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:
- Beyond the Moon by Vachel Lindsay
- Robert Burns: The Rantin’ Dog, The Daddie O’t:
- Николай Заболоцкий – Летний вечер
- Prayer, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan.
- Юлия Друнина – Верность
- Dreadful by Shel Silverstein
- Robert Burns: A Grace After Dinner, Extempore:
- The Sick Man and the Nightingale poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Salve! by Thomas Edward Brown
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Леля
- Sonnet Iv
- Иван Коневской – Воскресение
- Олег Бундур – Силачи
- Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came by Robert Browning
- Faces by Satish Verma
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 Wind In Woone’s Feäce by William Barnes
- The Wind At The Door by William Barnes
- The Widow’s House by William Barnes
- The White Road Up Athirt The Hill by William Barnes
- The Wheel Routs by William Barnes
- The Welshnut Tree by William Barnes
- The Weepen Leady by William Barnes
- The Weather-Beaten Tree by William Barnes
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
- The Water Crowvoot by William Barnes
- The Waggon A-Stooded by William Barnes
- The Vrost by William Barnes
- The Vier-Zide by William Barnes
- The Veairy Veet That I Do Meet by William Barnes
- The Vaïces That Be Gone by William Barnes
- The Two Churches by William Barnes
- The Turnstile by William Barnes
- The Turn O’ The Days by William Barnes
- The Thorns In The Geäte by William Barnes
- The Stwonen Bwoy Upon The Pillar 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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.