# Poetry Foundation API: Get poem by title

> Finds a poem on Poetry Foundation by title (optionally by poet) and returns its full public text, poet, printed source, publication year and subject tags.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Poetry Foundation.

- Page: https://fous.com/methods/poetryfoundation.org/get-poem
- Method: `poetryfoundation.org/get_poem`, version 1
- Website: poetryfoundation.org
- Returns: title, poet, full text, source, publication year, themes, tags, poet page link, poem link
- Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing)
- Sign-in: none needed
- Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free
- Verified: Nov 2, 2026

## Inputs

| Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `poet` | string | no | `"Rudyard Kipling"` | The poet’s name to distinguish poems with the same title, for example Robert Frost. |
| `title` | string | yes | `"If—"` | The title of the poem, for example The Road Not Taken. |

## Output

From a run on Oct 31, 2026, shortened. Its input:

```json
{
  "poet": "Rudyard Kipling",
  "title": "If—"
}
```

Its output:

```json
{
  "poet": "Rudyard Kipling",
  "tags": [
    "Farewells & Good Luck",
    "Graduation",
    "Stanza Forms > Rhymed Stanza"
  ],
  "text": "If you can keep your head when all about you\n    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,\nIf you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,\n    But make allowance for their doubting too;\nIf you can wait and not be tired by waiting,\n    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,\nOr being hated, don’t g…",
  "title": "If—",
  "source": "A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)",
  "themes": [
    "Living > Coming of Age"
  ],
  "poem_link": "https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if---",
  "poet_page_link": "https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/rudyard-kipling",
  "publication_year": 1943
}
```

## Run it

From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output:

```bash
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"poetryfoundation.org/get_poem","input":{"poet":"Rudyard Kipling","title":"If—"}}'
```

From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`.

## Ask your agent

- Pull up the full text of "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley along with where it was first printed and the year.
- I need the complete poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks from Poetry Foundation, plus its subject tags and a link to the poem page.
- What themes and tags are attached to Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art"? Also give me the text and the original source it appeared in.
- Find "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver on poetryfoundation.org and give me the poem text, publication year, and a link to her poet page.
- Can you get me the words to "Do not go gentle into that good night"? I think it's Dylan Thomas, and I'd like to know when it was published.

## Input schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "title"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "poet": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The poet’s name to distinguish poems with the same title, for example Robert Frost."
    },
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The title of the poem, for example The Road Not Taken."
    }
  }
}
```

## Output schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "title",
    "poet",
    "text",
    "source",
    "publication_year",
    "themes",
    "tags",
    "poet_page_link",
    "poem_link"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "poet": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "tags": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Occasions, poetic terms, emotions, and other category labels listed for the poem."
    },
    "text": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Full poem text, with its line and stanza breaks."
    },
    "title": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "source": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Printed source citation, if shown on the poem page."
    },
    "themes": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      },
      "description": "Subject categories listed for the poem."
    },
    "poem_link": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "poet_page_link": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ]
    },
    "publication_year": {
      "type": [
        "integer",
        "null"
      ],
      "description": "Year appearing in the printed source, if shown."
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## See more

- [Poetry Foundation API: Search poems](https://fous.com/methods/poetryfoundation.org/search-poems.md): Finds poems matching a topic or occasion, or poems by a named poet, in Poetry Foundation search order. Older magazine poems without public text have no first two lines; untagged poems have no themes or occasions.
- [Project Gutenberg API: Get book text](https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org/get-book-text.md): Gets the plain text of a public-domain Project Gutenberg book by title, optionally matching its author and language. Chooses the most downloaded matching edition with a plain-text file, removes the Gutenberg header and license, and can cut the text after a chosen number of words.
- [Open Library API: Get book details](https://fous.com/methods/openlibrary.org/get-book.md): Gets a book's catalog details from Open Library by its title, with an optional author or ISBN to identify the right book. Reading availability reflects listed editions; details may be missing when the catalog has none.
- [Project Gutenberg API: Search free books](https://fous.com/methods/gutenberg.org/search-free-books.md): Finds free public-domain Project Gutenberg books by title, author or topic, with authors, languages, subjects, recent downloads, and reading and download links. Public-domain status is based on the United States.
- [Google API: Get book](https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/get-book.md): Looks up a Google Books book by title or ISBN. Returns its details, reader ratings and the Google Play ebook offer in a chosen country.
- [Audible API: Get audiobook details](https://fous.com/methods/audible.com/get-audiobook.md): Looks up an audiobook in an Audible store by title (optionally narrowed by author) or by Audible book link, and returns its details, narrators, length, rating, visitor price, series, publisher summary and whether that store's Plus Catalog includes it.
- [NIH API: Get PubMed article](https://fous.com/methods/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/get-article.md): Gets the full PubMed abstract and publication details for one article by title, PubMed link, or PubMed number (PMID). A title is searched in PubMed titles first and must closely match a found article. Some articles have no abstract or free full text.
- [Discogs API: Get release](https://fous.com/methods/discogs.com/get-release.md): Finds a Discogs release by title, artist or release link and returns its edition details, tracks, community counts, current price and sold price statistics.
- [All Poetry Foundation methods](https://fous.com/methods/poetryfoundation.org.md)