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:
- Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar by T. S. Eliot
- A Seed by William Allingham
- Аля Кудряшева – Про ангелов
- Robert Burns: Verses On The Destruction Of The Woods Near Drumlanrig:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жан, Жак, Гийом, Густав нормальные французы
- Robert Burns: Dainty Davie:
- In a Disused Graveyard by Robert Frost
- The Naming Of Cats by T. S. Eliot
- The Faithless Shadows. poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- The Fall by Russell Edson
- No Labor-Saving Machine. by Walt Whitman
- Portrait d’Une Femme poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Федор Тютчев – А. Н. М.
- Иван Бунин – Никогда вы не воскреснете, не встанете
- Robert Burns: Tarbolton Lasses, The:
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
- The Carter by William Barnes
- The Bwoat by William Barnes
- The Brook That Ran By Gramfer’s by William Barnes
- The Bells Ov Alderburnham by William Barnes
- The Bean Vield by William Barnes
- The Beam In Grenley Church by William Barnes
- The Beäten Path by William Barnes
- The Bachelor by William Barnes
- Thatchen O’ The Rick by William Barnes
- Teaken In Apples by William Barnes
- Sweet Music In The Wind by William Barnes
- Sound O’ Water by William Barnes
- A Snowy Night by William Barnes
- Slow To Come, Quick Agone by William Barnes
- Sleep Did Come Wi’ The Dew by William Barnes
- Shrodon Feäir by William Barnes
- Shaftesbury Feäir by William Barnes
- Ruth A-Ridèn by William Barnes
- Rivers Don’t Gi’e Out by William Barnes
- Riden Hwome At Night by William Barnes
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.