TO AN OLD-FASHIONED POET

Most tender poet, when the gods confer

They save your gracile songs a nook apart,

And bless with Time's untainted lavender

The ageless April of your singing heart.

You, in an age unbridled, ne'er declined

The appointed patience that the Muse decrees,

Until, deep in the flower of the mind

The hovering words alight, like bridegroom bees.

By casual praise or casual blame unstirred

The placid gods grant gifts where they belong:

To you, who understand, the perfect word,

The recompensed necessities of song.