A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
A Nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey
In the field uniform of modern wars,
Darkens her hills, those endless, outstretched paws
Of Sphinx demolished or stone lion worn away.
They call her a young country, but they lie:
She is the last of lands, the emptiest,
A woman beyond her change of life, a breast
Still tender but within the womb is dry.
Without songs, architecture, history:
The emotions and superstitions of younger lands,
Her rivers of water drown among inland sands,
The river of her immense stupidity
Floods her monotonous tribes from Cairns to Perth.
In them at last the ultimate men arrive
Whose boast is not: “we live” but “we survive”,
A type who will inhabit the dying earth.
And her five cities, like five teeming sores,
Each drains her: a vast parasite robber-state
Where second hand Europeans pullulate
Timidly on the edge of alien shores.
Yet there are some like me turn gladly home
From the lush jungle of modern thought, to find
The Arabian desert of the human mind,
Hoping, if still from the deserts the prophets come,
Such savage and scarlet as no green hills dare
Springs in that waste, some spirit which escapes
The learned doubt, the chatter of cultured apes
Which is called civilization over there.
A few random poems:
- The Flowers poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Epigram to Miss Jean Scott by Robert Burns
- Those Born In Obscure Times poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- The Rape of the Lock: Canto 2 poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше. Теперь
- Soliloquy Of The Solipsist by Sylvia Plath
- a walk in the forest by Raj Arumugam
- Шекспир – Пример тебе подобной красоты – Сонет 84
- For The Anniversary Of My Death by W. S. Merwin
- lovers in nature by Raj Arumugam
- The Coming Of Wisdom With Time by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мне каждый вечер зажигают свечи
- Михаил Лермонтов – Беглец
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о конькобежце на короткие дистанции, которого заставили бежать на длинную
- Николай Карамзин – К неверной
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
- Out Of The Window
- On The Bus
- Minoan Porcelain
- Love Song
- Lapr S Midi Dun Faune
- Italy
- Inspiration
- In Uncertainty To A Lady
- Doors Of The Temple
- Darkness
- Crapulous Impression
- Complaint Of A Poet Manqu
- By The Fire
- Books And Thoughts
- Anniversaries
- A Melody By Scarlatti
- A Little Memory
- The Storm
- The State
- The Poor Fisherman
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
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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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.