1915–2001), Romanian poet, dramatist and children's writer
 * Nedîm (c. 1681–1730), Ottoman poet
 * John Neal (1793–1876), US writer, critic, activist and poet
 * Henry Neele (1798–1828), English poet and scholar
 * Walela Nehanda, Black American poet
 * John Neihardt (1881–1973), US poet, historian and ethnographer
 * Émile Nelligan (1879–1941), Quebec poet
 * Marilyn Nelson (born 1946), US poet, translator and children's writer
 * Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), US poet; US Poet Laureate 1963–1964
 * István Péter Németh (born 1960), Hungarian poet and literary historian
 * Condetto Nénékhaly-Camara (1930–1972), Guinean poet and playwright
 * Jan Neruda (1834–1891), Czech journalist, writer and poet
 * Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), Chilean poet and politician; Nobel Prize for Literature 1971
 * Neşâtî (died 1674), Ottoman Sufi poet
 * Henry John Newbolt (1862–1938), English historian and poet
 * John Henry Newman (1801–1890), writer, poet and hymnist
 * Aimee Nezhukumatathil (born 1974), Asian US poet
 * Nguyễn Du (1766–1820), Vietnamese poet in ancient Chữ Nôm script
 * B. P. Nichol (bpNichol, 1944–1988), Canadian poet
 * Nicholas I of Montenegro (1841–1921), poet and king of Montenegro
 * Grace Nichols (born 1950), Guyanese poet
 * Norman Nicholson (1914–1987), English poet
 * Lorine Niedecker (1903–1970), US poet
 * Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (1758–1841), Polish poet, playwright and statesman
 * Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, poet and philologist
 * Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (Migjeni) (1911–1938), Albanian poet and writer
 * Nizami Aruzi (1110–1161), Persian poets
 * Nisami (1141–1209), Persian poet
 * Attar of Nishapur (1145–1221), Persian poet
 * Nishiyama Sōin (1605–1682), Japanese haikai poet
 * Moeen Nizami (born 1965), Pakistani poet, scholar and writer
 * Petar II Petrović-Njegoš (1813–1851), Serbian poet, playwright and prince-bishop
 * Yamilka Noa (born 1980), Cuban–Costa Rican poet
 * Gábor Nógrádi (born 1947), Hungarian poet, essayist and children's novelist
 * Christopher Nolan (1965–2009), Irish poet and author
 * Fan S. Noli (1882–1965), Albanian/US writer, diplomat and historian
 * Olga Nolla (1938–2001), Puerto Rican poet, writer and professor
 * Henry Normal (born 1956), British poet, writer, film & TV producer
 * 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

