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:
- And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time by William Blake
- Михаил Кузмин – Увы, любви своей не скрою
- Николай Языков – Вот яблоки так яблоки, на славу
- “Beyond the pasture’s withered bents ” poem – Alfred Austin
- phantasm.html
- A Fountain, a Bottle, a Donkey’s Ears, and Some Books by Robert Frost
- The Garret poem – Ezra Pound poems
- I am Ireland by Patrick Pearse
- An Arab Shepherd Is Searching For His Goat On Mount Zion by Yehuda Amichai
- Алексей Ржевский – Рондо (И всякий так живет)
- Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? by William Shakespeare
- Alice Fell, Or Poverty by William Wordsworth
- Владимир Луговской – Повелитель бумаги
- Poetic Justice by Robby Charters
- Tom O’Roughley by William Butler Yeats
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 Plain Life by William Henry Davies
- A Greeting by William Henry Davies
- A Great Time by William Henry Davies
- A Fleeting Passion by William Henry Davies
- Remorse For Intemperate Speech by William Butler Yeats
- Red Hanrahan’s Song About Ireland by William Butler Yeats
- Reconciliation by William Butler Yeats
- Quarrel In Old Age by William Butler Yeats
- Presences by William Butler Yeats
- Politics by William Butler Yeats
- Players Ask For A Blessing On The Psalteries And On Themselves by William Butler Yeats
- Peace by William Butler Yeats
- Paudeen by William Butler Yeats
- Parting by William Butler Yeats
- Parnell’s Funeral by William Butler Yeats
- Parnell by William Butler Yeats
- Owen Aherne And His Dancers by William Butler Yeats
- On Woman by William Butler Yeats
- On Being Asked For A War Poem by William Butler Yeats
- On A Political Prisoner by William Butler Yeats
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.