poet

a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)

• bard — a lyric poet
• elegist — the author of a mournful poem lamenting the dead
• poetess — a woman poet
• Poet Laureate — the poet officially appointed to the Royal Household in Great Britain
• sonneteer — a poet who writes sonnets
• Alcaeus — Greek lyric poet of Lesbos; reputed inventor of Alcaic verse (611-580 BC)
• Apollinaire, Guillaume Apollinaire, Wilhelm Apollinaris de Kostrowitzki — French poet; precursor of surrealism (1880-1918)
• Arnold, Matthew Arnold — English poet and literary critic (1822-1888)
• Arp, Jean Arp, Hans Arp — Alsatian artist and poet who was cofounder of Dadaism in Zurich; noted for abstract organic sculptures (1887-1966)
• Auden, W. H. Auden, Wystan Hugh Auden — American poet (born in England) (1907-1973)
• Baudelaire, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Pierre Baudelaire — a French poet noted for macabre imagery and evocative language (1821-1867)
• Benet, Stephen Vincent Benet — United States poet; brother of William Rose Benet (1898-1943)
• Blake, William Blake — visionary British poet and painter (1757-1827)
• Boccaccio, Giovanni Boccaccio — Italian poet (born in France) (1313-1375)
• Bradstreet, Anne Bradstreet, Anne Dudley Bradstreet — poet in colonial America (born in England) (1612-1672)
• Brecht, Bertolt Brecht — German dramatist and poet who developed a style of epic theater (1898-1956)
• Brooke, Rupert Brooke — English lyric poet (1887-1915)
• Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning — English poet best remembered for love sonnets written to her husband Robert Browning (1806-1861)
• Browning, Robert Browning — English poet and husband of Elizabeth Barrett Browning noted for his dramatic monologues (1812-1889)
• Burns, Robert Burns — celebrated Scottish poet (1759-1796)
• Byron, Lord Byron, George Gordon Byron, Sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale — English romantic poet notorious for his rebellious and unconventional lifestyle (1788-1824)
• Calderon, Calderon de la Barca, Pedro Calderon de la Barca — Spanish poet and dramatist considered one of the great Spanish writers (1600-1681)
• Carducci, Giosue Carducci — Italian poet considered the national poet of modern Italy (1835-1907)
• Carew, Thomas Carew — English Cavalier poet whose lyric poetry was favored by Charles I (1595-1639)
• Catullus, Gaius Valerius Catullus — Roman lyric poet remembered for his love poems to an aristocratic Roman woman (84-54 BC)
• Chaucer, Geoffrey Chaucer — English poet remembered as author of the Canterbury Tales (1340-1400)
• Ciardi, John Ciardi, John Anthony Ciardi — United States poet and critic (1916-1986)
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor Coleridge — English Romantic poet (1772-1834)
• Corneille, Pierre Corneille — French tragic dramatist whose plays treat grand moral themes in elegant verse (1606-1684)
• Cowper, William Cowper — English poet who wrote hymns and poetry about nature (1731-1800)
• Crane, Hart Crane, Harold Hart Crane — United States poet (1899-1932)
• Cynewulf, Cynwulf — Anglo-Saxon poet (circa 9th century)
• Dante, Dante Alighieri — an Italian poet famous for `The Divine Comedy'--a journey through hell and purgatory and paradise guided by Virgil and his idealized Beatrice (1265-1321)
• de la Mare, Walter de la Mare, Walter John de la Mare — English poet remembered for his verse for children (1873-1956)
• Dickinson, Emily Dickinson — United States poet noted for her mystical and unrhymed poems (1830-1886)
• Donne, John Donne — English clergyman and metaphysical poet celebrated as a preacher (1572-1631)
• Dryden, John Dryden — the outstanding poet and dramatist of the Restoration (1631-1700)
• Eliot, T. S. Eliot, Thomas Stearns Eliot — British poet (born in the United States) who won the Nobel prize for literature; his plays are outstanding examples of modern verse drama (1888-1965)
• Fitzgerald, Edward Fitzgerald — English poet remembered primarily for his free translation of the poetry of Omar Khayyam (1809-1883)
• Frost, Robert Frost, Robert Lee Frost — American poet famous for his lyrical poems on country life in New England (1874-1963)
• Garcia Lorca, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Lorca — Spanish poet and dramatist who was shot dead by Franco's soldiers soon after the start of the Spanish Civil War (1898-1936)
• Gilbert, William Gilbert, William Schwenk Gilbert, Sir William Gilbert — a librettist who was a collaborator with Sir Arthur Sullivan in a famous series of comic operettas (1836-1911)
• Ginsberg, Allen Ginsberg — United States poet of the beat generation (1926-1997)
• Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe — German poet and novelist and dramatist who lived in Weimar (1749-1832)
