Public Poem Comments

Richard

(2025-07-15 12:05)

I am glad that you enjoyed "Severed and Gone". Anne Brontë’s poetry does have a way of reaching right to the core of experience. "The Parting" is another of her deeply affecting works, and I have created six different musical arrangements of that poem. I hope you will find them interesting.

Richard

(2025-07-14 17:10)

It was the simplicity of the lyrics which made it quite a challenge to create a musical arrangement that would do justice to Milne’s poem. I chose instruments like the koto and shakuhachi because their calm, reflective tones seemed to echo the peacefulness of the poem’s setting. I hoped also to connect the classic feel of the poem with something more contemporary, hoping to highlight how timeless Milne’s imagery can be. My aim, as ever, was to let the music support the poem’s mood rather than overshadow it. I’m glad you felt the arrangements captured the essence of the poem.

Richard

(2025-07-09 17:05)

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. It's great that you felt the performances reflected the urgency and strength in Shakespeare's words. That sense of timing and momentum is central to the words of Brutus. Do you find that this passage resonates with moments in your own life, where seizing the right opportunity made all the difference? If you have any favorite Shakesperean lines that you think would lend themselves well to a musical arrangement, I would be interested to hear your suggestions.

Richard

(2025-07-08 17:28)

I hope you enjoy these arrangements of 'Severed and Gone'.

Richard

(2025-07-05 17:43)

Thank you. I agree that Anne Brontë’s work deserves more attention, both for its emotional depth and its unique voice among the Brontë sisters. Your list includes some of her most touching and evocative pieces. I am always interested in exploring new settings for Anne Brontë’s poetry, and your selections are inspiring. It's encouraging to know that there are others who value Anne’s gentle yet passionate style. If you have any particular thoughts on how you imagine these poems set to music, or if there are other poets you would like to see featured, feel free to share your ideas. I enjoy the exchange of perspectives and look forward to bringing more of Anne Brontë’s poetry to life through music.

Richard

(2025-07-06 16:45)

Thank you for your comment, Maggie. It's interesting that "Echoes of Elara" brought "Kayleigh" by Marillion to mind as that song was certainly in my mind when I created this. I appreciate you sharing the connection. If there are other songs or poems that evoke the same feelings for you, I'd be interested to hear about them.

Richard

(2025-07-06 14:26)

Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm for Charlotte Brontë’s poetry. I’m glad you enjoyed the musical setting of "The Letter" and appreciate your suggestion to set "Frances" to music as well. Unfortunately, "Frances" is quite a long poem—at around 8665 characters, it exceeds the technical limits of my current arrangement tools. This means I’m unable to produce a full musical version of it at the moment. If the technology improves or I find a way to adapt or excerpt the poem while staying true to its spirit, I’ll certainly revisit the idea. If there are other poems by Brontë or from the same era that you’d like to hear set to music, especially shorter works, I’d be interested to know your preferences. I always enjoy exchanging ideas about classic poetry and exploring new creative possibilities.

Richard

(2025-07-05 17:08)

Thank you. I appreciate hearing that you found a sense of reprieve in the arrangement. Helen Dudley’s poetry certainly invites that kind of longing and reflection, and it is rewarding to know the musical setting supported that feeling for you. Your suggestions for setting "Against the sun..." and "Song" ("A few more windy days...") have been added to my to-do list. As ever, I'm always interested in visitor's ideas and will look into these pieces and consider how best to approach them musically. If you have any particular ideas or preferences for the style or mood, feel free to let me know

Richard

(2025-07-04 17:56)

Thank you for highlighting what you appreciate about Sara Teasdale’s poetry. I agree that her ability to convey deep and complex emotions with such clarity is remarkable, and it is a quality that makes setting her work to music especially rewarding.

I appreciate your suggestion regarding the "Love Songs" collection. In fact, I have today added a large body of Teasdale’s poems to V2Melody in preparation for future musical settings. Your request for "Erinna" is welcome and I have created three different musical arrangements of that poem which I trust you will enjoy.

If there are other specific poems from Teasdale or other poets you would like to see set to music, please feel free to mention them.

