Most students will recognize the names of famous poets such as Edgar Allen Poe or William Shakespeare, but there is more to poetry than a few notable men. We’ve put together this list of incredible and diverse poets your students should know along with famous quotes and noteworthy poems. Be sure to take time to read this list of before sharing them with students to make sure these famous poets are suitable for your classroom.
Shel Silverstein (1930 – 1999)
Source: Jerry Yulsman (given on back of dust jacket), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “What I do is good. I wouldn’t let it out if I didn’t think it was.”
Learn more: About Shel (official website)
Read it: “Dirty Face”
Naomi Shihab Nye (1952 – )
Source: User:Micahd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.”
Learn more: About Naomi Shihab Nye (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “The Traveling Onion”
Francisco X. Alarcón (1954 – 2016)
Source: Francisco X. Alarcón, Free art license, via Wikipedia Commons
Famous quote: “I carry my roots with me all the time rolled up, I use them as my pillow.”
Learn more: Francisco X. Alarcón (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “Ode to My Shoes”
Roald Dahl (1916 – 1990)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
Learn more: Roald Dahl (official website)
Read it: “The Tummy Beast”
Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.”
Learn more: Rudyard Kipling (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “If—”
Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014)
Source: York College ISLGP, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Learn more: Maya Angelou (official website)
Read it: “On the Pulse of Morning”
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: ”Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.”
Learn more: The Poe Museum
Read it: “The Raven”
Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 – 1906)
Source: The African-American Experience in Ohio, Public domain, via Wikipedia Commons
Famous quote: “A minute to smile and an hour to weep in/ A pint of joy to a peck of trouble/ And never a laugh but the moans come double; And that is life!”
Learn more: About Paul Laurence Dunbar (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “We Wear the Mask”
Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886)
Source: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul—and sings the tunes without the words—and never stops at all.”
Learn more: Emily Dickinson Museum
Read it: “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers”
Amanda Gorman (1998 – )
Source: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from Washington D.C, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Learn more: About Amanda Gorman (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “The Hill We Climb”
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)
Source: Fred Palumbo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
Learn more: About Robert Frost (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “The Road Not Taken”
Langston Hughes (1901 – 1967)
Source: Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
Learn more: About Langston Hughes (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “I Too (Sing America)”
E.E. Cummings (1894 – 1962)
Source: Walter Albertin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Famous quote: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
Learn more: E. E. Cummings (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “i carry your heart with me”
Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973)
Source: Flickr
Famous quote: “To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life.”
Learn more: Pablo Neruda (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You”
Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “Either define the moment or the moment will define you.”
Learn more: About Walt Whitman (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “I Hear America Singing”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “If you desire faith, then you have faith enough.”
Learn more: About Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)”
William Blake (1757 – 1827)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”
Learn more: William Blake (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “The Tyger”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
Learn more: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “The Children’s Hour”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”
Learn more: Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “Uriel”
John Keats (1796 – 1821)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.”
Learn more: John Keats (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)”
Li Bai (701 – 762)
Source: Public domain, via Wikipedia Commons
Famous quote: “We sit together, the mountain and me, until only the mountain remains.”
Learn more: Li Bai (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “Quiet Night Thought”
Lord Byron (1788 – 1824)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “There is no instinct like that of the heart.”
Learn more: Lord Byron (George Gordon) (Poetry Foundation)
Read it: “She Walks in Beauty”
Sappho (~615 BCE – 550 BCE)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful.”
Learn more: About Sappho (Academy of American Poets)
Read it: “Sappho 31”
William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616)
Source: Getty Images
Famous quote: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts. His acts being seven ages.”
Learn more: William Shakespeare Biography (Arts Council England)
Read it: “Sonnet XVIII” (Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?)