• Gray, Thomas Gray — English poet best known for his elegy written in a country church-yard (1716-1771)
• Herrick, Robert Herrick — English lyric poet (1591-1674)
• Hesiod — Greek poet whose existing works describe rural life and the genealogies of the gods and the beginning of the world (eighth century BC)
• Hoffmannsthal, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal — German poet who wrote libretti for operas by Richard Strauss (1874-1929)
• Hogg, James Hogg — Scottish writer of rustic verse (1770-1835)
• Homer — ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)
• Hopkins, Gerard Manley Hopkins — English poet (1844-1889)
• Horace — Roman lyric poet said to have influenced English poetry (65-8 BC)
• Housman, A. E. Housman, Alfred Edward Housman — English poet (1859-1936)
• Hughes, Ted Hughes, Edward James Hughes — English poet (born in 1930)
• Hugo, Victor Hugo, Victor-Marie Hugo — French poet and novelist and dramatist; leader of the romantic movement in France (1802-1885)
• Ibsen, Henrik Ibsen — realistic Norwegian author who wrote plays on social and political themes (1828-1906)
• Jarrell, Randall Jarrell — United States poet (1914-1965)
• Jeffers, Robinson Jeffers, John Robinson Jeffers — United States poet who wrote about California (1887-1962)
• Jimenez, Juan Ramon Jimenez — Spanish lyric poet (1881-1958)
• Jonson, Ben Jonson, Benjamin Jonson — English dramatist and poet who was the first real poet laureate of England (1572-1637)
• Karlfeldt, Erik Axel Karlfeldt — Swedish poet whose works incorporate Swedish customs and folklore (1864-1931)
• Keats, John Keats — English Romantic poet (1795-1821)
• Key, Francis Scott Key — United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843)
• Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock — German poet (1724-1803)
• Lindsay, Vachel Lindsay, Nicholas Vachel Lindsay — United States poet who traveled the country trading his poems for room and board (1879-1931)
• Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — American poet remembered for his long narrative poems (1807-1882)
• Lovelace, Richard Lovelace — English poet (1618-1857)
• Lowell, Amy Lowell — United States poet (1874-1925)
• Lowell, Robert Lowell, Robert Traill Spence Lowell Jr. — United States poet (1917-1977)
• Lucretius, Titus Lucretius Carus — Roman philosopher and poet; in a long didactic poem he tried to provide a scientific explanation of the universe (96-55 BC)
• MacLeish, Archibald MacLeish — United States poet (1892-1982)
• Mallarme, Stephane Mallarme — French symbolist poet noted for his free verse (1842-1898)
• Mandelstam, Osip Mandelstam, Osip Emilevich Mandelstam, Mandelshtam — Russian poet who died in a prison camp (1891-1938)
• Marini, Giambattista Marini, Marino, Giambattista Marino — Italian poet (1569-1625)
• Marlowe, Christopher Marlowe — English poet and playwright who introduced blank verse as a form of dramatic expression; was stabbed to death in a tavern brawl (1564-1593)
• Marti, Jose Julian Marti — Cuban poet and revolutionary who fought for Cuban independence from Spain (1853-1895)
• Martial — Roman poet noted for epigrams (first century BC)
• Marvell, Andrew Marvell — English poet (1621-1678)
• Masefield, John Masefield, John Edward Masefield — English poet (1878-1967)
• Masters, Edgar Lee Masters — United States poet (1869-1950)
• Mayakovski, Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovski — Soviet poet; leader of Russian futurism (1893-1930)
• Meredith, George Meredith — English novelist and poet (1828-1909)
• Milton, John Milton — English poet; remembered primarily as the author of an epic poem describing humanity's fall from grace (1608-1674)
• Moore, Marianne Moore, Marianne Craig Moore — United States poet noted for irony and wit (1887-1872)
• Moore, Thomas Moore — Irish poet who wrote nostalgic and patriotic verse (1779-1852)
• Morris, William Morris — English poet and craftsman (1834-1896)
• Musset, Alfred de Musset, Louis Charles Alfred de Musset — French poet and writer (1810-1857)
• Noyes, Alfred Noyes — English poet (1880-1958)
• Omar Khayyam — Persian poet and mathematician and astronomer whose poetry was popularized by Edward Fitzgerald's translation (1050-1123)
• Ovid, Publius Ovidius Naso — Roman poet remembered for his elegiac verses on love (43 BC - AD 17)
• Palgrave, Francis Turner Palgrave — English poet (1824-1897)
• Petrarch, Petrarca, Francesco Petrarca — an Italian poet famous for love lyrics (1304-1374)
• Pindar — Greek lyric poet remembered for his odes (518?-438? BC)
• Plath, Sylvia Plath — United States writer and poet (1932-1963)
• Poe, Edgar Allen Poe — United States writer and poet (1809-1849)
