Australia

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.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 

• Ок Мельникова – All I want, all I need by Поэзия На Русском
• Ок Мельникова – 3. 45 a. m by Поэзия На Русском
• Огюст Барбье – Жертвы by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Зеленая Дева by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Хвала Хафизу by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Видимость by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Васильки by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Тициан by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Собачий пир by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Шекспир by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Сегодня я в пути by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Роберт Эммет by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Рафаэль by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Прогресс by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Покинутый by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Отъезд by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Ни кротостью, ни негой ясной by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Мельпомена by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Мазаччио by Auguste Barbier
• Огюст Барбье – Любовь к песням by Auguste Barbier

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works