This is a list of some poems that have been subsequently set to music. In the classical music tradition, this type of setting may be referred to as an art song. A poem set to music in the German language is called a lied, or in the French language, a Mélodie. A group of poems, usually by the same poet, which are set to music to form a single work, is called a song cycle.
William Blake
"Ten Blake Songs" are poems from Blake's "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" and "Auguries of Innocence", set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1957. "Tyger" is both the name of an album by Tangerine Dream, which is based on Blake's poetry, and the title of a song on this album based on the poem of the same name. "The Fly" by Esperanza Spalding (as the song "Little Fly" on her 2010 album Chamber Music Society) Cosmo Sheldrake adapted two songs of Blake's: "The Fly" into a song of the same name, and "I Rose Up At The Dawn Of Day" into the song "Solar". "And did those feet in ancient time" set to music by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916 and best known today as the anthem "Jerusalem." There have been many recordings, most notably by: the British progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer for their Brain Salad Surgery album the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, whose version was played in medal ceremonies for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, a 1965 song cycle by Benjamin Britten.
Rachel Bluwstein
"I Know to Speak Only of Myself" by Chava Alberstein by Geva Alon
Robert Burns
"A Red, Red Rose" "Sweet Afton" ( His poems are made around the 1700s) "Auld Lang Syne" "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation"
George Gordon Byron
See Musical settings of, or music inspired by, poems by Byron
Florence Earle Coates
Set to music by Mrs. H. H. A. Beach: "For me the jasmine buds unfold". Op. 19, no. 1. For sop. or tenor and piano. 1 score (7 p.). Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt. (1892) "Go not too far". Op. 56, no. 2. High and low voice. Words also printed as text. Caption title. 1 score (5 p.); 35 cm. Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt. (1904) "I know not how to find the spring". Op. 56, no. 3. For medium voice and piano. Caption title. Words also printed as text on p. 2. 1 score (5 p.); 36 cm. Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt. (1904) "Give me not love". Op. 61. Duet for soprano and tenor. Caption title. 1 score (7 p.); 34 cm. Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt. (1905) "After". Op. 68. High and low voice. Words also printed as text. Caption title. 1 score (7 p.); 35 cm. Boston: Arthur P. Schmidt. (1909) Set to music by Clayton Johns: "I love, and the world is mine". To Miss Lena Little. Sop. or tenor in G. Song [with piano acc.]; score (5p.) 35 cm. New York, G. Schirmer. (1891) "I love, and the world is mine". To Miss Lena Little. Medium in F. Song [with piano acc.]; score (4p.) 35 cm. New York, G. Schirmer. (1891) "When Phyllis comes" (1892) "If love were not". 4 p. of music; 35 cm. Boston: Oliver Ditson & Co. (1904) "So is my love to me" (1908) See also:
Idris Davies
Several of the parts of Davies' poem cycle Gwalia Deserta have been adapted into songs: Part XV was used by Pete Seeger for the lyrics of "The Bells of Rhymney" Part XXXIV was adapted by Max Boyce as "When We Walked to Merthyr Tydfil in the Moonlight Long Ago" Part XXXVI was used by Public Service Broadcasting for the words of "Turn No More", sung by James Dean Bradfield, on the album Every Valley
Emily Dickinson
"I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain" by Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Natalie Merchant by John Adams by Aaron Copland (Composer) "Wild Nights" was also featured as part of Adam's composition Harmonium The album No Promises by Carla Bruni includes three poems by Emily Dickinson "I Felt My Life With Both My Hands" "I Went To Heaven" "If You Were Coming In The Fall" "Hope" by Trailer Bride on Hope Is a Thing With Feathers (Album) Too Few the Mornings Be: Eleven Songs for Soprano and Piano by Ricky Ian Gordon, written for Renée Fleming "Too few the mornings be" "If all the griefs I am to have" "The bustle in a house" "This is my letter to the world" "You cannot put a fire out" "Bee! I'm expecting you!" "Poor little heart!" "I'm nobody! Who are you? "How happy is the little stone" "Estranged from beauty" "Will there really be a morning?"
A. E. Housman
"Six poems from "A Shropshire Lad" were set to music in "On Wenlock Edge" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Patrick Kavanagh
The poem On Raglan Road was put to music when the poet met Luke Kelly of the well-known Irish band The Dubliners in a pub in Dublin. It was set to the music of the traditional song "The Dawning of the Day" (Fáinne Geal an Lae).