I have written a hundred poems in the last three years. Editors returned them with tears. They all had rhythm and meter, And rhyme as perfect as Peter, Pumpkin Eater; Because I believe that rhythm is a poet's first duty, Meter is the second and rhyme the third, in an expression of beauty. I have examined a pile of recent magazines to find out why my poems met rejection. Inspection . . . retrospection . . . introspection . . . dejection. Most of the poems I found were by Balder Dash, Rhyming hippopotamus with duckbilled platypus; (but he gets the cash). His poems have no rhythm or meter, And are not beautiful either. . . . I tell you, this writing game is driving me nuts. The hell with Balder Dash! (Wish @3I@1 had @3his@1 guts!) | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WATERS OF BABYLON by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE SIFTING OF PETER by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ANOTHER FRANCIS OF ASSISI by FREDERICK HENRY HERBERT ADLER ON THE VIRGINITY OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND JOHANNA SOUTHCOTT by WILLIAM BLAKE CROWNED AND BURIED by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |