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 Red Lacquer Music-Stand poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Владимир Солоухин – В лесу
- Владимир Британишский – Ты шепчешь мне
- The Best Blues Songs Ever
- Sonnet 35: No more be grieved at that which thou hast done by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Высоцкий – Татуировка
- Наум Коржавин – К моему двадцатипятилетию
- Владимир Маяковский – Тропики
- Низами Гянджеви – Ты видишь: я твой давний друг
- Old Memory by William Butler Yeats
- The Gate by Marie Howe
- The Last Tournament poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Two sparrows and my heart by Nizar Sartawi
- Иван Крылов – Ода, выбранная из псалма 71-го
- Story Of Udaipore Told By Lalla Ji The Priest
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—The Keekin Glass by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Thanks for a National Victory by Robert Burns
- Epigram pinned to Mrs. Riddell’s carriage by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the same Laird’s Country Seat by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the said Occasion by Robert Burns
- Epigram on the Laird of Laggan by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Rough Roads by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Politics by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Parting with a kind Host in the Highlands by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Mr. James Gracie by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Miss Fontenelle by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Jessy Staig’s recovery by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Francis Grose the Antiquary by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Dr. Babington’s looks by Robert Burns
- Epigram on Andrew Turner by Robert Burns
- Epigram on an Innkeeper (“The Marquis”) by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Swearing Coxcomb by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Suicide by Robert Burns
- Epigram on a Country Laird (Cardoness) by Robert Burns
- Epigram—Kirk and State Excisemen 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

Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.