Who does not feel desire unending
To solace through his daily strife,
With some mysterious Mental Blending,
The hungry loneliness of life?
Until, by sudden passion shaken,
As terriers shake a rat at play,
He finds, all blindly, he has taken
The old, Hereditary way.
Yet, in the moment of communion,
The very heart of passion’s fire,
His spirit spurns the mortal union,
“Not this, not this, the Soul’s desire!”
* * * *
Oh You, by whom my life is riven,
And reft away from my control,
Take back the hours of passion given!
Love me one moment from your soul.
Although I once, in ardent fashion,
Implored you long to give me this;
(In hopes to stem, or stifle, passion)
Your hair to touch, your lips to kiss
Now that your gracious self has granted
The loveliness you hold as naught,
I find, alas! not that I wanted–
Possession has not stifled Thought.
Desire its aim has only shifted,–
Built hopes upon another plan,
And I in love for you have drifted
Beyond all passion known to man.
Beyond all dreams of soft caresses
The solacing of any kiss,–
Beyond the fragrance of your tresses
(Once I had sold my soul for this!)
But now I crave no mortal union
(Thanks for that sweetness in the past);
I need some subtle, strange communion,
Some sense that _I_ join _you_, at last.
Long past the pulse and pain of passion,
Long left the limits of all love,–
I crave some nearer, fuller fashion,
Some unknown way, beyond, above,–
Some infinitely inner fusion,
As Wave with Water; Flame with Fire,–
Let me dream once the dear delusion
That I am You, Oh, Heart’s Desire!
Your kindness lent to my caresses
That beauty you so lightly prize,–
The midnight of your sable tresses,
The twilight of your shadowed eyes.
Ah, for that gift all thanks are given!
Yet, Oh, adored, beyond control,
Count all the passionate past forgiven
And love me once, once, from your soul.

A few random poems:
- Омар Хайям – Если гурия страстно целует в уста
- Street In Packingtown by Willa Sibert Cather
- From Far, From Eve and Morning poem – A. E. Housman
- Magnolia Shoals by Sylvia Plath
- Омар Хайям – Мир любви обрести без терзаний нельзя
- Владимир Высоцкий – Памятник
- Владимир Высоцкий – У профессиональных игроков
- Олег Григорьев – Дачник
- A Little Bird poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Westgate-On-Sea poem – John Betjeman poems
- In The Forum poem – Alfred Austin
- The Labour by Mousumi Guha Roy
- Buddha’s Laugh by Sonya Ki Tomlinson
- Николай Глазков – Дремота обрела права
- Алексей Жемчужников – О, жизнь
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
- Set out by Mahak Raithatha S
- Rita And The Rifle by Mahmoud Darwish
- Psalm Three by Mahmoud Darwish
- Psalm 9 by Mahmoud Darwish
- Pride and Fury by Mahmoud Darwish
- Postip by Manolo Arriola
- Poema LX, El albergue by Mara Romero Torres
- Poema II, “Pañuelos de La Alhambra” by Mara Romero Torres
- Pequeña niña mía by Mara Romero Torres
- Passport by Mahmoud Darwish
- Pañuelos de La Alhambra by Mara Romero Torres
- Ontological by Maggie Anderson
- Only Iraq by Mahmoud Darwish
- Oh My Father, I am Yusif by Mahmoud Darwish
- October Journey by Margaret Walker
- Nube by Manolo Arriola
- No Matter What You Write by Mac McGovern
- Neighing at the Slope by Mahmoud Darwish
- My Mother by Mahmoud Darwish
- For My People by Margaret Walker
More external links (open in a new tab):
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
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Violet Nicolson ( 1865 – 1904); otherwise known as Adela Florence Nicolson (née Cory), was an English poetess who wrote under the pseudonym of Laurence Hope, however she became known as Violet Nicolson. In the early 1900s, she became a best-selling author. She committed suicide and is buried in Madras, now Chennai, India.