Richard

(2025-07-03 14:20)

Thank you for sharing such a thoughtful response to Gibran's "A Tear and a Smile." I appreciate how you described the experience of reading and listening to the poem as feeling light and uplifted, moving through sorrow and joy toward a sense of reunion with the divine. Gibran certainly has a unique way of expressing the interplay of these emotions, and your words capture that journey well.

Your suggestion to arrange more of Khalil Gibran's poems is a good one. His work does have a spiritual depth and intensity that lends itself to musical and artistic interpretation. I am considering adding more of his poems to the site in the future, as his themes resonate with many people seeking meaning and beauty in poetry.

If you have any particular favorites among Gibran's poems, feel free to mention them. I am always interested in hearing which pieces inspire others, and it helps me decide what to work on next. Thank you again for taking the time to comment and for engaging so thoughtfully with the music and poetry.

Richard

(2025-07-03 12:11)

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I am glad that you found that arrangement moving. Your suggestion to set Felicia Hemans’ Greek Parting Song to music was inspiring. I have taken your idea on board and recently completed three musical arrangements as you requested. These new versions feature atmospheric trip-hop with downtempo beats which work well with the poem's lyrics. I hope you enjoy them. Your ideas help shape the direction of the V2Melody project, so feel free to share any further suggestions.

Richard

(2025-07-01 15:23)

I'm delighted you enjoyed the performances. Felicia Hemans truly is a remarkable poet. Her dramatic works offer such vivid storytelling and emotional resonance, making them especially rewarding to set to music.

Your suggestion of "Gertrude, or, Fidelity till Death" from Records of Woman is inspired; it's a piece with profound emotional depth and narrative power, which I found translated beautifully into music. In fact, I had such fun with it, that I created five musical interpretations of "Gertrude", and I hope you find that each brings out a different facet of the poem’s intensity. It was a pleasure to work with such a powerful poem. If you have other favorites among her works that you think might lend themselves to musical interpretation, I’d love to hear your recommendations. Your insights are always appreciated.

Richard

(2025-07-01 15:16)

Thank you for your thoughtful reflection on the poem and performance. Your observation about the "fatal hour" being an inevitable encounter resonates deeply: that moment of stillness you describe, where we confront what we leave behind versus what awaits us, captures something profound about human experience.

I appreciate you bringing up Mary Robinson (1757-1800). Her work is indeed remarkable, and you're right that her lyrical quality would translate beautifully to musical settings. I actually have two of her poems set to music: "January, 1795" and "London's Summer Morning." Both pieces showcase exactly what you're describing about her lyrical tales being well-suited for musical treatment. "January, 1795" has that introspective, melancholic quality that translates so well to song, while "London's Summer Morning" offers vivid imagery that creates wonderful opportunities for musical painting.

Have you explored much of her other work? I'm curious which of her poems particularly appeal to you, especially considering your insight about their musical potential.

Richard

(2025-06-30 08:53)

Your reflection on "O Ailing Love" captures exactly what draws me to Millay's work: her ability to transform personal sorrow into something universally resonant. The wounded bird imagery you mention is particularly striking; it suggests that love's decline isn't necessarily a failure but perhaps a natural progression, which makes the poem's melancholy feel less bitter and more accepting.

I'm glad the musical arrangement complemented your reading experience. The vocalist's interpretation was indeed carefully chosen to honor both the poem's delicate emotional terrain and Millay's precise language. There's something about hearing these words sung that seems to unlock their full emotional weight, isn't there?

Your observation about the "bittersweet complexity of letting go" resonates deeply. Millay had this remarkable gift for finding beauty even in loss, which I think is what makes her love poems endure. They don't shy away from pain but find grace within it.

Richard

(2025-06-29 09:06)

I appreciate you listening and offering your feedback. Opie's verse reveals such a devastating emotional journey, from that opening vision of universal blight where even the skylark's song turns mournful, to the crushing realization that "nought on earth is chang'd—but me." The way the speaker's inner desolation transforms their entire perception of the world, projecting that heart-blight onto nature itself, creates such profound pathos. My goal was to mirror this progression in the composition, trying to capture both the apparent bleakness of a changed world and the more intimate tragedy of a soul that has "transferr'd" its grief to everything it perceives.