Pa

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

Pe–Pl

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

Po–Pu

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

Q

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

Ra–Re

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

Ri–Ry

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

Sa–Se

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

Sh–Sj

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

Sk–Sp

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

St–Sz

 * Edward Stachura (1937–1979), poet, prose writer and translator
 * Leopold Staff (1878–1957), Polish poet
 * William Stafford (1914–1993), US poet and pacifist; US Poet Laureate 1970–1971
 * A. E. Stallings (born 1968), US poet and translator
 * Jon Stallworthy (1935–2014), English academic, poet and literary critic
 * Harold Standish (1919–1972), Canadian poet and novelist
 * Nichita Stănescu (1933–1983), Romanian poet
 * Ann Stanford (1916–1987), US poet
 * Anna Stanisławska (1651–1701), Polish poet
 * George Starbuck (1931–1996), US neo-Formalist poet
 * Andrzej Stasiuk (born 1960), Polish poet and novelist
 * Statius (c. 45–96, CE), Roman poet
 * Christian Karlson Stead, ONZ, CBE (born 1932), New Zealand novelist, poet and critic
 * Stesichorus (c. 640–555 BCE), Greek lyric poet
 * Joseph Stefan (1835–1893), Carinthian Slovenes physicist, mathematician and poet in Austria
 * Stefan Stefanović (1807–1828), Serbian poet
 * Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), US modernist in prose and poetry
 * Eric Stenbock (1860–1895), Baltic German poet and writer of fantastic fiction
 * Mattie Stepanek (1990–2004), US poet and advocate
 * George Stepney (1663–1707), English poet and diplomat
 * George Sterling (1869–1926), US poet and playwright, author of "A Wine of Wizardry"
 * Anatol Stern (1899–1968), Polish poet and art critic
 * Gerald Stern (1925–2022), US poet
 * Marinko Stevanović (born 1961), Bosnian poet
 * C. J. Stevens (1927–2021), US writer of poetry, fiction and biography
 * Wallace Stevens (1880–1955), US modernist poet
 * Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer
 * Margo Taft Stever, US poet
 * Trumbull Stickney (1874–1904), US classical scholar and poet
 * James Still (1906–2001), US poet, novelist and folklorist
 * Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja (1828–1878), Serbian poet
 * Dejan Stojanović (born 1959), Serbian-US poet, writer and philosopher
 * Donna J. Stone (1933–1994), US poet and philanthropist
 * Ruth Stone (1915–2011), US poet, author and teacher
 * Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet (born 1968), US poet and editor
 * Edward Storer (1880–1944), English writer, translator and poet linked with Imagism
 * Theodor Storm (1817–1888), German writer and poet
 * Alfonsina Storni (1892–1938), Latin US Modernist poet
 * Mark Strand (1934–2014), Canadian-born US poet, essayist and translator; US Poet Laureate, 1990–1991
 * Botho Strauß (born 1944), German playwright, poet and novelist
 * Joseph Stroud (born 1943), US poet
 * Jesse Stuart (1907–1984), US writer of fiction and poetry
 * Jacquie Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni) (1927–2009), New Zealand poet, fiction writer and librarian
 * Su Shi (1037–1101), Song dynasty writer, poet and artist
 * Su Xiaoxiao (died c. 501 CE), courtesan and poet under Southern Qi dynasty
 * Allamraju Subrahmanyakavi (1831–1892), Indian Telugu poet
 * Sir John Suckling (1609–1642), English poet and inventor of card game cribbage
 * Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), Islamic poet and Ottoman ruler
 * Robert Sullivan (born 1967), New Zealand Māori poet, academic and editor
 * Jovan Sundečić (1825–1900), Serbian poet
 * Cemal Süreya (1931–1990), Turkish poet and writer
 * Abhi Subedi (born 1945), Nepalese poet, playwright and critic
 * Pingali Surana (16th c.), Telugu poet
 * Robert Sward (1933–2022), US and Canadian poet and novelist
 * Cole Swensen (born 1955), US poet, translator and copywriter
 * Karen Swenson (born 1936), US poet
 * May Swenson (1913–1989), US poet and playwright
 * Marcin Świetlicki (born 1961), Polish poet, prose writer and musician
 * Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist and pamphleteer
 * Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909), English poet, playwright and novelist
 * Anna Świrszczyńska (also Anna Swir) (1909–1984), Polish poet
 * Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618), English poet
 * Arthur William Symons (1865–1945), English poet, critic and editor
 * John Millington Synge (1871–1909), Irish dramatist, poet and folklore collector
 * Władysław Syrokomla (1823–1862), Polish poet and translator in Russian Empire
 * Lőrinc Szabó (1900–1957), Hungarian poet and literary translator
 * Fruzina Szalay (1864–1926), Hungarian poet and translator
 * Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński (c. 1550 – c. 1581), poet in Polish and Latin
 * Arthur Sze (born 1950), Chinese US poet
 * Bertalan Szemere (1812–1869), Hungarian poet and politician
 * Gyula Szentessy (1870–1905), Hungarian poet
 * George Szirtes (born 1948), Hungary-born British poet and translator
 * Janusz Szpotański (1929–2001), Polish poet, satirist and translator
 * Włodzimierz Szymanowicz (1946–1967), Polish poet and painter
 * Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012), Polish poet, essayist and translator; 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature
 * Szymon Szymonowic (1558–1629), Polish poet

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 storyteller
 * Edward Taylor (c. 1642–1729), colonial American poet, physician and pastor
 * Emily Taylor (1795–1872), English poet and children's writer
 * Henry Taylor (1800–1886), English poet and dramatist
 * Henry S. Taylor (born 1942), US poet
 * Jane Taylor (1783–1824), English poet and novelist
 * Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), US lyric poet
 * Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675), Sikh Guru and Punjabi poet
 * Telesilla (fl. 510 BCE), Greek poet
 * Raipiyel Tennakoon (1899–1965), Sri Lankan poet
 * William Tennant (1784–1848), Scottish scholar and poet
 * Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), English poet; Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom 1850–1892
 * Vahan Terian (1885–1920), Armenian poet, lyricist and public activist
 * Elaine Terranova (born 1939), US poet
 * Lucy Terry (c. 1730–1821), African-US poet; author of oldest known work by African American
 * A. S. J. Tessimond (1902–1962), English poet
 * Neyzen Tevfik (1879–1953), Turkish poet, satirist and performer

Th–To

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

Tr–Tz

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

U

 * Kornel Ujejski (1823–1897), Polish poet and political writer
 * Erzsi Újvári (1899–1940), Hungarian poet
 * Laura Ulewicz (1930–2007), US beat poet
 * Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha (1885–1945), Telugu poet
 * Jeff Unaegbu (born 1979), Nigerian writer, actor and documentary film maker
 * Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), Spanish essayist, novelist and poet
 * Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), Italian poet, critic and academic
 * Abul Qasim Hasan Unsuri Balkhi (died 1039/1040) Persian poet
 * Louis Untermeyer (1885–1977), US poet, anthologist and critic; US Poet Laureate 1961–1962
 * John Updike (1932–2009), US novelist, poet and critic
 * Allen Upward (1863–1926), Irish-English Imagist poet and teacher
 * Uthman Mukhtari (1074–1118), Persian poet
 * Amy Uyematsu (1947–2023), Japanese-US poet

V

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

Wa–Wh

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

Wi–Wy

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

X

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

Y

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

Z

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