Rhyme and Meter

Contemporary poets know

that free-verse poems are the rage;

most rhyme and meter quit the stage.

If only Buk had been a Poe!

 

I know these lines set down in rhymes

will fail to please our modern taste;

Some writers judge all rhymes a waste,

would sooner hear a choir of mimes.

 

Do rhyming poets act like fools,

spend countless hours of great travail

and cast their lines to no avail

while modern writers chuck the rules?

 

Did Keats deem rhymes a huge disgrace?

Are Shakespeare’s sonnets heard with shame?

Should Milton bear his share of blame?

Must I my metered work erase?

 

Some free-verse writers vent their hate

on pages penned with artful rhyme,

on metered lines requiring time;

perhaps the challenge looms too great.