Le Poete.(Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker

The lyric is about a good, true poet, who sang sweetly of the world, and could sound a deeper note at times. He was a contemporary of the modern world, expressing its unique beat. The poet also sang of love,
a noble subject, but the world turned to praise 'a jingle in a broken tongue'. The world preferred mediocre poets, rhymesters, to real poets.
Paul Dunbar himself could be the poet in the poem, disillusioned by a lack of popularity, seeing lesser writers succeed and sell.
To take an analogy with modern pop music. The Golden age of ballads and fast-tempo songs.Now pop is spoiled by rappers, who have no tune or melody, and the ghastly heavy metal. They are male singers mostly. The new singers get popular for some reason I cannot understand.
The poem asks the question about why some poets succeed and make a name for themselves, while others get nowhere and lack readers. Tastes in poetry change over a certain time.