Classic Poem

Poet, ere you write me,
Stem the flowing ink;
Or that you indite me
Pause upon the brink.

Strummer of the lyre
Maker of the tune,
Give me a desire —
Bless me with a boon.

Let me be a rondeau
With a sweet refrain,
Or an aliquando
Sonnet to the rain;

Let me be a lyric
Tenuous as air,
Or an a la Viereck
Passion song to hair;

Ballad, epic, quatrain,
Couplet — ay, a line —
" Let it rain or not rain,
Let it storm or shine. "

Shape me as you list to,
Glorious or small;
Put a comic twist to
Anything at all.

Only give me fame that
Never, never dies,
Christen me a name that
Reaches to the skies.

This is my ambition:
Not the greatest rhyme,
Not the first position
On the page of time —

But, O poet, steep me,
Till, with gum and hooks,
Womenfolk will keep me
In their pocket-books!