Some Poems Converted to Song

Setting poetry to music is a long-standing tradition, as old as poetry itself, and it endures even today, if you know where to look. This is not a collection of the best or most popular songs, or even a collection of cohesive songs, but a sample platter of very different poems elevated with very different genres. Hopefully, every musical palate will have a taste for at least one of these lovely compositions.

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service is a rural, folksy poem about a man’s travel partner dying of hypothermia and our narrator’s effort to cremate him. While Seth Boyer does cut out a few stanzas, his banjo-laden ballad perfectly captures the folk song simplicity of the lyrics. The repetitive melody could easily become tiresome, but he circumvents this beautifully with alternately quieting and bombarding instrumentation perfect for an impromptu dance hall. Listen here.

I Want to Die While You Love Me by Georgia Douglass Johnson aches during a perfect day spent with a love so tangibly deep that it must go on to the conscious forever, however short that may be. Only a soaring art song could express such a love. Composer Rosephanye Powell wrote an entire collection of art songs inspired by the works of black woman poets, Miss Wheatley’s Garden, but I Want to Die While You Love Me is a standout piece. Sensitively interpreted and preformed here by soprano Kiena Williams.

Antigonish by Hughes Mearns is a staple in creepy, kid-friendly nonsense poetry. You might have read it as part of a special Halloween ELA lesson. Easily the oldest song on this list, Glenn Miller’s bouncy jazz rendition came out in 1939, and has been the tune many people can’t help but sway to as they read. It honestly just speaks for itself. Listen here if you dare.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe needs no introduction. Even if you weren’t inclined to memorize it in its entirety, you likely know its continuously exhumed refrain nevermore. Many songs have been made out of this poem, across interpretations and genres. The band Omnia’s version, however, is particularly dreadful in the best possible way. In true goth song fashion, it is over 9 minutes long, but entirely worth it. Beginning with a typical spoken recitation, heavenly harp and eerie vocals are added, and it all slowly crescendos to a passionate almost-shouting that plummets to a painfully resigned last verse. Listen here.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson is another classic classroom poem. It’s a masterful moving diagram of imagery and emotion, delicate and bold. It, too, has many song adaptations, but a little-known version by one Ezra Tillman, who has written many similar “poetry memorization songs,” captures its essence like no other. It’s simple, short, and appropriately hopeful. Listen here.