A Prayer

Spirit and Breath of Life, whate’er Thy name!

Bear with Thy creature, Man,

That makes his dwelling-place a blot of shame

Upon the Ordered Plan.

Not Thy hand, O Divine Designer, hurled

Athwart the starlit skies

One blood-stained, greed-diseased, hate-eaten world,

To shock celestial eyes.

Not Thy default, O Beautiful, this crust

Of fratricidal crime,

These maggot-breeds of hunger and of lust

That Thy fair work begrime.

But ours, who mock Thee from the highest place,

And in the light of day;

Who claim to lead an upward-struggling race,

And will not seek the way.

Guards of the human birthright, at Thy call-

A city sacked and burned;

Guards of the house that is the home of all,

But whence the weak are spurned.

Brothers, to whom the outcast brothers cry

As with a voice unknown;

Stewards of Nature’s bounty, that deny

The lawful heirs their own.

Thou that hast made us men, and earth so fair,

To be so vilely used,

Give space for late repentance and repair

Of sacred trust abused.

Give time, Eternal, that we stanch these tears,

Give time to heal this sore,

That our brief speck amid the shining spheres

Disgrace its birth no more.

But sail ethereal seas, an orb of light,

To bear Thy purpose on

Until it fades into the cosmic night

Where the dead worlds have gone.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Константин Батюшков – Мадригал Мелине, которая называла себя нимфою by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Батюшков – Любовь в челноке by Константин Батюшков
• Константин Бальмонт – Народные поверья by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Нам нравятся поэты by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Надгробные цветы by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Над морем by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – На вершине by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – На мотив псалма XVIII-гo by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – На мотив экклезиаста by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – На дальнем полюсе by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Мы шли в золотистом тумане by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Мы прячем, душим тонкой сетью лжи by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Музыка by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Мудрецы говорят by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Можно жить с закрытыми глазами by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Мост by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Морское дно by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Морская песня by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Морская пани by Константин Бальмонт
• Константин Бальмонт – Морозные узоры by Константин Бальмонт

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works