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:
- Dog’s love by Vinko Kalinić
- The Song poem – Andrei Voznesensky poems
- What Was Lost by William Butler Yeats
- Love is Reckless by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ольга Седакова – Из песни Данте
- A VOW TO VENUS by Robert Herrick
- Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns
- Roads poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Юлий Даниэль – А в это время
- O fortunatus nimium, etc., a translation out of Virgil by Abraham Cowley
- Conscious by Wilfred Owen
- Night Launch by Sonya Ki Tomlinson
- A Hand-Mirror. by Walt Whitman
- Степан Щипачев – День
- Владимир Маяковский – Не предаваясь “большевистским бредням” (Красный перец)
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
- Epigram—Divine Service at Lamington by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Commissary Goldie’s Brains by Robert Burns
- Epigram at RoslinInn by Robert Burns
- Epigram at Brownhill Inn by Robert Burns
- Epigram Addressed to an Artist by Robert Burns
- Elegy on Willie Nicol’s Mare by Robert Burns
- Elegy on the Year 1788 by Robert Burns
- Elegy on the late Miss Burnet of Monboddo by Robert Burns
- Elegy on the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair by Robert Burns
- Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux by Robert Burns
- Elegy on Stella by Robert Burns
- Elegy on Captain Matthew Henderson by Robert Burns
- Election Ballad for Westerha’ by Robert Burns
- Election Ballad at close of Contest for representing the Dumfries Burghs, 1790 by Robert Burns
- Duncan Gray by Robert Burns
- Dialogue Song—Philly and Willy by Robert Burns
- Despondency: An Ode by Robert Burns
- Delia: An Ode by Robert Burns
- Complimentary versicles to Jessie Lewars by Robert Burns
- Complimentary Epigram to Mrs. Riddell 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.