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:
- Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись 5 к статуе Петра Великого
- The Remains by Mark Strand
- “I Sometimes Think” by Thomas Hardy
- Epitaph On Mr. Chester Of Chicheley by William Cowper
- Ludwig Von Beethoven’s Return To Vienna by Rita Dove
- Нина Пикулева – Ой, да чья ж это девчушка
- victor.html
- Finis by Walter Savage Landor
- Sonnet 82: I grant thou wert not married to my Muse by William Shakespeare
- A Couple More Years by Shel Silverstein
- A Paumanok Picture. by Walt Whitman
- An Excursion Steamer Sunk in the Tay by William Topaz McGonagall
- Robert Burns: A Poet’s Welcome To His Love-Begotten Daughter: The First Instance That Entitled Him To The Venerable Appellation Of Father
- Eclogue:–John, Jealous At Shroton Feäir by William Barnes
- A COUNTRY LIFE:TO HIS BROTHER, MR THOMAS HERRICK by Robert Herrick
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
- A Poet by Thomas Hardy
- A Meeting With Despair by Thomas Hardy
- A Man (In Memory of H. of M.) by Thomas Hardy
- A King’s Soliloquy [On the Night of His Funeral] by Thomas Hardy
- In A Wood by Thomas Hardy
- “I Sometimes Think” by Thomas Hardy
- A Death-Day Recalled by Thomas Hardy
- A Conversation At Dawn by Thomas Hardy
- A Confession To A Friend In Trouble by Thomas Hardy
- A Commonplace Day by Thomas Hardy
- A Circular by Thomas Hardy
- A Christmas Ghost Story by Thomas Hardy
- Amabel by Thomas Hardy
- Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave? by Thomas Hardy
- After The Visit by Thomas Hardy
- After Schiller by Thomas Hardy
- After A Journey by Thomas Hardy
- Additions: The Fire at Tranter Sweatley’s by Thomas Hardy
- “According to the Mighty Working” by Thomas Hardy
- A Wife In London by Thomas Hardy
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.