If Only

Exegi monumentum aere perennius Were that to be true,I would clearly be a genius Like Quintus H. Flaccus who presented us with that trope Inviting every poet to share that selfsame hope Of clothing our visions in immortal verse Which is what our poetry seeks to rehearse. With words aplenty we endeavour to imitate What Raphael in his bright art did delineate When he transformed his beloved Fornarina Into that sacred symbol Caeli Regina. But how pale is our verbal imitation Beside such delicate delineation. Bacon with his spare aphoristic style Readers of every age does beguile. Keen and sharp his words pierce rapierwise To etch his meanings tartly through our eyes. His work will eternally live on For us he remains a paragon. Wildean wit is our next port of call As with earnestness he does us enthrall And with his epigrams makes us all smile As he toys with words forever and awhile His aesthetic makes language both sing and dance Will we ever behold his like again perchance? If only I could marry Raphaelesque immaculate conception With the acute penetration of Baconian perception To the gossamer lightness of Oscar's touch Then would my poetry be improved much. So it would be that every generation Would consider my efforts truly Horatian.