This is a list of poets. It lists notable poets.
Alphabetical list
A
Ab-Ak
- Dannie Abse (born 1923), English poet
- Milton Acorn (1923–1986), Canadian poet, writer, and playwright
- Léonie Adams (1899–1988), American poet
- Ryan Adams (born 1974), singer-songwriter with Whiskeytown and The Cardinals who had his first book Infinity Blues published in 2009
- Fleur Adcock (born 1934), poet and New Zealand native who has spent most of her life in England
- Joseph Addison (1672–1719), English essayist, poet, writer and politician
- Endre Ady (1877–1919), Hungarian poet
- Aeschylus (525-456 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Lucius Afranius (poet) (fl. circa 94 BC), Roman comic poet
- Patience Agbabi (born 1965), English poet
- James Agee (1909–1955), American novelist, screenwriter, journalist, poet, film critic
- Dritëro Agolli (born 1931), Albanian poet
- Ai (born 1947), American poet whose original name was Florence Anthony
- Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), American poet and author
- Mark Akenside (1721–1770), English poet and physician
- Bella Akhmadulina (born 1957), Russian poet
- Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966), Russian poet
Al-Am
- Luigi Alamanni, (1495–1556)
- Yahya Alavi fard, (born 1973 ),Iranian Poet of kids and youth / Writer / Journalist from 1997
- Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, (1207-1273)
- Alcman (fl. 7th cent. BC), Ancient Greek lyric poet
- Richard Aldington (1892–1962)
- Vasile Alecsandri (1821-1890), Romanian poet
- Claribel Alegria (born 1924), Central American poet
- Vicente Aleixandre, (1898–1984), Nobel Laureate 1977
- Josip Murn Aleksandrov (1879–1901)
- Muhammad Ali, (born 1942), boxer, war protester, civil rights protester, and poet
- Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321), Italian poet
- James Alexander Allan (1889–1956), Australian poet
- William Allingham, (1824 or 1828-1889)
- Damaso Alonso (1898–1990), Spanish poet, philologist, and literary critic
- Natan Alterman (1910–1970), Israeli poet, journalist, and translator
- Al Alvarez (born 1919), English poet
- Amara Sinha (fl. circa AD 375), Sanskrit grammarian and poet
- Ambroise, Norman-French poet of the Third Crusade
- Yehuda Amichai (1924–2000) Israeli poet
- Kingsley Amis (1922–1995) English author and poet
- A. R. Ammons (1926–2001) American author and poet
An-Aq
- Anacreon (570 BC-488 BC), Greek lyric poet
- Alfred Andersch, (1914–1980)
- Hans Christian Andersen, Danish poet (1805–1875)
- Jon Anderson, (born 1944), English rock music vocalist and lyricist
- Mário de Andrade, (1893–1945), Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer
- Aneirin, medieval (6th century) epic poet
- Maya Angelou, (born April 4, 1928), American Poet
- Antler (poet), (b.1946), American poet
- Brother Antoninus
- Chairil Anwar, (Indonesian poet: 1922–1949)
- Guillaume Apollinaire, (1880–1918)
- Apollo Poetry (1983)
- Apollonius of Rhodes (270-after 245 BC)
- Maja Apostoloska, (born 1976), Macedonian poetess
- Pawlu Aquilina, (1929-2009), Maltese poet
Ar-Au
- Louis Aragon, (1897-1982)
- Archilochus, (ca.680-ca.645 BC), ancient Greek lyric poet
- Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (1843-1925)
- Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878-1954), American Dada-ist
- Tudor Arghezi (1880-1967), Romanian poet
- Ludovico Ariosto, (1474-1533)
- Rae Armantrout, (1947-)
- Simon Armitage, (born 1963)
- Ernst Moritz Arndt, (1769-1860), German patriotic author and poet
- Achim von Arnim, (1781-1831)
- Bettina von Arnim, (1785-1859)
- Matthew Arnold, (1822-1888)
- Jean Arp, (1886-1966), sculptor, painter, and poet
- Antonin Artaud, (1896-1948), actor, playwright, poet, essayist
- John Ashbery, (born 1927)
- Anton Askerc, (1856-1912)
- Farid al-Din Attar, (c. 1130-c. 1230)
- Margaret Atwood, (born 1939), poet, novelist, essayist
- W. H. Auden, (1907-1973)
- Ausiàs March, (1397-1459)
- Ausonius, (c. 310-395)
Av-Ay
- Margaret Avison (1918-2007)
- Gennady Aygi (1934-2006), Russian poet
- Robert Ayton (1570-1638)
B
Ba
Bab-Bal
- Ken Babstock, Canadian
- Bacchylides, (died c. 467 BC)
- Ingeborg Bachmann, (1926-1973)
- Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, Indonesian Poet
- George Bacovia, Romanian poet
- Janos Bacsanyi, (1763-1845)
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, (1921-1944)
- Julio Baghy
- Bai Juyi
- Joanna Baillie, (1762-1851)
- Bâkî, (1526–1600), Ottoman poet
- Jesse Ball American poet
- Konstantin Balmont, Russian poet
Bar-Bax
- Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones)
- Anna Laetitia Barbauld, (1743-1825)
- Porfirio Barba-Jacob
- John Barbour, (c. 1316-1395)
- George Barker, (1913-1991)
- Les Barker
- Richard Barnefield, (1574-1627)
- William Barnes, (1801-1886)
- Elizabeth Barrett(March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861)
- Matsuo Bashō, (1644-1694), renku and haiku poet
- Ellen Bass
- Charles Baudelaire, (1821-1867)
- James K. Baxter, (1926-1972)
Be
- Francis Beaumont, (1586-1616)
- Joshua Beckman
- Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, (1836-1870)
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes, (1803-1849) (English writer in Germany)
- Aphra Behn, (1640-1689)
- Marvin Bell, (1937-?)
- Gioconda Belli, (born 1948)
- Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli, (Roman dialect)
- Xuan Bello, (born 1965), best-known asturian language poet
- Hilaire Belloc
- Andrey Bely, (1880-1934)
- Gottfried Ben
- Stephen Vincent Benét, (1898-1943)
- William Rose Benét, (1886-1950)
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett
- Jim Bennett (1951) A Liverpool (UK) poet best known for his work during the era of punk.
