Don’t paint the soul of poetry in unknown hues
Or bathe it in a shaft of light
That captures, holds and praises jaded views
Of art; What shade is right
Except the natural, except the plain,
Except simplicity in straight design?
Complexity cannot sing bright refrains
Nor can an intricate verse find
A worthy repetition in its rhyme.
If written wisdom will not flow,
Then put your pen aside, for it is dry
And so is all the meaning in your thought;
If sometimes crafty words come slow,
The problem does not in attempting lie
But in the imperfect medium you sought.