1. Poetry is a river and imagination oceans,
And thought is a universe swirling in clouds.

2. Not every deep sea diver reaches precious pearls,
Though many seem to find scattered gems.

3. Every age grasps only a few masterpieces
Though divers abound in great number.

4. Not every rider of steeds is a champion,
The brave lion and nimble deer mate.

5. If glory was grasped by all who sought it
No deed between the worlds would be great.

6. If every composer perfected his verse
None would be called a master poet.

7. Some talents are a divine breath from above,
Others just winds blowing aimlessly.

8. The former revive hearts when perceived,
The latter are cinder carrying blight.

9. You who think poetry the meter alone
Are ignorant fools led so astray.

10. Many a composition was never true poetry
While excellent verse can be prose.

11. True poetry is what ingenious minds create
To delight the senses and gladden the heart.

12. If it is mere meter it is artifice
Lacking innate flair and eloquence.

13. True poetry flows forth without affectation
Endowed at birth with grace and charm.

14. It gives birth to meaning spontaneously
With joy and energy ever renewed.

15. It enters hearts without resistance
Ere its hallowed words meet the ear.

16. Like necklaces of pearls in alignment
To the discerning it is bliss and elation.

17. In times of strife it is pride, in passion's season
Sorcery, and in days of peace, cheer.

18. With it poets gained their lofty status
Served by angels, minister, and king.

19. In war they inspire dread in foes
In peace bestowed with favor by sire.

20. To kings it was dearer than kingdom
Their pleasure life, their ire, death.

21. After their era it became a trade
For impoverished versifiers to live.

22. With it they falsely flatter for lucre
Though rope's end awaits all liars.

23. It became a ledger for praise and elegy
And fanciful descriptions, nearly all fake.

24. Forced consonance distorted meaning
As it was led by it unwillingly.

25. Ignorantly they made it contradict intention
So its splendor and glory were squandered.

26. They ruined its pillars with their misdeeds
And its ornate edifice lay in disrepair.

27. But time has now granted it one
Who reforms it, making change his task.

28. With true knowledge to guide their way
Talents have lifted it out of decline.

29. They do not make it a means for riches
Bestowed for praising one base and vile.

30. With it they have given verse an excellent form
Luxurious as brocade and silk fabric.

31. With every lovely and heartening innovation
Made graceful by creation and skill.

32. Its old elegance is renewed
And from its corners waft fragrant zephyrs.

33. Its roots have been fertilized, its meadows rendered lush,
And its published graces shine immaculate.

34. Let pens compose with it necklaces
Shedding light into minds from its rays.

35. With it, though dead, Homer lives on after death
As ages mold his epics from its ore.