- Bo Bergman (1869-1967)
- Ilhan Berk
- Daniel Berrigan
- Wendell Berry
- John Berryman
- John Betjeman, (1906-1984)
- Helen Bevington (Dr. Johnson's Waterfall)
Bi-Bl
- Laurence Binyon, (1879-1943)
- Earle Birney, (1904-1995), anti-conventional poet, also wrote novels, short stories, drama
- Nevin Birsa, (born 1947)
- Elizabeth Bishop, (1911-1979)
- Bill Bissett, (born 1939), poet, famous for incorporating sound and the visual into poetry
- Lucian Blaga, Romanian poet (1895-1961)
- Don Blanding, (fl. mid 20th cen.), American,
- William Blake, (1757-1827), English painter, poet
- Aleksandr Blok, (1880-1921)
- Benjamin Paul Blood, (1832-1919)
- Roy Blumenthal, (born 1968)
- Edmund Blunden
- Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
- Robert Bly
Bo
- Jean Bodel
- Louise Bogan
- Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet
- Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, (1636-1711)
- Eavan Boland, (born 1944)
- Heinrich Böll, (1917-1985)
- Nozawa Bonchō, (c.1640-1714), Japanese haikai poet
- Arna Wendell Bontemps
- Jorge Luis Borges, (1899-1986)
- Tadeusz Borowski
- Mark Alexander Boyd, (1563-1601)
- Kay Boyle (A Glad Day)
Br
Bra-Bri
- Di Brandt, (born 1952), Manitoba poet and literary critic
- Richard Brautigan, (1935–1984)
- Bertolt Brecht, (1898–1956), German Three-penny Opera lyricist
- Gerbrand Adriaensz. Bredero (1585–1618), Dutch poet and playwright
- Christopher Brennan, (1870–1932), Australian
- Joseph Payne Brennan, (1918–1990)
- Clemens Brentano, (1778–1842)
- André Breton, (1896–1966)
- Nicholas Breton, (1542–1626)
- Ken Brewer, (born 1941)
- Robert Bridges, (1844–1930)
Bro-Bry
- James Brock, (born 1958)
- Joseph Brodsky, (1940-1996)
- Wladyslaw Broniewski
- William Bronk, (died 1999)
- Anne Brontë, (1820-1849)
- Charlotte Brontë, (1816-1855)
- Emily Brontë, (1818-1848), British author
- Rupert Brooke, (1887-1915)
- Gwendolyn Brooks, (1917-2000)
- Joan Brossa, (1919-1998)
- Nicole Brossard, (born 1943), formalist poet
- Flora Brovina
- Petrus Brovka (1905-1980), Soviet poet
- Thomas Edward Brown, (1830-1897)
- George Mackay Brown
- Sterling Brown, (1901-1989)
- William Browne, (1588-1643)
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, (1806-1861)
- Robert Browning, (1812-1889)
- William Cullen Bryant, (1794-1878)
- Bryher
- Valeri Bryusov, (1873-1924), poet, novelist, critic
Bu-By
- Georg Büchner
- Vincent Buckley, (1927-1988)
- David Budbill, (born 1940)
- Charles Bukowski, (1920-1994) poet, novelist
- Ivan Bunin (1870-1953) Russian poet and novelist
- Basil Bunting
- Anthony Burgess (1917-1993): Byrne, Revolutionary Sonnets, etc.
- Stanley Burnshaw
- Robert Burns, (1759-1796)
- William S. Burroughs, (1914-1997)
- Edwin G. Burrows
- Andrzej Bursa
- Yosa Buson, (1716-1784), Japanese haikai poet and painter
- Raegan Butcher
- Ray Buttigieg, (born 1955) poet, composer, musician
- Ignazio Buttitta, (Sicilian dialect)
- Witter Bynner (also under Emanuel Morgan)
- Lord Byron, (1788-1824)
C
Ca
Cab-Cap
- Lydia Cabrera (Cuban poet - anthropoetry)
- Caedmon (old English)
- Alison Calder, Canadian poet
- Cali Xuseen Xirsi
- Musa Cälil (1906-1944), Tatar poet, prisoner of the war
- Barry Callaghan, (born 1937)
- Callimachus (c.305-c.240 BC), Hellenistic poet
- Robert Calvert, (1945-1988)
- Luís de Camões, (author of the Lusíadas)
- Roy Campbell (1901-1957)
- Jan Campert,(1902-1943), Dutch poet and journalist
- Remco Campert (born 1929), son of Jan, Dutch poet and novelist
- Thomas Campion, (1567-1619), composer, poet
- Thomas Campbell, (1774-1844)
- Melville Henry Cane, (1879-1980)
- Ivan Cankar, (1876-1918), author, poet, storyteller, dramatist and essayist
- Mary Wedderburn Cannan, (1893-1973)
- Edip Cansever (187-29, 226), formally Emperor Wen of (Cao) Wei, and poet
- Cao Cao, (155 AD-220 AD), warlord, poet
- Cao Zhi, (192-232), Chinese poet
Car-Cav
- Ernesto Cardenal, (born 1925)
- Giosuè Carducci, (1835-1907)
- Thomas Carew, (1595-1639)
- Henry Carey, (1693-1743)
- Bliss Carman, (1861-1929) (Low Tide on Grand Pre)
- Jim Carroll, (1949-2009)
- Lewis Carroll, (1832-1898)
- Hayden Carruth
- Anne Carson, (born 1950)
- Jared Carter (born 1939)
- William Cartwright, (1611-1643)
- Cyrus Cassells, (born 1957)
- Catullus, (c. 84BC-54BC), Roman poet
- Charles Causley
- C. P. Cavafy, (1863-1933)
Ce-Ci
- Paul Celan, (1920-1970)
- Anica Cernej, (1900-1944)
- Luis Cernuda, (1903-1963)
- Mário Cesariny, (1923-2006)
- Ashok Chakradhar, (born 1951)
- John Chalkhill
- Jean Chapelain, (1595-1674)
- Arthur Chapman, (1873-1935)
- George Chapman, (1560-1634)
- René Char, (1907-1998)
- Craig Charles, (born 1964), (Red Dwarf, Captain Butler)
- Thomas Chatterton
- Geoffrey Chaucer, (ca.1343-1400), Chanticleer the Fox (extract from Canterbury Tales)
- Billy Childish
- Choe Chiwon, Korean (Silla) poet, born 857
- Chiyo-ni, (1703 - 1775)
- Henri Chopin, (born 1922)
- Chrétien de Troyes, (fl. 12th century)
- Ralph Chubb, (1892-1960), poet, painter, printer
- John Ciardi, Italian-American poet
Cl
- Amy Clampitt
- John Clare, (1793-1864)
- George Elliott Clarke, poet, U of T professor
- Elizabeth Clark (1918-1978)
- Paul Claudel, (1868-1955)
- Matthias Claudius
- Brian P. Cleary
- Michelle Cliff
- Lucille Clifton,
- Arthur Hugh Clough, (1819-1861)
Co
Coc-Cos
- Jean Cocteau, (1889-1963), French writer
- Leonard Cohen, (born 1934), poet/singer
- Hartley Coleridge, (1796-1849)
- Mary Elizabeth Coleridge, (1861-1907)
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (1772-1834), English poet
- Wanda Coleman, African-American poet
- Billy Collins (U.S. Poet Laureate)
- William Collins, (1721-1759)
- William Congreve, (1670-1729), English poet
- Paul Conneally, (born 1959)
- Robert Conquest, historian and poet
- Henry Constable, (1562-1613)
- Clark Coolidge
- Wendy Cope
- Tristan Corbière, (1845-1875)
- Francis Cornford and Frances Cornford
- Gregory Corso, Beat poet, "Gasoline", "Bomb".