Richard

(2025-06-29 07:26)

Thank you for your comments. I am glad to hear that the music resonated with you. It is always interesting to see how a musical setting can transport us beyond the words themselves, especially with poetry as evocative as Opie’s.

Richard

(2025-06-28 12:19)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the arrangement. I’m pleased the reggaeton rhythms and desert blues guitar stood out for you. I was interested in how those contrasting elements might reflect both the energy of the poem and the unpredictable nature of the sea. Do you find that certain rhythmic patterns or guitar styles evoke a particular mood for you when paired with poetry, or was it the combination itself that created the atmosphere? I’m always curious about how listeners interpret these musical blends, especially when working with such evocative source material as "The Stormy Petrel".

Richard

(2025-06-28 11:30)

Thank you for sharing your perspective, Sarakhatun. I appreciate how you describe the journey of a poem from the writer’s heart, through the performer’s interpretation, and finally to the attentive listener. Felicia Hemans certainly gives us plenty to work with in terms of both emotion and imagery. I agree that a poem like this only truly comes alive when it finds the right voice and an open ear. I’m curious, are there other Hemans poems, or works by similar poets, that you think would benefit from a musical setting? I’m always interested in exploring new possibilities for arrangement and interpretation.

Richard

(2025-06-28 11:11)

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts about the poem and the tracks. I appreciate hearing how the music and performances affected you, and I am glad that the arrangements resonated with you in such a personal way.
Your suggestion to include poems by Amelia Opie is a good one. I have now added 85 poems from Opie's collection to V2Melody and I have set Stanzas of Sorrow to music with two different adaptations. You can find these, along with the rest of the Opie poems, on the Amelia Opie page.
If you have other poets or specific poems in mind, feel free to mention them. I am always interested in exploring new material and exchanging ideas.

Richard

(2025-06-27 18:11)

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I am glad you found the idea of layering musical interpretation over poetic interpretation of visual art to be interesting. Mina Loy is indeed a fascinating poet, both for her experimental style and for how she navigated the artistic circles of her time. Her poem about Brancusi’s sculpture is a great example of how different art forms can speak to each other, each adding its own perspective to the conversation.

If you find Loy’s work intriguing, there is a lot more to discover in her poetry, especially her explorations of modernist themes and her unique use of language. I am always interested to hear how others respond to these cross-disciplinary experiments, so if you have any thoughts on how the music interacts with the poem or the sculpture, I would enjoy hearing them.

Richard

(2025-06-27 17:29)

LyricalSinger, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree, the tone of "Too long, skeleton" is certainly on the bleak side. Dylan Thomas often delves into the darker aspects of existence, and this poem is no exception, with its focus on mortality and decay. I find it interesting how he uses such stark imagery to confront the realities we usually prefer to avoid. Do you think the poem’s bleakness adds to its impact, or does it overshadow other possible interpretations? I’d be interested to hear more about your perspective.

Richard

(2025-06-26 18:31)

Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I couldn’t agree more; humor really is a lifeboat in life’s stormy seas. I’m thrilled you enjoyed my take on Edgar A. Guest’s wonderful poem. Your words are truly encouraging and make the creative journey all the more rewarding. Thanks again for listening and sharing your reflections!

Richard

(2025-06-26 18:29)

Thank you so much, Maggie! I’m thrilled you enjoyed these arrangements—“Wind on the Hill” has always been a favorite of mine too, and it was a joy to reimagine it with Afrobeats rhythms. I’m glad the blend of playfulness and emotion came through for you. Your thoughtful feedback truly means a lot and inspires me to keep experimenting with new musical directions. Thanks again for listening and sharing your experience!

Richard

(2025-06-26 18:30)

Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m delighted that you enjoyed both tracks and that the whimsical, quizzical spirit of the poem came through for you. It’s always a pleasure to know the music connects and brings the poetry to life. Your feedback truly means a lot and inspires me to keep experimenting with new arrangements. Thanks again for listening and sharing your thoughts!

Richard

(2025-06-26 18:30)

That's quite an observation. "a dew" - "adieu" - Thank you for pointing this out.