Some Advice, in the Style of Lord Byron’s Don Juan, On Not Committing Poetry in Public

by

Frank X. Roberts

There are those who think a man can’t be a poet
If he’s unknown, a scribbler of rhymed verse,
Should he be a fool and let them know it,
And if he is a friend, that’s even worse;
For with condescending smiles and comments terse,
They undermine his faith, or overthrow it
By hinting that his claim’s a passing whim;
His clothes fit, he's “normal,” and they know him!

“Real” poets appear in books with hard boards,
And now-a-days in glossy paperbacks;
They either live in garrets or like lords
Who are a bit mad, and suffer from attacks
Of TB, or diseases caught from the broads
Which a “real” poet so easily attracts;
And, of course, “real” poets are obliged to publish,
Like Byron, Keats, and Shelley (Percy Bysshe).
 
A “real” poet occupies that elevated sphere
Beyond where simple hearts and minds will span;
If you tell your friends you scribble verse, I fear
Not a few will plan to shun you, if they can;
Distance lends enchantment, but if near
The poet dissolves into the common man;
Alas, some think it odd that creativity
Should in a friend appear an apt proclivity.
 
Don’t tell your friends if you have a drawerful
Of verse that sweetly rhymes, is blank or free,
For they will think it more than a little lawful
To read it and dismiss it hastily;
In the end, though you may think it awful,
To live with them you'll find you must agree,
It’s the only way your friendship will amend,
You can’t possibly be a poet, you’re a friend!


Frank is a semi-regular contributor to BiblioBuffet. His extensive career in teaching and librarianship began when he taught English in the U.S. From 1961 to 1963, as part of a Columbia University program called “Teachers for East Africa,” he taught English and American Literature in East Africa. There he met his wife, Dorothy. They returned to the U.S. where he simultaneously taught and finished two Masters’ degrees, in Education and in Librarianship. In 1968 they returned to England where Frank taught Library Studies, and adopted Hodge, a cat who later traveled around the world with them. In 1972, Frank was “seconded” for two years to teach at Makerere University in Uganda, East Africa, but left reluctantly after one year when the tyranny of Idi Amin became intolerable. From there it was back to England, then Australia and finally  to America in 1979, to Buffalo where Frank earned his doctorate. Later they moved to Colorado, where he was Professor of Library Studies at the University of Northern Colorado until retiring in 1997. Frank published James A. Michener: A Checklist of his Work with a Selected Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press) in 1995. He has written on bookmarks, specifically on medieval bookmarks, his special area of interest. A poet by avocation, he writes eclectically but traditionally. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it