Classic Poem

Trick verses I would never plan — that is not my endeavour;
My lines read backwards will not scan on any scheme whatever;
You will not hear in verse of mine that feeble iteration
Whereby doth echo tag each line — a Greek abomination.
And though no Attis here shall spout smooth doggerel — you know it?
'Tis sound with all the sense left out — am I so vile a poet?
What if one bade a runner try contortions acrobatic?
Ask Ladas this, and his reply methinks will be emphatic.
A silly task it is to make all difficulties double,
And foolery for fooling's sake is merely wasted trouble.
Such tricks let dull Palaemon do, his dullards entertaining,
And let me please the chosen few whose ear is worth the gaining.