An "If" For Rhymers

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If you can write in rhyme when other poets
Write in free verse, deploring metered lines,
If you can phrase a ballad and bestow its
Formatted discipline in strict designs;
If you can scan and not grow weary scanning,
Or, being called "old hat," keep metered form,
Or not forsake the love that keeps you manning
That rocking, rhythmic helm that bucks the norm;

If you can serve a simile in rhythm,
If you can make a metaphor sound sweet,
And mix some good, old fashioned wisdom with ‘em
That sports a lilting flair, yet keeps the beat;
If you remember Longfellow and Browning
Rhyming with skill to make a poem for all,
With no nonrhyming poet reading frowning
Because he thought they'd lost the Poet's Call;

If you can thumb back through inspired writing
And see your lines well matched in metered pairs,
And relish choral tones of those reciting
The classic, ordered lays of Shelley's airs;
If you can task your full imagination
To lyricize while other poets sneer;
And then stave off the frequent castigation
You earn from poems that smack of yesteryear;

If you can read all poems and be inspired
Not just by rhyme–but prose and free verse too;
And find the talent there to be admired,
As you'd have others see the best in you;
If you can fill the page with something vital
Regardless of its formulaic blend,
You've earned in full a much-desired title--
And, which is more, the RIGHT to write, my friend.