A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Strophe I.
Ye shades, where sacred truth is sought;
Groves, where immortal Sages taught;
Where heav’nly visions of Plato fir’d,
And Epicurus lay inspir’d!
In vain your guiltless laurels stood
Unspotted long with human blood.
War, horrid war, your thoughtful walks invades,
And steel now glitters in the Muses’ shades.
Antistrophe I.
Oh heav’n-born sisters! source of art!
Who charm the sense, or mend the heart;
Who lead fair Virtue’s train along,
Moral Truth, and mystic Song!
To what new clime, what distant sky,
Forsaken, friendless, shall ye fly?
Say, will you bless the bleak Atlantic shore?
Or bid the furious Gaul be rude no more?
Strophe II.
When Athens sinks by fates unjust,
When wild Barbarians spurn her dust;
Perhaps ev’n Britain’s utmost shore,
Shall cease to blush with strager’s gore.
See Arts her savage sons control,
And Athens rising near the pole!
‘Till some new Tyrant lifts his purple hand,
And civil madness tears them from this land.
Antistrophe II.
Ye Gods! what justice rules the ball?
Freedom and Arts together fall;
Fools grant whate’er Ambition craves,
And men, once ignorant, are slaves.
Oh curs’d effects of civil hate,
In ev’ry age, in ev’ry state!
Still, when the lust of tyrant power succeeds,
Some Athens perishes, some Tully bleeds.

A few random poems:
- Robert Burns: The Cotter’s Saturday Night: Inscribed to R. Aiken, Esq., of Ayr.
- The Princess: A Medley: O Swallow poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Battle Of Corruna by William Lisle Bowles
- Fifth Grade Autobiography by Rita Dove
- Sonnet XIV. Addressed To The Same (Haydon) poem – John Keats poems
- English Literature for Shaping Your Ideas
- Told by Philip Levine
- Don’t Worry by John Oxenham
- Invocation by Siegfried Sassoon
- Михаил Кузмин – Возвращение
- May 19th – the Young Pioneers Day
- Николай Заболоцкий – Ласточка
- Robert Burns: Extempore On Some Commemorations Of Thomson:
- Mirage
- Sea Salt A Villanelle
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
- Sorrow’s Importunity poem – Alfred Austin
- Songs From “Prince Lucifer” I – Grave-Digger’s Song poem – Alfred Austin
- Songs From “Prince Lucifer” II – Mother-Song poem – Alfred Austin
- Songs From “Prince Lucifer” I – Grave-Digger’s Song poem – Alfred Austin
- Since We Must Die poem – Alfred Austin
- “`Shepherd swains that feed your flocks” poem – Alfred Austin
- Shelley’s Death poem – Alfred Austin
- Shelley’s Death poem – Alfred Austin
- “Sadder than lark when lowering” poem – Alfred Austin
- Sacred And Profane Love poem – Alfred Austin
- “`Roses crimson, roses white” poem – Alfred Austin
- On Returning To England poem – Alfred Austin
- Resignation poem – Alfred Austin
- Primacy Of Mind poem – Alfred Austin
- Primacy Of Mind poem – Alfred Austin
- Polyphemus poem – Alfred Austin
- Poet’s Corner poem – Alfred Austin
- Poet’s Corner poem – Alfred Austin
- Pax Britannica poem – Alfred Austin
- Outside The Village Church poem – Alfred Austin
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