Political poetry brings together politics and poetry. According to "The Politics of Poetry" by David Orr, poetry and politics connect through expression and feeling, although both of them are matters of persuasion. Political poetry connects to people's feelings, and politics connects to current events. Poetry can also make political references and have real effects on the perception of politics.

Political poetry can impact readers because both politics and poetry express views, with political poetry often defined as being: "a specific political situation; rooted in an identifiable political philosophy; addressing a particular political actor; written in language that can be understood and appreciated by its intended audience; and finally, offered in a public forum where it can have maximum persuasive effect".

Political poetry has existed from the earliest times, including the Roman, Horace ( 65 BC – 8 BC).

Some critics argue that political poetry can not exist, stating that politics do not belong with and can not be incorporated with traditional definitions of poetry. One of the most vivid examples of this comes from a 1968 essay, "Studies in English Literature: Restoration and Eighteenth Century", written by A.L. French. In this work, French provides criticism of the influential 17th century poet John Dryden's work, claiming that the majority of praise Dryden receives is due to his political messages rather than the quality of his poetry, which French believes is mediocre. For example, French believes Dryden relies too heavily on excessive allusion to get his messages and themes across; French describes Dryden's work and "his treatment of the body politic in the epic simile". French's argument reveals the inherent difficulty of political poetry: the attempt to incorporate the literal (politics), can destroy the fanciful and imaginary qualities that make poetry what it is.

During the eighteenth century the Augustan poets, such as Dryden and Pope wrote political poetry.

Working-class women poetry describes the works of the voices behind the machinery and factories of the Victorian era. Critic Megan Timney argues that working-class women poets engaged with nineteenth century class politics and their simple use of diction and themes resonated with. This poetry calls for equality in the workplace, fair compensation and the improvement of working conditions. Meagan Timney examines how working-class women of the Victorian era in Britain were deemed unimportant or unrecognized in comparison to working-class males. As a result of this injustice, many female poets from this time period did not receive the proper recognition they deserved. Many women authors did not receive credit for their works since it was hard to trace an author to her work during this time. Only recently has their history been discovered. Timney argues that working-class women poets engaged with nineteenth century class politics and their simple use of diction and themes resonated with Chartist poetry. In works written by Mary Hutton, she incorporated issues of the day during the 1830s and 1840s by politicizing both gender and class while carefully walking a line of legislative changes and political revolution. Other than Mary Hutton, there are other examples of poetry by other working-class women during the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Besides Hutton, there were also others who had their own stance on the treatment of the working-class. These women poets were helpful because of their influencing ideas for revolutionary change and the commitment to justice. Hutton, a Chartist Poet, focused on political subjects and observed the workings of justice and how women of the working class were treated. Working-class women often were denied access to the reforms of the Chartist movement thus denied the right to fight for their worker's rights. Current research of Mary Hutton has opened doors for further research on female working poets like Hutton to be credited as equal to other working class writers. The importance of this poetry highlights the specifics of the working class during this time period, and how work matters to society.

In the 1840s political poetry was widely distributed in a newspaper called The Nation. This was intended to spread nationalism across Ireland. In 1843 some of the major contributors of the newspaper were  Thomas Davis,  Charles Gavan Duffy, and  John Blake Dillon. They produced an anthology of poetry titled The Spirit of the Nation, which consisted of politicised poetry with heavy nationalistic tones and motives, much like the newspaper.

The contemporary Irish critic and poet Eavan Boland argues that the act of a woman writing poetry in Ireland is a political act in itself due to the traditional exclusion from the art. The prolific Irish poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill asserted, "the image of women in the national tradition is a very real dragon that every Irish woman poet has to fight every time she opens her door". The political poem's roots in Ireland are very male centric, both in who was writing it and also the subject matter. Women often had no voice or were objectified, and put into the traditional housewife role in Ireland's poetic history. Political Poetry was widespread across Ireland in the mid 19th century: "The national and the feminine [was] frequently mixed in the rhetoric of the newspaper" (Boland). This association repressed the female voice in the poetry of Ireland. Since then there have been many successful female political poets from Ireland.