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:
- Владимир Маяковский – Вопль кустаря
- To A Sad Daughter by Michael Ondaatje
- I Love My Rat
- The Early Purges by Seamus Heaney
- An October Nocturne by Yvor Winters
- Called Into Play poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- In Defense of Santa Claus
- English Poetry. Thomas Moore. From “Irish Melodies”. 91. Oh, Ye Dead!. Томас Мур.
- Villanelle: Oscar Victorius by T. Wignesan
- Алексей Толстой – Смеркалось, жаркий день бледнел неуловимо
- The Instructor by Rudyard Kipling
- Rosslyn To The Prime Minister by Graham Rowlands
- Robert Burns: Halloween: The following poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, notes are added to give some account of the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such honour the author with a perusal, to see the remains of it among the more unenlightened in our own.-R.B.
- Олег Бундур – Барашки
- On Certain Ladies poem – Alexander Pope
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
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сколько павших бойцов полегло вдоль дорог
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сколько чудес за туманами кроется
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сказка о несчастных сказочных персонажах
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сивка-Бурка
- Владимир Высоцкий – Штормит весь вечер, и, пока
- Владимир Высоцкий – Звезды
- Владимир Высоцкий – Знать бы все до конца бы и сразу б
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жизни после смерти нет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Живёт на свете человек
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жил-был человек, который очень много видел
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жан, Жак, Гийом, Густав нормальные французы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Здравствуй, “Юность”
- Владимир Высоцкий – Здесь сидел ты, Валет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заживайте, раны мои
- Владимир Высоцкий – Зарисовка о Ленинграде
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заповедник
- Владимир Высоцкий – Запись в книге почётных гостей ВНИИФТРИ
- Владимир Высоцкий – Запись в книге почётных гостей Киевского завода шампанских вин
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заказал я два коктейля
- Владимир Высоцкий – За окном только вьюга, смотри
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.