• Pound, Ezra Pound, Ezra Loomis Pound — United States writer who lived in Europe; strongly influenced the development of modern literature (1885-1972)
• Pushkin, Alexander Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin — Russian poet (1799-1837)
• Racine, Jean Racine, Jean Baptiste Racine — French tragedian who based his works on Greek and Roman themes (1639-1699)
• Riley, James Whitcomb Riley — United States poet (1849-1916)
• Rilke, Rainer Maria Rilke — German poet (born in Austria) whose imagery and mystic lyricism influenced 20-th century German literature (1875-1926)
• Rimbaud, Arthur Rimbaud, Jean Nicholas Arthur Rimbaud — French poet whose work influenced the surrealists (1854-1891)
• Robinson, Edwin Arlington Robinson — United States poet; author of narrative verse (1869-1935)
• Rostand, Edmond Rostand — French dramatist and poet (1868-1918)
• Seeger, Alan Seeger — United States poet killed in World War I (1888-1916)
• Sexton, Anne Sexton — United States poet (1928-1974)
• Shakespeare, William Shakespeare, Shakspere, William Shakspere, the bard — English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)
• Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley — English Romantic poet (1792-1822)
• Shevchenko, Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko — Ukranian poet (1814-1861)
• Sidney, Sir Philip Sidney — English poet (1554-1586)
• Sitwell, Dame Edith Sitwell, Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell — English poet (1887-1964)
• Southey, Robert Southey — English poet and friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge (1774-1843)
• Spender, Stephen Spender, Sir Stephen Harold Spender — English poet and critic (1909-1995)
• Spenser, Edmund Spenser — English poet who wrote an allegorical romance celebrating Elizabeth I in the Spenserian stanza (1552-1599)
• Stevens, Wallace Stevens — United States poet (1879-1955)
• Suckling, Sir John Suckling — English poet and courtier (1609-1642)
• Swinburne, Algernon Charles Swinburne — English poet (1837-1909)
• Symons, Arthur Symons — English poet (1865-1945)
• Synge, J. M. Synge, John Millington Synge, Edmund John Millington Synge — Irish poet and playwright whose plays are based on rural Irish life (1871-1909)
• Tasso, Torquato Tasso — Italian poet who wrote an epic poem about the capture of Jerusalem during the First Crusade (1544-1595)
• Tate, Allen Tate, John Orley Allen Tate — United States poet and critic (1899-1979)
• Teasdale, Sara Teasdale — United States poet (1884-1933)
• Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, First Baron Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson — English Victorian poet (1809-1892)
• Thespis — Greek poet who is said to have originated Greek tragedy (sixth century BC)
• Thomas, Dylan Thomas, Dylan Marlais Thomas — Welsh poet (1914-1953)
• Trumbull, John Trumbull — American satirical poet (1750-1831)
• Tzara, Tristan Tzara, Samuel Rosenstock — French poet (born in Romania) who was one of the cofounders of the Dada movement (1896-1963)
• Uhland, Johann Ludwig Uhland — German romantic poet (1787-1862)
• Verlaine, Paul Verlaine — French symbolist poet (1844-1896)
• Villon, Francois Villon — French poet (flourished around 1460)
• Virgil, Vergil, Publius Vergilius Maro — a Roman poet; author of the epic poem `Aeneid' (70-19 BC)
• Voznesenski, Andrei Voznesenski — Russian poet (born in 1933)
• Warren, Robert Penn Warren — United States writer and poet (1905-1989)
• Watts, Isaac Watts — English poet and theologian (1674-1748)
• Wheatley, Phillis Wheatley — American poet (born in Africa) who was the first recognized Black writer in America (1753-1784)
• Whitman, Walt Whitman — United States poet who celebrated the greatness of America (1819-1892)
• Whittier, John Greenleaf Whittier — United States poet best known for his nostalgic poems about New England (1807-1892)
• Williams, William Carlos Williams — United States poet (1883-1963)
• Wordsworth, William Wordsworth — a romantic English poet whose work was inspired by the Lake District where he spent most of his life (1770-1850)
• Wyatt, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Wyat, Sir Thomas Wyat — English poet who introduced the sonnet form to English literature (1503-1542)
• Wylie, Elinor Morton Hoyt Wylie — United States poet (1885-1928)
• Yeats, William Butler Yeats, W. B. Yeats — Irish poet and dramatist (1865-1939)
• Yevtushenko, Yevgeni Yevtushenko, Yevgeni Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko — Russian poet who expressed the feelings of the post-Stalinist generation (born in 1933)
• Young, Edward Young — English poet (1683-1765)

• writer, author — writes (books or stories or articles or the like) professionally (for pay)