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:
- The Golden Year! poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мажорный светофор, трёхцветье, трио
- Ballades IV – Of Life poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Astigmatism by Satish Verma
- Thought. by Walt Whitman
- The Gravy Train by Michael Levy
- Never Again Would Bird’s Song Be The Same by Robert Frost
- Beauty by Tony Hoagland
- Владимир Корнилов – Прямота
- Николай Заболоцкий – Я не ищу гармонии в природе
- Вероника Тушнова – Зеркало
- A New Year Greeting by W H Auden
- Give Me Back My Rags #1 by Vasko Popa
- Sonnet CXXXVIII by William Shakespeare
- Of the Visage of Things. by Walt Whitman
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
- Epistle to Mrs. Scott of Wauchope House by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Major Logan by Robert Burns
- Epistle to John Rankine by Robert Burns
- Epistle to John Maxwell, Esq., of Terraughty by Robert Burns
- Epistle to John Goldie, in Kilmarnock by Robert Burns
- Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner by Robert Burns
- Epistle to James Smith by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Hugh Parker by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Dr. Blacklock by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Davie, A Brother Poet by Robert Burns
- Epistle to Colonel de Peyster by Robert Burns
- Epistle to a Young Friend by Robert Burns
- Epistle on J. Lapraik by Robert Burns
- Epistle from Esopus to Maria by Robert Burns
- Epigrams against the Earl of Galloway by Robert Burns
- Epigram to Miss Jean Scott by Robert Burns
- Epigram to Miss Ainslie in Church by Robert Burns
- Epigram—The True Loyal Natives by Robert Burns
- Epigram—The Toad-eater by Robert Burns
- Epigram—The Raptures of Folly 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.