- Jayne Cortez
- George Cosbuc (1866-1918), Romanian poet
Cot-Cow
- Malcolm Cowley, (1898-1989), (Dada)
- Abraham Cowley, (1618-1667)
- William Cowper, (1731-1800)
Cr-Cz
- George Crabbe, (1754-1832)
- Hart Crane, (1899-1932), (The Bridge)
- Stephen Crane, (1871-1900), USA writer
- Richard Crashaw, (1613-1649)
- Robert Creeley, (born 1926), (A Form of Women - Black Mountain School)
- Octave Crémazie
- Charles Cros, (1842-1888), French poet and inventor
- Aleister Crowley, (1875-1947), English Occultist and poet
- Cui Hao, Tang Dynasty, Chinese poet
- Countee Cullen, (died 1946)
- Necati Cumalı
- e e cummings, (1894-1962)
- Allan Cunningham, (1784-1842)
- Allen Curnow, (1911-2001)
- Ivor Cutler, Scottish poet, musician and thinker
D
Da
- Roque Dalton, (1935-1975) Salvadoran poet
- Sapardi Djoko Damono, Indonesian Poet
- David Daniels, (1933- ) Visual Poet
- Jeffrey Daniels, African-American Poet
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, (1863-1938), revolutionary
- Rubén Darío, (1867-1916)
- Erasmus Darwin, (1731-1802), British poet and herbalist
- Jibanananda Das,(1899-1954), Bengali poet and author
- René Daumal, (1908-1944)
- Jean Daurat, (1508-1588)
- Alan Davies, American poet
- W. H. Davies
- William Davenant, (1606-1668)
- Donald Davidson, (1893-1968)
- John Davies, (1569-1626), historian
- Edward Davison, (organized Colorado Writers 1937 conference)
- Peter Davison, (born 1951), (son of Edward)
- Denis Davydov, (1784-1839)
- Cecil Day-Lewis
De
- James Deahl
- Aurora de Albornoz, (1926-1990) 20th century Spanish poet
- Aleš Debeljak, (born 1961)
- Daniel Defoe, (1659/61? - 1731)
- Walter de la Mare, author, poet
- Thomas Dekker, (1575-1641)
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, (1651-1695), 17th Century Mexican Poet
- Leconte de Lisle, parnassian poet
- François de Malherbe, (1555-1628),
- Alfred de Musset, (1810-1857), 19th century poet
- Gérard de Nerval, (1808-1855)
- Baltasar del Alcázar, (1530-1606)
- Tory Dent, (1958- ), (What Silence Equals, HIV Mon Amour)
- Evariste de Parny, 18th century French poet
- Regina Derieva, (born 1949)
- Toi Derricotte, (born 1941), African American Poet
- Babette Deutsch (1895-1982)
- Alfred de Vigny, (1797-1863), 19th century poet
Di-Do
- Pier Giorgio Di Cicco Canadian poet
- Diane Di Prima (Memoirs of a Beatnik)
- Souéloum Diagho (contemporary Tuareg poet)
- Jennifer K Dick, (b 1970), American Poet
- Emily Dickinson, (1830-1886), American poet
- James Dickey, (1923-1997)
- Matthew Dickman, (born 1975)
- Michael Dickman, (born 1975)
- Blaga Dimitrova
- Paul Dirmeikis, (1954- ), French poet
- Thomas M. Disch, (1940-2008), American poet, novelist
- Tim Dlugos, (1950-1990), American poet
- Henry Austin Dobson
- Stephen Dobyns, American author, novelist, poet
- Pete Doherty, (born 1979), British musician, songwriter, poet
- John Donne, (1572-1631)
- Hilda Doolittle, (1886-1961), U.S. Imagist poet
- Gavin Douglas
- Keith Douglas, (1920-1944)
- Rita Dove
- Ernest Dowson, (1867-1900)
Dr
- Jane Draycott
- Michael Drayton, (1563-1631)
- Aleksander Stavre Drenova, (1872-1947), Albanian poet
- John Drinkwater, (1882-1937)
- Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, (1797-1848), German poet
- William Drummond, (1585-1649)
- William Henry Drummond, (1854-1907), poet, The habitant
- John Dryden, (1631-1700), poet and playwright
Du-Dy
- Joachim du Bellay, (c. 1522-1560)
- W. E. B. Du Bois, (1868-1963), writer, activist
- Du Fu, the Poet Saint
- Du Mu, (803-852), Chinese poet
- Alan Dugan
- Carol Ann Duffy, (born 1955)
- Paul Laurence Dunbar, (1872-1906)
- William Dunbar, (1465-1520)
- Robert Duncan (Black Mountain School)
- Douglas Dunn, (born 1942)
- Stephen Dunn
- Helen Dunmore, poet, novelist
- Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, (1878-1957), Irish poet
- Lawrence Durrell, (1912-1990), (A Private Country: Poems)
- Stuart Dybek
- Bob Dylan, born 1941
E
Ea-Er
- Richard Eberhart
- Russell Edson
- Joseph von Eichendorff, (1788-1857)
- George Eliot, (1819-1880), (Mary Ann Evans)
- T. S. Eliot, (1888-1965), writer
- Ebenezer Elliott, (1781-1849)
- Royston Ellis, English poet inspired by Beat Generation
- Paul Éluard, French poet
- Claudia Emerson, (born 1957) American poet
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, (1803-1882), American author
- Gevorg Emin, (1918-1998), Armenian poet
- Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (1850-1889)
- William Empson, (1906-1984)
- Yunus Emre
- Michael Ende, (1929-1995), German poet
- Paul Engle
- Ennius
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger, (born 1929), German poet
- Louise Erdrich, (born 1954), author
- Haydar Ergülen
- Max Ernst, (1891-1976), (Dada)
- Mehmet Erte
Es-Ew
- Maggie Estep, American slam poet
- Wolfram von Eschenbach, (died 1220)
- Clayton Eshleman (Antiphonal Swing)
- Martin Espada, American poet and teacher
- Florbela Espanca, poet
- Salvador Espriu, writer
- Jill Alexander Essbaum, Christian erotic poet
- Claude Esteban (1935-2006), French poet
- Euripides (480-406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Mari Evans
- William Everson (In The Fictive Wish)
- Gavin Ewart
F
- U.A. Fanthorpe (1929-), British poet and CBE
- Christian Falster (1690-1752), Danish poet and philologist
- J.P. Farrell, (1968-), American poet and musician
Fe-Fo
- Fenggan
- John Feins, American poet
- Ferdowsi, (935–1020), Persian poet
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-)
- Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760-1828)
- Ian Hamilton Finlay, (1925-2006)
- Annie Finch, American poet, librettist, translator, born 1956
- Edward Fitzgerald, (1809-1883)
- Robert Fitzgerald (1910 - 1985)
- John Fletcher, (1579-1625)
- John Gould Fletcher, (1886-1950), Imagist poet
- F. S. Flint (Imagist manifestos)
- Theodor Fontane, (1819-1898)
- John Forbes, (1950-1998), Australian poet
- Carolyn Forché, born 1950
- Ford Madox Ford, (1873-1939), promoter of many other writers.
- John Ford, (1586-1639), playwright and poet.
- John M. Ford, (1957-2006), novelist and poet.
