Author: Theodore Roethke (1908 - 1963)

Text Compilations

• I Am! Says the Lamb
• Open House
• Praise to the End!
• The Far Field
• The Lost Son and Other Poems
• The Waking: Poems 1933-1953
• Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke

Texts set to music as art song or choral works [warning - not necessarily comprehensive]

[x] indicates a placeholder for a text that is not yet in the database
* indicates that a text cannot (yet?) be displayed on this site because of its copyright status.

Special notes: All titles and first lines are included in this index, including those used by composers.
Titles used by the text author appear in boldface. First lines appear in italics.
A language code in a blue rectangle like ENG indicates that a translation to that language is available.
A grey rectangle like FRE indicates a particular translation (usually one set to music) exists but isn't yet available.

• Believe me, knot of gristle, I bleed like a tree (from Praise to the End!) * (Give way, ye gates)
• Believe me, knot of gristle, I bleed like a tree (from Praise to the End!) * - William Bolcom (Give way, ye gates)
• Dolor (I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) *
• Dolor (I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - Harris Lindenfeld *
• First meditation (On love's worst ugly day) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke - Meditation of an Old Woman) *
• First meditation (On love's worst ugly day) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke - Meditation of an Old Woman) - William Bolcom *
• From whence cometh song (From whence cometh song?) (from The Far Field) - Ned Rorem *
• From whence cometh song? (from The Far Field) * - Ned Rorem (From whence cometh song)
• From whence cometh song? (from The Far Field) * (Song (From whence cometh song?))
• From whence cometh song? (from The Far Field) * - Daron Aric Hagen, Ned Rorem, Simon Sargon (Song)
• Give way, ye gates (Believe me, knot of gristle, I bleed like a tree) (from Praise to the End!) *
• Give way, ye gates (Believe me, knot of gristle, I bleed like a tree) (from Praise to the End!) - William Bolcom *
• Goo-girl () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• Goo-girl () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Samuel Hans Adler [x] *
• I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * (Dolor)
• I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * - Harris Lindenfeld (Dolor)
• I knew a woman, lovely in her bones (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * (I knew a woman)
• I knew a woman, lovely in her bones (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * - William Bolcom (I knew a woman)
• I knew a woman (I knew a woman, lovely in her bones) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) *
• I knew a woman (I knew a woman, lovely in her bones) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - William Bolcom *
• Interlude () (from Open House) [x] *
• Interlude () (from Open House) - Ned Rorem [x] *
• I saw a young snake glide (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * (Snake)
• I saw a young snake glide (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * - Ned Rorem (Snake)
• I strolled across an open field (I strolled across) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - Ned Rorem *
• I strolled across (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * - Ned Rorem (I strolled across an open field)
• I strolled across (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * (The waking)
• I strolled across (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * - Judith Cloud, Daron Aric Hagen (The waking)
• I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow (from The Waking: Poems 1933-1953) * (The waking)
• I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow (from The Waking: Poems 1933-1953) * - Abbie Betinis, William Bolcom, Stanley Grill, Ned Rorem (The waking)
• Let others probe the mystery if they can * - William Bolcom (The right thing)
• Meditation at Oyster River () - Scott Gendel [x] *
• Meditations of an old woman (What can I tell my bones) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] *
• Memory () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] *
• Memory () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Ned Rorem [x] *
• My lizard, my lively writher (from The Far Field) * - Samuel Barber (My lizard)
• My lizard, my lively writher (from The Far Field) * (Wish for a young wife)
• My lizard (My lizard, my lively writher) (from The Far Field) - Samuel Barber *
• My papa's waltz (The whiskey on your breath) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) *
• My papa's waltz (The whiskey on your breath) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - David Leo Diamond, Ned Rorem *
• Myrtle's cousin () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• Myrtle's cousin () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Samuel Hans Adler [x] *
• Myrtle () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• Myrtle () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Samuel Hans Adler [x] *
• My secrets cry aloud (from Open House) * (Open house)
• My secrets cry aloud (from Open House) * - William Bolcom (Open house)
• Night crow () (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) [x] *
• Night crow () (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - Ned Rorem [x] *
• On love's worst ugly day (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke - Meditation of an Old Woman) * (First meditation)
• On love's worst ugly day (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke - Meditation of an Old Woman) * - William Bolcom (First meditation)
• Open house (My secrets cry aloud) (from Open House) *
• Open house (My secrets cry aloud) (from Open House) - William Bolcom *
• Orchids (They lean over the path) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) *
• Orchids (They lean over the path) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - Ned Rorem *
• Root cellar () - Ned Rorem [x] *
• Snake (I saw a young snake glide) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) *
• Snake (I saw a young snake glide) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Ned Rorem *
• Song (From whence cometh song?) (From whence cometh song?) (from The Far Field) *
• Song (From whence cometh song?) (from The Far Field) - Daron Aric Hagen, Ned Rorem, Simon Sargon *
• The apparition () (from The Far Field) [x] *
• The apparition () (from The Far Field) - Ned Rorem [x] *
• The cow (There once was a cow) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) *
• The cow (There once was a cow) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Kenneth Benshoof, Harris Lindenfeld *
• The kitty-cat bird () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• The kitty-cat bird () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Gail T. Kubik [x] *
• The lamb () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• The lamb () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Gail T. Kubik [x] *
• The monotony song () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• The monotony song () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Gail T. Kubik, John David Lamb [x] *
• There once was a cow (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * (The cow)
• There once was a cow (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * - Kenneth Benshoof, Harris Lindenfeld (The cow)
• There was a Serpent who had to sing (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * (The serpent)
• There was a Serpent who had to sing (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) * - William Bolcom, Lee Hoiby, Andrew Welch Imbrie, Gail T. Kubik, Ned Rorem (The serpent)
• The right thing (Let others probe the mystery if they can) - William Bolcom *
• The serpent (There was a Serpent who had to sing) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) *
• The serpent (There was a Serpent who had to sing) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - William Bolcom, Lee Hoiby, Andrew Welch Imbrie, Gail T. Kubik, Ned Rorem *
• The sloth () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] *
• The sloth () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Gail T. Kubik [x] *
• The voice () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] *
• The voice () (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Hope Leroy Baumgartner [x] *
• The waking (I strolled across) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) *
• The waking (I strolled across) (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) - Judith Cloud, Daron Aric Hagen *
• The waking (I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow) (from The Waking: Poems 1933-1953) *
• The waking (I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow) (from The Waking: Poems 1933-1953) - Abbie Betinis, William Bolcom, Stanley Grill, Ned Rorem *
• The weeds () - Michael Sidney Timpson [x] *
• The whiskey on your breath (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * (My papa's waltz)
• The whiskey on your breath (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * - David Leo Diamond, Ned Rorem (My papa's waltz)
• The yak () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) [x] *
• The yak () (from I Am! Says the Lamb) - Samuel Hans Adler [x] *
• They lean over the path (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * (Orchids)
• They lean over the path (from The Lost Son and Other Poems) * - Ned Rorem (Orchids)
• What can I tell my bones (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] * (Meditations of an old woman)
• What can I tell my bones (What can I tell my bones) (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) - Ned Rorem [x] *
• What can I tell my bones (from Words for the Wind: The Collected Verse of Theodore Roethke) [x] * - Ned Rorem (What can I tell my bones)
• Wish for a young wife (My lizard, my lively writher) (from The Far Field) *

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Last update: 2021-02-09 22:30:52