Marilyn, I know many fine poems that have been set to music. I'm thinking of choral arrangements that started as poetry and were later set: "My Heart's in the Highlands" by Burns and "The Road Not Taken" by Frost and Rilke's rose poems come to mind. But in general I don't think song lyrics make for good poetry when they are stripped from their context because they depend on the music to cover poetic shortcomings which range from cliched and sappy tropes to inversions to metrical glitches.
In Cole Porter's case, his lyrics are wonderful and his music less so. I don't know which he wrote first or whether the words would work as stand-alone poetry, but I find much of his the music doesn't really do justice to the brilliance of his words.
Carol
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