- Ugo Foscolo, (1778-1827)
- Hristo Fotev, (1934-2002), Bulgarian poet
- Fazil Jamili, (born 1968), Urdu Poet, Journalist from Pakistan
Fr-Fu
- Janet Frame, (born 1924)
- Robert Francis, (1901-1987)
- Veronica Franco, (1546-1591)
- Naim Frashëri (1846—1900)
- Louis Fréchette, (1839-1908), poet, essayist, journalist, dramatist
- Erich Fried, (1921-1988)
- Max Frisch, (1911-1991), Swiss poet
- Robert Frost, (1874-1963), American poet
- Gene Frumkin, (1928-2007), American poet
- Alice Fulton, (born 1952), Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner
- Fazil Jamili, (born 1968), Urdu Poet, Journalist from Pakistan
- Fuzûlî, (1483?–1556), Azerbaijani and Ottoman poet
G
Ga-Gl
- James Galvin (poet), (1951 - )
- Karina Galvez, (1964- ), Ecuadorian Poet
- Asadulla Khan Ghalib, (1796-1869) Urdu & Persian Poet
- Etienne-Paulin Gagne (1808-1876)
- Jean Garrigue (1914 - 1972)
- Samuel Garth (1661 - 1719)
- George Gascoigne, (1525-1577)
- David Gascoyne (1916 - 2001)
- Théophile Gautier, (1811-1872)
- John Gay, (1685-1732), songwriter, poet
- Stefan George, (1868-1933)
- Dan Gerber, (born 1940)
- Paul Gerhardt, (c. 1606-1676)
- Aaref Ghazvini, (1882- 1934)
- Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) (born 1946)
- Khalil Gibran, (The Prophet) (1883-1931)
- Wilfred Wilson Gibson (October 2, 1878 - May 26, 1962)
- Allen Ginsberg, (1926-1997)
- Dana Gioia (essays on poetry)
- Nikki Giovanni, (born 1943)
- Giuseppe Giusti, (1809-1850)
- Denis Glover, (1912-1980)
- Louise Glück, (1943 - ) Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry
Go
- Gérald Godin, (1938-1994), Quebec poet and politician
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (1749-1832), (part-time;)
- Octavian Goga (1881-1938) Romanian poet
- Lea Goldberg, (1911-1970)
- Rumer Godden (In Noahs Ark)
- Ziya Gökalp
- Oliver Goldsmith, (1730-1774), The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes
- Pavel Golia (1887-1959)
- Luis de Gongora, Spanish poet
- Lorna Goodison (born 1947) Jamaican poet
- Sergei Gorodetsky (1884-1967)
- Hedwig Gorski, (born 1949), first Performance poet, American avant-garde literature
- Herman Gorter (1864-1927), Dutch poet
Gr
Gra-Gri
- Anders Abraham Grafström, (1790-1870), Swedish poet
- Günter Grass, (born 1927), author
- Richard Graves, (1715-1804), British poet and essayist
- Robert Graves, (1895-1985), British author
- Thomas Gray, (1716-1771), British poet
- Robert Greene, (1558-1592)
- Horace Gregory
- Eamon Grennan
- Fulk Greville, (1554-1628)
- Bill Griffiths, (born 1948)
- Franz Grillparzer
- Nicholas Grimald, (1519-1562)
- Angelina Weld Grimke
- Charlotte Forten Grimke
Gro-Gy
- Stanisław Grochowiak
- Philip Gross
- Igo Gruden, (1893-1948)
- Edgar Guest, (American poet of the 1920s)
- Jorge Guillen, (1893-1984)
- Nicolas Guillén, (1902-1989), (Cuban poet)
- Guido Guinizelli
- Guiot de Provins, (French poet of the 12th century)
- Gül Baba
- Nikolay Gumilyov, (1886-1921)
- Dživo Gundulić - Giovanni Gondola, (1589-1638)
- Thom Gunn, (born 1929)
- Ivor Gurney, (1890-1937)
- Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (Cuba, 1950- )
- Brion Gysin, (1916-1986)
H
Ha
- Marilyn Hacker
- Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame 'Hadrawi'
- Hafez, (1315-1390), Persian poet
- Hai Zi
- Han Yu
- Han-Shan
- Thomas Hardy, (1840-1928), English poet
- Jim Harrison, (born 1937)
- Tony Harrison, (born 1937)
- Carla Harryman, (born 1952)
- David Harsent
- Peter Härtling
- Gwen Harwood
- Alamgir Hashmi
- Ahmet Haşim
- Gerhart Hauptmann, (1862-1946)
- Stephen Hawes, (died 1523)
- Robert Stephen Hawker, (1803-1875), Cornish poet/vicar
- Robert Hayden
He
- Seamus Heaney, (born 1939), Saoi of Aosdána
- John Heath-Stubbs
- Anne Hébert, poet and novelist
- Anthony Hecht, (1923-2004)
- Jennifer Michael Hecht
- John Hegley, also performs as half of the "Popticians"
- Heinrich Heine, (1797-1856)
- Felicia Hemans, (1793-1835)
- Essex Hemphill, (1957–1995)
- William Ernest Henley, (1849-1903)
- Adrian Henri
- Robert Henryson, (died c.1500) Scottish poet
- George Herbert, (1593-1633), public orator and poet
- Zbigniew Herbert
- Johann Gottfried Herder, (1744-1803)
- Miguel Hernandez, (1910-1942)
- Antoine Héroet, (died 1568)
- Robert Herrick, (1591-1674), English poet
- Hesiod, ancient Greek poet
- Phoebe Hesketh, (1909-2005), English poet
- Hermann Hesse, (1877-1962), author of The Glass Bead Game, Steppenwolf
- Dorothy Hewett, novelist, poet
- Thomas Heywood, (157?-1650)
Hi-Hr
- William Heyen, poet, literary critic, novelist
- Dick Higgins, (1938-1998), Fluxus poet, and publisher
- Scott Hightower, (born 1952)
- Geoffrey Hill, (born 1932)
- Nazım Hikmet
- Ellen Hinsey, poet
- H.L. Hix, American poet
- Rolf Hochhuth, (born 1931), playwright
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, (1874-1929)
- James Hogg, (1770-1835)
- Friedrich Hölderlin, (1770-1843)
- John Hollander, (born 1929)
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, (1809-1894), USA scholar
- Homer, epic poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey
- Hugh Hood, Master work is 12 volume novel-series (The New Age).
- Thomas Hood, (1798-1845)
- A. D. Hope (July 21, 1907 - July 13, 2000)
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, (1844-1889)
- Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace), Roman lyric poet
- George Moses Horton
- Joan Houlihan
- A. E. Housman, (1859-1936)
- Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, (1517-1547)
- Richard Howard
- Fanny Howe
- Susan Howe
Hu-Hy
- Mohammad Nurul Huda, a modern poet from Bangladesh
- Langston Hughes, (1902-1967)
- Ted Hughes, (1930-1998)
- Richard Hugo
- Victor Hugo, (1802-1885), novelist, poet, and playwright
- Vicente Huidobro, (1893-1948)
- Lynda Hull, (1954-1994)
- Alexander Hume, (1560-1609)
- James Henry Leigh Hunt, (1784-1859), English poet
- Aldous Huxley, (1894-1963)
I
- Avetik Isahakyan, (1875-1957), an Armenian lyric poet
J
Ja-Ju
- FP Jac (1955–2008), Danish poet
- Richard Jago, (1715-1781)
- Clive James
- Randall Jarrell
- Robinson Jeffers, (died 1962)
- Simon Jenko, (1835-1869)
- Elizabeth Jennings
- Jia Dao
- John of the Cross (1542-1591), Spanish mystic and poet
- Edmund John
- Georgia Douglas Johnson
- Helene Johnson
- James Weldon Johnson, (1871-1938), author, poet, folklorist, and civil rights leader
- Lionel Johnson
- Samuel Johnson, (1709-1784)
- David Jones, (1895-1974), artist and poet
- Richard Jones (poet)
- Ryan Jones (author)
- Ben Jonson, (1573-1637), poet and dramatist
- June Jordan, (1936-2002), American poet and educator
- Anthony Joseph
- Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (1833-1904)
- James Joyce, (1882-1941)
- Frank Judge, (born 1946), editor & publisher, poet, translator and film critic
- Jamal Jumá, (born 1956)
- Donald Justice, (1925-2004), poet and artist
- Juvenal (late 1st and early 2nd centuries CE) Roman satirist
K
Ka-Kh
- Kabir, Indian social reformer.
