Speaking about poetry by buddhist, the chinese stood out. (And Korean and Japan by inheritance).
In China since ancient times, poetry is an art by the literary class. The Scholar/ Literati class is considered the highest class according to Confucian idea. Below is the farmer, merchant, and artisan/ craftsman.
The government officials came from scholar class. They must pass the national exam. And one of the subject in the exam is to compose poems. Composing poems spontaneously is one of the recreation during the gathering.
Translation of Buddhist texts is also influenced by literary styles in China. You can see in the Dhammapada Chinese, it was translated in the format of :
XXXX , XXXX
XXXX, XXXX.
It is interesting how this format contain so much meaning inside. Here I copy paste from translation in SC T210 Dharmapada, Chapter 37: Life and Death in English
欲色不色有
The existence of desire, form and formless,
一切因宿行
Are all caused by past conducts;
如种随本像
Like the seed would grow as its parent plant,
自然报如影
Natually the retribution is like the shadow behind.
And because Buddhism as religion need to cater to scholarly class, it also influenced Chinese Buddhism. For example, if someone claimed to achieve enlightenment, he/ she will compose a poem.
Feelings on Remembering the Day I first Produced the Mind
by Hsu Yun
English version by Paul Hansen
Original Language Chinese
Drawn some sixty years ago by karma
I turned life upside down
And climbed straight on to lofty summits.
Between my eyes a hanging sword,
The Triple World is pure.
Empty-handed, I hold a hoe, clearing a galaxy.As the ‘Ocean of the Knowing-mind’ dries up,
Pearls shine forth by themselves;
Space smashed to dust, a moon hangs independent.
I threw my net through Heaven,
Caught the dragon and the phoenix;
Alone I walk through the cosmos,
Connecting the past and its people.