- Among the admirers of Verlaine's work was the Russian language poet and novelist Boris Pasternak. Pasternak went so far as to translate much of Verlaine's verse into Russian. According to Pasternak's mistress and muse, Olga Ivinskaya,
Whenever [Boris Leonidovich] was provided with literal versions of things which echoed his own thoughts or feelings, it made all the difference and he worked feverishly, turning them into masterpieces. I remember his translating Paul Verlaine in a burst of enthusiasm like this -- L'Art poétique was after all an expression of his own beliefs about poetry.[17]
- French composer Cecile Paul Simon (1881-1970) used Verlaine's text for her song "L’heure Exquise."[18]
- Russian composer Lyubov Streicher (1888-1958) set Verlaine's text to music in her Romances.[19]
- French composer Beatrice Siegrist (born 1934) used Verlaine's text for her songs "Melodies."[19]
- In 1943, Richard Hillary, author of The Last Enemy, quoted Verlaine (Sagesse) in his poem.[20]
- His relationship with Rimbaud was dramatised in the 1964 Australian TV play A Season in Hell.
- In 1964, French singer Léo Ferré set to music fourteen poems from Verlaine and some from Rimbaud for his album Verlaine et Rimbaud. He also sang two other poems (Colloque sentimental, Si tu ne mourus pas) in his album On n'est pas sérieux quand on a dix-sept ans (1987).
- Soviet/Russian composer David Tukhmanov set Verlaine's poem to music in Russian and French (cult album On a Wave of My Memory, 1975).[21]
- Guitarist, singer and songwriter Tom Miller (better known as Tom Verlaine, leader of the art rock band Television) chose his stage name as a tribute to Verlaine.
- New Zealand indie rock band The Verlaines are named after Verlaine. Their most popular song "Death and the Maiden" references his shooting of Rimbaud.
- The time Verlaine and Rimbaud spent together was the subject of the 1995 film Total Eclipse, directed by Agnieszka Holland and with a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his play of the same name. Verlaine was portrayed by David Thewlis and Leonardo DiCaprio played Rimbaud.
- The poem Crime of Love was set to music for the album Feasting with Panthers, released in 2011 by Marc Almond and Michael Cashmore. It was adapted and translated by Jeremy Reed.
- Bob Dylan's iconic "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," has the lyric, "Situations have ended sad; Relationships have all been bad; Mine've been like Verlaine's and Rimbaud".
- Singer Lydia Loveless included a song called 'Verlaine Shot Rimbaud' on her album Somewhere Else.
- The 1975 song "Part of the Band" includes the line "And I fell in love with a boy, it was kinda lame; I was Rimbaud and he was Paul Verlaine"[22]
- "Clair de lune" by Claude Debussy takes its title from Verlaine's poem of the same name which depicts the soul as somewhere full of music "in a minor key" where birds are inspired to sing by the "sad and beautiful" light of the moon.
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