- Kālidāsa'Sanskrit poet
- Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rebel poet of Bengal
- Jim Kacian (born 1953)
- Uuno Kailas (1901-1933), Finnish
- Kálmán Kalocsay, (1891-1976)
- Ilya Kaminsky (born 1977)
- Orhan Veli Kanik
- Andreas Karavis, (born 1932)
- Erich Kästner, (1899-1974), poet, novelist
- Bob Kaufman (coined "Beatnik")
- Shirley Kaufman (born 1923)
- Patrick Kavanagh, (1904-1967)
- John Keats, (1795-1821)
- Weldon Kees
- Arthur Kelton, (d. 1549/1550)
- X. J. Kennedy
- Jack Kerouac, (1922-1969), US writer
- Frederick Kesner (born 1967) Australian poet
- Keorapetse Kgositsile
- Khushal Khan Khattak
- Omar Khayyám, (1048-1122)
- Velemir Khlebnikov, (1885-1922)
- Vladislav Khodasevich, (1886-1939)
- Nikos Kavvadias, (1910-1975), Greek poet
- Jan Pêt Khorto, Kurdish Poet
Ki-Kn
- Takarai Kikaku, (1661-1707), Japanese haikai poet and a disciple of Matsuo Bashō
- Joyce Kilmer, (1886-1918)
- Amy King
- Henry King, (1592-1669)
- William King, (1663-1712)
- Gottfried Kinkel, (1815-1882)
- Galway Kinnell (born 1927, Body Bags)
- John Kinsella (born 1963)
- Thomas Kinsella
- Rudyard Kipling, (1865-1936), Just So Stories
- Necip Fazıl Kısakürek
- Eila Kivikk'aho (1921-2004)
- Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, (1724-1803)
- Etheridge Knight
Ko
Kob-Ky
- Kobayashi Issa, (1763 - 1828), Japanese haikai poet
- Jan Kochanowski (1530-84)
- Kenneth Koch (NY Poet school)
- Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1948), Pulitzer Prize recipient, (Dien Cai Dau, Neon Vernacular, etc.)
- Faik Konica
- Ted Kooser
- Srecko Kosovel (1904-1926)
- Dezső Kosztolányi Hungarian poet
- Taja Kramberger (born 1970)
- Dimitris P. Kraniotis (born 1966), Greek poet
- Ignacy Krasicki (1735-1801)
- Ruth Krauss
- Miroslav Krleža (1589-1638), poet, novelist
- Marilyn Krysl
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky (born 1954), poet, novelist
- Maxine Kumin
- Stanley Kunitz
- Tuli Kupferberg (born 1923)
- Onat Kutlar
- Stephen Kuusisto
- Kusumagraj - Eminent Indian Marathi poet, writer and humanist
L
La
- Pierre Labrie poet from Quebec (1972- )
- Jarkko Laine Finnish poet
- Philip Lamantia
- Alphonse de Lamartine
- Charles Lamb, (1775-1834)
- Letitia Elizabeth Landon
- Walter Savage Landor, (1775-1864), (English writer in Italy)
- Philip Larkin, (1922-1985)
- James Laughlin
- Comte de Lautréamont, (1846-1870)
- Jan Lauwereyns (born 1969)
- D. H. Lawrence, (1885-1930), author of Lady Chatterley's Lover
- Henry Lawson, prose and poetry
- Layamon
- Irving Layton, Canadian poet (1912 - 2006)
- Lalitha Lenin
Le
- Edward Lear (1812-1888)
- Jan Lechon
- Francis Ledwidge (1887-1917)
- David Lee (poet)
- Dennis Lee, writer of children's poetry
- Eino Leino (1878-1926), Finnish
- Sue Lenier English poet and playwright
- John Leonard (1965- ) Australian
- Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), Italian poet
- Mikhail Lermontov (1814-1841), poet, novelist
- Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, (1814-1841), poet, author and painter
- Boleslaw Lesmian
- Rika Lesser
- Gotthold Lessing, playwright, poet
- Denise Levertov (Black Mountain triumvirate)
- Philip Levine
- Larry Levis
- D. A. Levy (1942-1968), artist, poet, and publisher
- William Levy
- Saunders Lewis (1893-1985)
- Wyndham Lewis (1884-1957)
Li
- Li Hou Zhu, (931-978)
- José Lezama Lima (Cuban)
- Tim Liardet
- Li Po, (701-762), the Poet Immortal
- Li Qiao
- Li Qingzhao
- Li Shangyin
- Tim Lilburn
- Anne Morrow Lindbergh, (1906-2001)
- Sarah Lindsay
- Vachel Lindsay, (1879-1931)
- Thomas Lodge, (1556-1625)
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, (1807-1882), American
- Federico García Lorca
- Audre Lorde, (1934-1992) American poet
- Richard Lovelace, (1618-1658)
- Amy Lowell, (1874-1925), American
- James Russell Lowell, (1819-1891), American
- Robert Lowell, (1917-1977), American
- Mina Loy (Dada)
- Lu You
- Gherasim Luca
- Lucilius
- Maria White Lowell, (1821-1853), American
- Lucan, (39-65), Roman
- Lucretius, (98?-55 BC), physicist
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow (1836-1870)
- Luo Binwang
- Mario Luzi
- John Lydgate, (1370-1450)
- John Lyly, (1553-1606)
- George Lyttelton, (1709-1773)
M
Ma
Mac-Mak
- Hugh MacDiarmid, (1892-1978)
- George MacDonald, (1824-1905), poet, novelist
- Sorley MacLean, (1911-1996), Scots Gaelic poet
- Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canadian writer, poet
- Arthur Machen, (1863-1947), Irish poet
- Compton Mackenzie
- Archibald MacLeish, (1892-1982)
- Louis MacNeice, (1907-1963)
- Haki R. Madhubuti
- John Gillespie Magee, Jr., (1922-1941) (aviation poet, combat pilot officer)
- Derek Mahon (Northern Irish poet)
- Rudolf Maister (1874-1934), general and poet
- G. D. Madgulkar (1919-Unknown) Marathi and Hindi poet, lyricist, playwright, actor and orator.
- Majeed Amjad (Pakistani poet)
Mal-Mar
- Stephane Mallarme, (1842-1898)
- David Mallet, (c.1705–1765)
- Sir Thomas Malory
- Goffredo Mameli (1827-1849), Italian patriot, poet and writer
- Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938), (also spelt Mandelshtam), Russian poet
- James Clarence Mangan
- Bill Manhire (born 1946)
- Marcus Manilius (1st century)
- Heinrich Mann, (1871-1950)
- Klaus Mann, (1906-1949)
- Thomas Mann, (1875-1955), author
- Ruth Manning-Sanders, (1895-1988)
- Robert Mannyng of Brunne, (1269-1340)
- Chris Mansell (1953-)
- Alessandro Manzoni, (1785-1873), poet, novelist
- Ausias March, (1397-1459), poet of the 15th century
- Marie de France, (fl. 12th century)
- Giambattista Marini, (1569-1625)
- Edwin Markham
- Christopher Marlowe, (1564-1593), English playwright
- Clément Marot, (1496-1544)
- José Martí, (1853–1895), Cuban poet and writer.
