This essay attempts to map the development of Bengali progressive poetry from Tagore’s era to the present day. In so doing, it, by contextualizing the progressive writers’ movement in India, shows how the concept of “progressive poetry,” which was once historically specific and aimed to dismantle feudal and colonial systems by fostering a progressive consciousness, has broadened its ambit to include poetry imbued with the ideology of humanism. The essay also tracks the decade-wise progress of Bengali progressive poetry by highlighting the works of all the major Bengali progressive poets. It further underlines the changes visible in Bengali progressive poetry in the last 40 years as a result of a long-left rule in West Bengal. Finally, the essay argues that while most of the Bengali progressive poets were once inspired by Marxist ideology, the situation is no longer the same. Today, many poets who write against human exploitation and deprivation are not necessarily believers in Marxism. Instead, many of them, like Rabindranath Tagore, uphold the ideals of humanism.