诗人是创作诗歌的人，属于文学家一类。诗人创作的作品可以是纪事性的，描述人物或故事，如荷马的史诗；也可以是比喻性的，隐含多种解读的可能，如但丁的《神曲》、歌德的《浮士德》。历史上自从有文本以来就开始有诗人，而不同国家和时代产生出许多不同的诗词体裁。

英文的诗人(poet)一字来自于拉丁语的"poeta, poetae"，意指写诗的人，或关于诗人的事。在中国，诗经和楚辞是现时所知的最早的诗词集，孔子和屈原分别是诗经和楚辞的编撰者。中国的诗词在唐朝和宋朝大盛，诗人辈出，唐代以诗仙李白和诗圣杜甫最为人所熟知。宋代诗人以写词为多，故又称作「词人」。古代的诗人对格律非常熟悉，无论在中国或西方诗词都有特定的格式，例如唐代盛行的律诗，其对偶、押韵、声调平仄的要求，都比小说或是散文来的严格。

A poet is a person who writes poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as poets by others. A poet may simply be a writer of poetry, or may perform their art to an audience.

The work of a poet is essentially one of communication, either expressing ideas in a literal sense, such as writing about a specific event or place, or metaphorically. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and time periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed through the course of literary history, resulting in a history of poets as diverse as the literature they have produced.