- Martial (40-ca. 102), Roman epigrammist
- Harry Martinson, (1904-1978), Swedish poet
- Andrew Marvell, (1621-1678)
Mas-Maz
- John Masefield, (1878-1967)
- Edgar Lee Masters, (1869-1950)
- Glyn Maxwell, (born 1962)
- Vladimir Mayakovsky, (1893-1930)
- Karl May, (1842-1912), German poet
Mc
- Michael McClure (Dark Brown - beat)
- John McCrae, (1872-1918), In Flanders Fields
- Bryant H. McGill
- Elvis McGonagall
- William Topaz McGonagall, (died 1902), reputed to be the worst poet in the history of the English language
- Roger McGough, (born 1937), comedian, poet
- Campbell McGrath
- Wendy McGrath
- Thomas McGrath, (1916-1990)
- Duncan McIntyre, Gaelic poet, aka Duncan Ban McIntyre
- James McIntyre, (1827-1906), the "Cheese Poet", known as the worst poet in Canadian history
- Claude McKay
- Don McKay
- Rod McKuen
- James McMichael (born 1939)
Me
- Norman MacCaig
- Mei Yaochen
- Meng Haoran
- George Meredith, (1828-1909), English poet, novelist
- Kersti Merilaas, (1913-1986), Estonian poet, member of the Arbujad
- Stuart Merrill, (1863-1915), (symbolist)
- James Merrill, (1926-1995), (The Inner Room & Nights and Days)
- Thomas Merton, (1915-1968), American author and Trappist monk
- W.S. Merwin, (The Miner's Pale Children)
- Sarah Messer, (born 1966), American poet and writer
- Charlotte Mew, (1869-1928)
- Henry Meyer, (1840-1925)
Mi-Ml
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt
- Henri Michaux, poet and painter
- Adam Mickiewicz, (1798-1855), outstanding Polish poet and writer
- Veronica Micle (1850–1889)
- Agnes Miegel, (1879-1964)
- Josephine Miles
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, (1892-1950)
- Joaquin Miller, (1837-1913)
- Leslie Adrienne Miller
- Tim Miller, poet and publisher
- Spike Milligan, (1918-2002), (The Goon Show)
- Czesław Miłosz, Polish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980 (1911-2004)
- Alice Duer Miller
- Grazyna Miller, poet and translator Italian -Polish,
- John Milton, (1608-1674), English poet
- Gabriela Mistral, (1889-1957), Winner of the nobel prize for literature.
- Adrian Mitchell
- S. Weir Mitchell, American novelist, poet
- Ndre Mjeda
Mo
- Harold Monro
- Harriet Monroe (Poetry magazine)
- Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, (1661-1715), creator of the Bank of England
- Eugenio Montale (Nobel Laureate)
- Marianne Moore, (1887-1972)
- Dom Moraes
- Merrill Moore, (1903-1957), Sonneteer
- Thomas Moore, (1779-1852)
- John Morgan, (1688-1733)
- Christian Morgenstern, (1871-1914)
- William Morris, (1834-1896), (Norse sagas & old French matter)
- Jim Morrison (poet, songwriter)
- Stephen Morse (1945 - ), (American Small Press Poet and Publisher)
- Valzhyna Mort (born 1981)
- Moschus (fl. 2nd century BC), bucolic poet
- Howard Moss
- Andrew Motion, (poet laureate 1999-2009)
- Enrique Moya, (poet, fiction writer, essayist, born 1958)
Mu
- Erich Mühsam, (1878-1934), German poet and revolutionary
- Paul Muldoon, (born 1951)
- Lale Müldür, (born 1956)
- Laura Mullen, American poet
- Sheila Murphy, U.S. poet
- Joan Murray, (born 1945), U.S. poet.
- Les Murray, (born 1938)
- Anthony Munday, (1553-1633)
- Richard Murphy, poet, member of Aosdána
- Susan Musgrave, Poet.
- Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri, Pakistani poet and scholar
- George Murnu, aromanian poet
N
Na-Nj
- Vladimir Nabokov, (1899-1977)
- Ogden Nash, (1902-1971)
- Thomas Nashe, (1567-1601)
- Nedîm, (1681?–1730), Ottoman poet
- John Neihardt, (1881-1973)
- Émile Nelligan, (1879-1941), Quebec poet
- Howard Nemerov, (born 1920), (Guide to the Ruins)
- Pablo Neruda, (Residence on Earth 1946), Winner of the nobel prize for literature.
- Nesîmî, (d. 1417?), Azerbaijani poet
- Neşâtî, (d. 1674), Ottoman poet
- Henry Newbolt, (1862-1938), historian, poet
- John Henry Newman, (1801-1890)
- Nezami, (1141–1209), Persian poet
- Aimee Nezhukumatathil (1974- )
- B. P. Nichol, (1944-1988)
- John Gambril Nicholson (6 October 1866 - 1 July 1931)
- Lorine Niedecker (May 12, 1903 - December 31, 1970)
- Miloš Đoka Nikolić (Millosh Gjergj Nikolla)
- Petar Petrovic Njegos, (1813-1851), Serb poet & ruler
- Noon Meem Rashid (Pakistani poet)
No-Ny
- Christopher Nolan, (born 1970), poet, member of Aosdána
- Fan Noli (January 6, 1882 - March 13, 1965)
- Nolla, Olga (1938-2001), Puerto Rican poet and writer
- Caroline Norton (1808 - 1877)
- Cyprian Kamil Norwid
- Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg), (1772-1801), German poet and novelist
- Alfred Noyes
- Julia Nyberg (1784-1854)
- Naomi Shihab Nye
O
- Ron Offen (1930-)
- Frank O'Hara (1926-1966), New York School
- Sharon Olds
- Mary Oliver
- Charles Olson (Black Mountain School founder)
- Saishu Onoe, Japanese poet
- George Oppen
- Peter Orlovsky (beat)
- Gregory Orr (poet)(born 1947)
- Öser
- Alice Oswald
- Ouyang Xiu
- Ovid, (43 BC-17 AD), Roman poet
- Wilfred Owen, (1893-1918)
- Ismet Özel
P
Pa
- Ruth Padel (born 8 May 1946)
- Ron Padgett
- Grace Paley
- Francis Turner Palgrave (September 28, 1824 - October 24, 1897)
- Palladas
- Michael Palmer, (1943-)
- Daniele Pantano, (1976-)
- Dorothy Parker, (1893-1967)
- Thomas Parnell, (1670-1718)
- Nicanor Parra, Chile
- Giovanni Pascoli, Italian poet
- Boris Pasternak, (1890-1960), novelist
- Kenneth Patchen, (1911-1972)
- Andrew Barton Paterson (banjo)
- Don Paterson
- Coventry Patmore
- Brian Patten
- Octavio Paz, (1914-1998), Mexican poet
Pe-Pl
- Thomas Love Peacock, (1785-1866), English poet, novelist
- Patrick Pearse, poet, teacher and leader of the Easter Rising
- Charles Péguy, 20th century poet
- Kathleen Peirce, (born 1956)
- Sam Pereira
- Lucia Perillo
- Persius (34-62), Roman poet
- Fernando Pessoa, (1888-1935)
- Robert Peters, (1924-) American poet
- Pascale Petit
- Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca), (1304-1374)
- Ambrose Philips
- Tanwir Phool,(born 1948) English & Urdu Pakistani poet
- Pindar (522-443 BC), Theban lyric poet
- Robert Pinsky (former US poet laureate)
- Ruth Pitter
- Christine de Pizan, (circa 1365-circa 1430), historian, poet, philosopher
