Therein lies the problem.<p>Poetry set to music seldom works, because it is too dense. When it is done, the music must be very plain, or only a short sections of the text are used, or the text is chopped up and spliced without regard to meaning of the words, or there is a lot of repetitions, or there is a lot of instrumental passages. Often more than one of the above.<p>Song lyrics (you can call it poetry that is meant to be sung) carry much less information, don&#x27;t require careful attention of the listener, are mostly linear. But song lyrics require something that poetry does not -- they have to <i>work</i>: They must be vocalizable with ease. They must rhyme. There must be a leitmotif&#x2F;chorus that is recognizable and catchy, et cetera. They must be popular, and make money.<p>Some singers-songwriters write both poetry and songs[1] (or a poem is adapted into a song[2], or vice versa) -- then you can easily see the difference between the two.<p>[1] Few of my favourites: Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Filip Topol<p>[2] The God Abandons Anthony, by C P Cavafy: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cavafy.com&#x2F;poems&#x2F;content.asp?id=12&amp;cat=1" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cavafy.com&#x2F;poems&#x2F;content.asp?id=12&amp;cat=1</a> -- and a song based on it, by L Cohen and S Robinson: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;songmeanings.com&#x2F;songs&#x2F;view&#x2F;42869&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;songmeanings.com&#x2F;songs&#x2F;view&#x2F;42869&#x2F;</a>