Hi Bobby et al.
I think we do need to distinguish between works that are written as poems and that are later set to music, which is the case with the Thomas Moore poems that have been posted, or Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner" or, a couple of more recent examples, Housman's "A Shropshire Lad" set to music by George Butterworth, or Hardy's "Winter Words" set to music by Benjamin Britten. A work expressly written to serve as the lyrics of a song is a different animal. Moore's lyrics read as poetry because even if the poet wrote them be sung, they are poems not just songs.
All the best
Chris
[This message has been edited by ChrisGeorge (edited January 22, 2005).]
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