My husband is the poet laureate of his work group and he is called upon at least once a quarter to come up with a poem for someone who is retiring. He thinks about the cadence inherent in the name and then thinks of a poem that uses a similar cadence - For example he might use "Casey at the Bat" as the "sound" of his poem and then writes the poem to that rhythm. Another that lends itself well is Poe's "The Raven". I don't know if that helps, but it is all I have to offer.

I am always amazed at what my husband comes up with. Once a dean was leaving for U of C at Santa Cruz. Their mascot is the banana slug so my husband did his poem around the scientific name of Ariolimax columbianus