POETRY AS SONG

                    A poem’s most enchanting when it’s sung,
                    A function of the mind, the heart, the lung—
                    That’s if it’s of the rhyme-and-meter kind,
                    Whereas free verse is simply for the mind,
                    The element of music being stripped
                    By which one’s subtler feelings may be gripped,
                    But still these phonic features aren’t enough
                    Unless the subject matter is the stuff
                    Of vivid imagery, not merely thought,
                    The auditor amused instead of taught.
                    Blank verse is better than the free verse kind
                    If one’s talent is not that way inclined,
                    But still, both rhyme and meter are the best,
                    Displaying wit, resourcefulness and zest.

 

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