- Sylvia Plath, (1932-1963),
- Shmuel Plavnik(1886-1941), Belarusian poet and writer
Po-Pu
- Edgar Allan Poe, (1809-1849), US mystery writer and poet
- Edward Pollock, (1823-1858), California poet
- Marie Ponsot, (born 1921)
- Alexander Pope, (1688-1744), English poet
- Judith Pordon, (born 1954), American poet
- Ezra Pound, (1885-1972), (Imagist movement leader)
- Halina Poswiatowska
- Winthrop Mackworth Praed
- E.J. Pratt Canadian poet
- France Prešeren, (1800-1849), Slovene
- Jacques Prévert, (1900-1977), French poet
- Robert Priest Canadian poet
- Richard Price (poet) (born 1966)
- Matthew Prior, (1664-1721)
- Bryan Waller Proctor
- Sextus Propertius, (50 or 45-15 BCE), Latin Poet
- Kevin Prufer (born 1969)
- Luigi Pulci
- Aleksandr Pushkin, (1799-1837), Russian poet
Q
R
Ra-Re
- Dalia Rabikovich, (born 1936)
- Shamsur Rahman, 20th century modern poet from Bangladesh
- Kathleen Raine, (1908-2003)
- Samina Raja, Pakistani poet
- Carl Rakosi (1903-2004)
- Dudley Randall
- Thomas Randolph, (1605-1635)
- Agnes Rapai, (1952- Hungarian poet
- John Crowe Ransom, (1888-1974)
- Tom Raworth
- Man Ray, (1890-1976), (Dada)
- Wayne Ray, 1950 -
- Angela Readman
- Henry Reed, (1914-1986)
- Ishmael Reed
- James Reaney
- Abraham Regelson, (1896-1981)
- Christopher Reid (In the Echoey Tunnel)
- Erich Maria Remarque, (1898-1970), author of Im Westen nichts Neues, or All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
- Kenneth Rexroth
- Charles Reznikoff
- Pi Rixiu
- Rahman Henry, (Born 14 January, 1970)
Ri
- Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (1941–2001)Sufi, poet & author
- Stan Rice, (1943-2002), poet and artist
- Adrienne Rich
- Lola Ridge, (1873-1941)
- Laura Riding, (1901-1981)
- Anne Ridler
- James Whitcomb Riley, (1853-1916)
- Rainer Maria Rilke, (1875-1926)
- Arthur Rimbaud, (1854-1891), symbolist poet
Ro
- Edwin Arlington Robinson, (1869-1935)
- Mary Robinson, (1990-1997), Irish poet
- Georges Rodenbach, Symbolist poet and novelist
- Theodore Roethke, (1908-1963)
- Pierre de Ronsard, (1524-1585)
- Peter Rosegger, (died 1918)
- Franklin Rosemont, (born 1943)
- Penelope Rosemont
- Isaac Rosenberg, (1890-1918)
- Christina Rossetti, (1830-1894), English poet
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, (1828-1882), English poet
- Nicholas Rowe
- Richard Rowlands, (1565-1630)
- Susanna Roxman
- Tadeusz Różewicz
Ru-Ry
- Friedrich Rückert
- Muriel Rukeyser, (1913-1980)
- Johan Ludvig Runeberg, (1804-1877)
- Rumi
- Ryōkan, (1758–1831), Japanese calligrapher and poet
S
Sa
- Umberto Saba
- Sa'di, (1184 – 1283/1291), Persian poet
- Ali Ahmad Said, (1930- )
- Mellin de Saint-Gelais, (ca. 1491-1558)
- Farida Samerkhanova, Canadian poet of Tatar descent
- Carl Sandburg, (1878-1967)
- Satsvarupa dasa Goswami (1939-)
- Sonia Sanchez
- Michal Šanda, (1965- ), Czech poet
- Sappho, ancient Greek poet
- Ann Sansom, contemporary English poet
- Taneda Santōka, (1882 - 1940), Japanese free-verse haiku poet
- William Saroyan, (1908-1981), an American author of Armenian descent
- Siegfried Sassoon, (1886-1967), British war poet
- Subagio Sastrowardoyo, (1924-1995), Indonesian poet
Sc-Se
- Genrikh Sapgir, (1928-1999), Russian poet and fiction writer
- Maurice Scève, (c. 1500-1564)
- Friedrich Schiller, (1759-1805), poet, playwright
- Arno Schmidt, (1914-1979)
- Arthur Schnitzler, (1862-1931), writer
- Delmore Schwartz (In Dreams Begin Responsibilities)
- Sir Walter Scott, (1771-1832), inventor of historical novel
- Gil Scott-Heron, (born 1949)
- George Bazeley Scurfield, (1920-1991), English poet, novelist, author and politician
- Johannes Secundus, (1511-1536), Neo-Latin poet
- Jaroslav Seifert, (1901-1986), (Nobel Prize)
- Léopold Senghor, (1906-2001)
- Robert W. Service, poet of the Yukon
- Vikram Seth
- Anne Sexton, (1928-1974)
Sh-Si
- Thomas Shadwell
- William Shakespeare, (c. 1564-1616), English poet
- Tupac Shakur, (1971-1996), Artist and black activist
- Otep Shamaya, (born 1979), poet and songwriter
- Ntozake Shange, (born 1948)
- Jo Shapcott
- Karl Shapiro
- Mary Shelley, (1797-1851)
- Percy Bysshe Shelley, (1792-1822)
- William Shenstone
- Bhupi Sherchan, Nepal poet
- Taras Shevchenko
- Masaoka Shiki, (1867 - 1902), Japanese author, poet, literary critic, and journalist
- James Shirley, (1596-1666)
- Avraham Shlonsky
- Sir Philip Sidney, (born 1554)
- Eli Siegel, (1902-1978)
- Ron Silliman (born 1946)
- Shel Silverstein, (1930-1999)
- Charles Simic
- Louis Simpson, (born 1923)
- Lemn Sissay
- Edith Sitwell, (1887-1964)
- Marilyn Singer
Sk-Sn
- John Skelton, (1460-1529)
- Sasha Skenderija
- Kenneth Slessor
- Anton Martin Slomsek, (1800-1862), bishop, author, poet and national regenerator.
- Juliusz Slowacki
- Boris Slutsky, (1919-1986), Russian poet
- Christopher Smart
- Charlotte Turner Smith, (1749-1806)
- Clark Ashton Smith, (1893-1961)
- Margaret Smith, American poet and artist
- Patti Smith {poet and songwriter}
- Stevie Smith, (1902-1971)
- William Jay Smith
- Tobias Smollett, (1721-1771)
- Gary Snyder, (born 1930), (beat - Regarding Wave)
So-Sp
- Edith Södergran
- Sōgi (1421-1502), Japanese waka and renga poet
- Nishiyama Sōin, (1605-1682), Japanese haikai poet
- David Solway, (born 1941)
- William Somervile, (1675-1742)
- Sophocles, (c.496-406 BC), Athenian tragedian
- Charles Sorley, (1895-1915), war poet
- Natsume Sōseki, (1867-1916), Kokoro, I Am a Cat
- Gary Soto
- Robert Southey, (1774-1843), Poet Laureate 1813
- Robert Southwell, (1561-1595)
- Stephen Spender, (Twenty Poems - Oxford, 1930)
- Edmund Spenser, (1552-1599)
St
Sta-Sto
- Leopold Staff
- William Stafford
- Harold Standish, (1919-1972), Canadian poet
- George Starbuck
- Statius, (c. AD 45-96)
- Joseph Stefan, (1835-1893), Slovene
- Gertrude Stein, (1874-1946), Modernist innovator in prose and poetry
- Eric Stenbock
- Mattie Stepanek, (1990-2004), American poet and advocate
- Gerald Stern
- Wallace Stevens, (1880-1955)
- Robert Louis Stevenson, (1850-1894)
- Trumbull Stickney, (19th c.)
