A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
Semichorus.
Oh Tyrant Love! hast thou possest
The prudent, learn’d, and virtuous breast?
Wisdom and wit in vain reclaim,
And Arts but soften us to feel thy flame.
Love, soft intruder, enters here,
But ent’ring learns to be sincere.
Marcus with blushes owns he loves,
And Brutus tenderly reproves.
Why, Virtue, dost thou blame desire,
Which Nature has imprest?
Why, Nature, dost thou soonest fire
The mild and gen’rous breast?
Chorus.
Love’s purer flames the Gods approve;
The Gods and Brutus bent to love:
Brutus for absent Portia sighs,
And sterner Cassius melts at Junia’s eyes.
What is loose love? a transient gust,
Spent in a sudden storm of lust,
A vapour fed from wild desire,
A wand’ring, self-consuming fire,
But Hymen’s kinder flames unite;
And burn for ever one;
Chaste as cold Cynthia’s virgin light,
Productive as the Sun.
Semichorus.
Oh source of ev’ry social tie,
United wish, and mutual joy!
What various joys on one attend,
As son, as father, brother husband, friend?
Whether his hoary sire he spies,
While thousand grateful thoughts arise;
Or meets his spouse’s fonder eye;
Or views his smiling progeny;
What tender passions take their turns,
What home-felt raptures move?
His heart now melts, now leaps, now burns,
With rev’rence, hope, and love.
Chorus.
Hence guilty joys, distastes, surmises,
Hence false tears, deceits, disguises,
Dangers, doubts, delays, surprises;
Fires that scorch, yet dare not shine
Purest love’s unwasting treasure,
Constant faith, fair hope, long leisure,
Days of ease, and nights of pleasure;
Sacred Hymen! these are thine.
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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
- Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon
- In An Underground Dressing Station by Siegfried Sassoon
- Return Of The Heroes by Siegfried Sassoon
- Grandeur Of Ghosts by Siegfried Sassoon
- Prelude: The Troops by Siegfried Sassoon
- On Passing The New Menin Gate by Siegfried Sassoon
- In An Underground Dressing Station by Siegfried Sassoon
- Grandeur Of Ghosts by Siegfried Sassoon
- ‘Blighters’ by Siegfried Sassoon
- At The Cenotaph by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wraiths by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wraiths by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wonderment by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wisdom by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wirers by Siegfried Sassoon
- Wind in the Beechwood by Siegfried Sassoon
- When I’m among a Blaze of Lights by Siegfried Sassoon
- What the Captain Said at the Point-to-Point by Siegfried Sassoon
- Vision by Siegfried Sassoon
- Villon by Siegfried Sassoon
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Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) was a a post-Restoration English poet and satirist. He is a poet of the (British) Augustan period and one of its greatest artistic exponents.