by Luis G. Dato
On an uneven keel my ships of song
Have sailed the seas and oceans of our time,
Not always flawless have been all our rhyme,
The masts astern of meter not all strong.
My barks have cruised the perilous main, among
The reefs and shoals by Homer made sublime,
Heard o’er the deep the bells in chasms chime,
For love is dauntless when the heart is young.
Teach to my song the nimbleness of wit,
Such as but you alone the words can tell,
Give to it fancy, every bit of it,
As they knew well in high Parnassus’ dell —
Thus may our hapless love be fully writ,
A dirge when we are gone, a fitting knell.