- James Still
- Donna J. Stone (1933-1994), American poet and philanthropist
- Ruth Stone, (born 1915)
- Theodor Storm, (1817-1888)
- Alfonsina Storni, (1892-1938)
Str-Stu
- Mark Strand (former Poet Laureate, Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry winner)
- Botho Strauss, (born 1944)
- Joseph Stroud (poet), (born 1943)
- Jesse Stuart
Su-Sz
- Su Shi
- Su Xiaoxiao
- Sir John Suckling
- Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire and Islamic poet
- Cemal Süreya
- Patrick Süskind (b. 1949)
- Paul Summers poet (b. 1967)
- Robert Sward poet (b. 1933)
- Cole Swensen poet (b. 1955), awareded Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry 2006
- May Swenson
- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
- Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
- Joshua Sylvester (1563–1618)
- Lőrinc Szabó Hungarian poet
- Wisława Szymborska (b. 1923), Polish poet, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996
T
Ta-Te
- Rabindranath Tagore, (1861-1941), Bengali poet, Nobel laureate of 1913
- Tao Qian
- Jovica Tasevski - Eternijan, Macedonian poet, essayist and literary critic
- Torquato Tasso, (1544-1595)
- Allen Tate, (1899-1979)
- James Tate
- Henry Taylor, (1800-1886)
- Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)
- Telesilla (fl. 510BC), Greek poet
- Alfred Tennyson, (1809-1892), English poet
- Lucy Terry
- A.S.J. Tessimond
- Neyzen Tevfik
Th-To
- Ernest Thayer, (1863-1940)
- Theocritus (fl. 3rd century BC), bucolic poet
- Jan Theuninck, (born 1954)
- Dylan Thomas, (1914-1953)
- Edward Thomas, (1878-1917)
- Lorenzo Thomas, (1944-2005)
- R. S. Thomas, (1913-2000)
- John Thompson, (1845-1913), Canadian writer
- Francis Thompson, (1859-1907)
- James Thomson, (1700-1748)
- James Thomson, (1834-1882)
- Henry David Thoreau, (1817-1862)
- Tibullus, (c. 54 BC-19 BC)
- Chidiock Tichborne, (1558-1586), conspirator and poet
- Thomas Tickell
- Ludwig Tieck, (1773-1853)
- Melvin B. Tolson
- Jean Toomer
Tr-Tz
- Thomas Traherne
- Georg Trakl, (1887-1914)
- Elizabeth Treadwell (1967-)
- Michel Tremblay, (born 1942), author, playwright, poet
- Roland Michel Tremblay, (born 1972), author, poet, scriptwriter
- Calvin Trillin, (born 1935), American writer of comic verse
- Quincy Troupe
- Tõnu Trubetsky Estonian/Ruthenian poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva, (1892-1941), Russian poet
- Kurt Tucholsky, (1890-1935), German poet
- Hovhannes Tumanyan, (1869-1923), the "All-Armenian poet"
- Julian Turner (born 1955), English poet
- Thomas Tusser, 16th century English poet.
- Ğabdulla Tuqay, (1886-1913), Tatar poet
- Hone Tuwhare, (born 1922)
- Julian Tuwim
- Jan Twardowski
- Pontus de Tyard, (c. 1521-1605)
- Fyodor Tyutchev, (1803-1873)
- Tristan Tzara, (1896-1963), (Dada)
U
- Miguel de Unamuno
- Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet
- Louis Untermeyer, (1885-1977), (Treasury of Erotic Poetry)
- John Updike, (born 1932), (Facing Nature)
- Allen Upward, Imagist
- Kavisekhara Dr Umar Alisha
V
Va-Ve
- Mona Van Duyn
- Cesar Vallejo, (1892-1938)
- Paul Valéry, (1871-1945), French author and poet of the Symbolist school
- Jean-Pierre Vallotton, (1955), French speaking Swiss poet and writer
- Varand, (Born 1954), Armenian poet, writer, translator, painter, professor of Armenian literature
- Dimitris Varos, (1949-)
- Henry Vaughan, (1621-1695)
- Vazha-Pshavela (Luka Razikashvili), (1861-1915)
- Vemana
- Helen Vendler
- Jacint Verdaguer, (1845-1902)
- Paul Verlaine, (1844-1896)
- Paul Vermeersch, (born 1973) Canadian
- Alfonso Vallejo, (born 1943) Spanish
Vi-Vr
- Francis Vielé-Griffin (symbolist)
- Peter Viereck
- François Villon, (1431-c.1474)
- Gilles Vigneault, (born 1928), Quebec singer-songwriter and poet
- Publius Vergilius Maro
- Roemer Visscher, (1547-1620), Dutch salesman, writer and poet
- Walther von der Vogelweide, (c. 1170-c. 1230)
- Vincent Voiture, (1598-1648)
- Joost van den Vondel, (1587-1679), Dutch playwright, poet
- Andrei Voznesensky, (born 1933)
- Stanko Vraz, (1810-1851)
W
Wa
- Robert Wace (c. 1115-c. 1183)
- Sidney Wade (born 1951)
- Diane Wakoski (born 1937)
- Derek Walcott (born 1930)
- Rosmarie Waldrop (born 1935)
- Arthur Waley (1889-1966)
- Alice Walker (born 1944)
- Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
- Wang Wei (698-759)
- Emily Warn
- Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989)
- Thomas Warton (1728-1790)
- Roger Waters (born 1943)
- Barrett Watten (born 1948)
- Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
- David Wayne (1914-1995)
We-Wh
- John Webster (c.1580-c.1634
- Hannah Weiner (1928–1997)
- Wen Yiduo Chinese poet (1899 - 1946)
- Philip Whalen (1923-2002)
- Margaret Walker (1915-1998)
- Martin Walser (born 1927)
- Franz Werfel (1890-1945)
- Johan Herman Wessel (1742-1785)
- Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
- E.B. White (1899-1985), American essayist, author, humorist, and poet
- James L. White (1936-1981), American poet, editor and teacher
- Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist
- Isabella Whitney b. 1540s?
- Reed Whittemore b. 1919, American poet, biographer, critic, literary journalist and college professor
- John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), American poet
Wi
- Les Wicks (1955-)
- Ulrika Widström (1764-1841)
- John Wieners (1934-2002)
- Richard Wilbur (born 1921)
- Jane Wilde, (1826-1896)
- Oscar Wilde, (1854-1900)
- John Wilkinson (born 1953)
- William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (1071-1126)
- Emmett Williams (1925-2007)
- Miller Williams (born 1930)
- Oscar Williams (1900-1964)
- Saul Williams (born 1972)
- Sherley Anne Williams (1944-1999)
- Waldo Williams (1904-1971)
- William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
- William Williams Pantycelyn (1717-1791)
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680)
- Peter Lamborn Wilson
- Christian Wiman (born 1966)
- Yvor Winters (1900-1968)
- George Wither (1588-1667)
Wo-Wy
- Rafał Wojaczek (born 1945-1971)
- Christa Wolf (born 1929)
- Charles Wolfe, (1791-1823)
- Hans Wollschläger(1935-2007)
- George Woodcock (1912-1995)
- Dorothy Wordsworth (1771-1855)
- William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
- Franz Wright (born 1953)
- Philip Stanhope Worsley (1835-1866)
- Charles Wright (born in 1935)
- C.D. Wright, (born 1949)
- James Wright (1927-1980)
- Judith Wright (1915-2000)
- Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)
- Elinor Wylie (1885-1928)
- Hedd Wyn (1887-1917)
X
- Emanuel Xavier, (born 1971)
- Xu Zhimo, (1897-1931)
Y
- Leo Yankevich (born 1961)
- Peyo Yavorov (1878-1914)
- William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
- Sergei Yesenin, (1895-1925)
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko (born 1933)
- Akiko Yosano, (1878-1942), Japanese author, poet, feminist and pacifist
- Marguerite Young (1908-1995)
- David Young (born 1946)
- Edward Young (1683-1765)
- Kevin Young (poet) (born 1970)
- A. W. Yrjänä (1967-)
- Yunus Emre (1238?-1320?)
Z
- Adam Zagajewski (born 1945)
- Andrea Zanzotto (born 1921)
- Marya Zaturenska (1902-1982)
- Benjamin Zephaniah (born 1958)
- Calvin Ziegler (1854-1930)
- Zuhayr ibn Abî Sûlmâ (520-609)
- Louis Zukofsky (1904-1978)