Late, late, the prize is drawn, the goal attained,
The Heart’s Desire fulfilled, Love’s guerdon gained.
Wealth’s use is past, Fame’s crown of laurel mocks
The downward-drooping head and grizzled locks.
The end is reached-the end of toil and strife-
The end of life.
Love flowers and fades like grass, and flowers again;
The spendthrift lovers waste themselves in vain;
Their fiery passions burn out one by one,
And then, alas! when their best days are done,
Spirit and body find their perfect mate-
So late! So late!
Long-sought, long seeking, through the lonely years,
The wanderers meet to weep their useless tears
For time and chance irrevocably flown,
Dear hopes outlived and happy faiths outgrown,
Children unborn, the myriad joys unseen
That might have been.
Not for the spring and morning-time of youth
The perfect flower of slow-unfolding truth,
The perfect love, that dreams of youth foretell,
But youth knows not and youth could never tell;
That light celestial, as of sunset fires
When day expires.
Late comes the gift that crowns the hungry quest,
Like ripe wheat-harvest in a land at rest,
And comes alone, a consecrated cup,
To those proved worthy to sit down and sup.
To them-aye, aye, despite their treasure lost,
‘T’is worth the cost.
‘T’is worth the cost to reach the heights at last,
Ere eyes are dim and daylight overpast.
To see one aim achieved, one dream fulfilled,
Ere striving brain and trusting heart are stilled.
To live one glorious hour-its price of pain
Is never paid in vain.
A few random poems:
- Sonnet VI. To G. A. W. poem – John Keats poems
- Владимир Степанов – Ослик
- Жан де Лафонтен – Третейский Судья, Брат милосердия и Пустынник
- Владимир Степанов – Робот (Буква Р)
- Владимир Корнилов – Погодинка
- A Poem For Ashleigh (July) by Stevens Cadet
- Tobias Smollett – Tobias Smollett
- This Morning by Raymond Carver
- Scars on Paper by Marilyn Hacker
- The Hospital On The Shore
- Омар Хайям – Куда уйти от пламенных страстей
- Spring in Town by William Cullen Bryant
- Tu Fu – Tu Fu
- Hurry by Marie Howe
- Our Singing Strength by Robert Frost
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
- Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Rankine by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on John Busby, Esq., Tinwald Downs by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on James Grieve by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on Holy Willie by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on Captain Lascelles by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a noted coxcomb by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a Noisy Polemic by Robert Burns
- Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, Schoolmaster by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. W. Cruickshank by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Mr. Gabriel Richardson, Brewer by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for James Smith by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns
- Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns
- Epistle to the Rev. John M’Math by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns
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

Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.