Topic summary
Poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet might simply be the creator (thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or written), or someone who also performs their art to an audience.
The work of a poet is essentially one of communication, expressing ideas either in a literal sense (such as describing a specific event or place) or metaphorically. Poets have existed since prehistory, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary greatly in different cultures and periods. Throughout each civilization and language, poets have used various styles that have changed over time, resulting in countless poets as diverse as the literature that (since the advent of writing systems) they have produced.