Hail to thee, Poets!
For you, like every man, woman, and child who
Has ever smiled or frowned truly from the heart
Have recognized the melody of the familiar song
Which plays in the depths of the mind,
Bringing sweet harmony to human thoughts.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For you have not recognized the song in vain
But, the verse having danced onto the conscious stage,
You met her and matched her step for step,
You drew her close and embraced her
You held her hand and allowed her to kiss you.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For though the song could not be pronounced by human lips
And the love could not be captured in our poor language
You danced the steps because the song was worthy
And with ink you conjured shadows and signs
Which point past the veil to the beauty you have tasted.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For you have exalted the poverty of men’s words,
Elevating them with sweeping style
Giving them new and brighter and deeper hues
Making them swirl and leap and caper gaily
With skillful rhyme and rhythm and tone.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For when structure ceased to liberate
And metre began to confine
And your newlywed wordplay could speak for itself
You cast off fetters and let fly the pen
And your verse became a waterfall of rushing lyrics free.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For you listened intently to the chanting of nature
And contemplated reverently the stone and cloud alike,
With awe you made both fern and frog your brother
And meditated childlike upon the horizon’s lap:
With these songs you painted for us Creation herself.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For you have apprehended a parabolic knowledge,
And grasped a new understanding in allegoric light,
You have made yourselves the masters of the wisdom of riddles,
And laboriously studied a secret language spoken in words divine,
An enigmatic tongue in which no man is fully fluent.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For when you had exhausted all that is outside,
You turned inwards, examining your secret soul,
You sung to us hopes and fantasies and mind’s murmurs,
Giving personality to thoughts once hidden,
You introduced us to the muses who dwell within your heart.

Hail to thee, Poets!
For you did not blush to share your sufferings
But bared to God’s light your inmost wounds,
Wrenching the darkness from your core,
And with the cord yet uncut (for we haven’t yet discovered how to sever it)
You wrote with the viscous ink of man’s sins and pains.

Hail to thee, Poets!
And above all, for this:
You gave us love, charity, amity- O Love!
Love, over all and pervading everything;
Love, misunderstood and no less exhilarating,
Love, good measure, pressed down, and flowing over!

Hail to thee, Poets,
And give me your blessing!
I am not counted amongst your number
But I am your student, your brother, your lover,
Let me sit at your knees and drink of your water,
You honor me with your friendship, I repay it gladly in full.