Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Why?
The whole first half of the Rhyme of the Anciant Mariner, including some of my favorite verses:
"And I had done an hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
'Ah wretch!' said they, 'the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!'
and
The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.
About, about in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white.
And some in dreams assured were
Of the spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.
And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung."
and
"With throats unslacked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all. "
and
"For the sky and sea, the sea and the sky
lay like a load on my weary eye
and the dead were at my feet"
JRR tolkien.
Why?
Most of the content of the Lays of Beleriand. No, I won't be retyping any of it here.
William Blake
Why?
Blake was just way cool. i used to have a book of his poems, but it is lost now. The Poison Tree is the only poem I can recall right now, but there are many others I liked as well.
William Shakespeare
Why?
I liked a lot of his sonnets, actually.
Edgar Allen Poe
Why?
The Raven "Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors, never felt before."
The Conqurer Worm "And the angels sob at vermin fangs, in human gore imbued."
And many others.
Ovid
Why?
The Metamorphoses: "Then came the age of iron, and from it poured the very blood of evil... and War, inspired by the curses of iron and gold, lifted blood-clotted hands and marched the earth."
Of course I could also mention Jim Morrison, Dave Gilmore and Roger Waters (Hear the lark and hearken to the barkin' of the dog fox... gone to ground)