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:
- Огюст Барбье – Жертвы
- Immortal Indian Legend by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Like the gods. . . by Sappho
- Winter – The Fourth Pastoral, or Daphne poem – Alexander Pope
- The Internet Romance
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
- Evening in a Sugar Orchard by Robert Frost
- His Loss by Robert Herrick
- Song—A Rose-bud by my Early Walk by Robert Burns
- The Turn O’ The Days by William Barnes
- Two Or Three: A Recipe To Make A Cuckold poem – Alexander Pope
- Everything ends by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Ghosts by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Gwaïn To Brookwell by William Barnes
- If I To You But Sorry Bring poem – Alfred Austin
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 Garden by Abraham Cowley
- A Paraphrase on an Ode in Horace’s Third Book, beginning thus:— “Inclusam Danaen turris ahenea.” by Abraham Cowley
- O fortunatus nimium, etc., a translation out of Virgil by Abraham Cowley
- The Essay on Agriculture by Abraham Cowley
- Obscurity, the Essay and Poems on Obscurity by Abraham Cowley
- The Death Of A Fly by Russell Edson
- The Changeling by Russell Edson
- The Breast by Russell Edson
- The Autopsy by Russell Edson
- The Alfresco Moment by Russell Edson
- A Performance At Hog Theater by Russell Edson
- Erasing Amyloo by Russell Edson
- On The Eating Of Mice by Russell Edson
- The Closet by Russell Edson
- Soup Song by Russell Edson
- The Bridge by Russell Edson
- Mr. Brain by Russell Edson
- One Lonely Afternoon by Russell Edson
- Ape And Coffee by Russell Edson
- Accidents by Russell Edson
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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.