A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
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.

A few random poems:
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- The Blessed Virgin Compared To The Air We Breathe poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
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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
- Song—Willie brew’d a Peck o’ Maut by Robert Burns
- Song—The Tear-drop—“Wae is my heart” by Robert Burns
- Song—The Highland Balou by Robert Burns
- Song—The Fall of the Leaf by Robert Burns
- Song—The Birks of Aberfeldy by Robert Burns
- Song—Sweet Afton by Robert Burns
- Song—Stay my Charmer by Robert Burns
- Song—She’s Fair and Fause by Robert Burns
- Song—O Tibbie, I hae seen the day by Robert Burns
- Song—O let me in this ae night by Robert Burns
- Song—O can ye Labour Lea? by Robert Burns
- Song—Fragment—Leezie Lindsay by Robert Burns
- Song—Farewell to the Highlands by Robert Burns
- Song—Farewell to the Banks of Ayr by Robert Burns
- Song—Blythe hae I been on yon hill by Robert Burns
- Song—Beware o’ Bonie Ann by Robert Burns
- Song—Bessy and her Spinnin Wheel by Robert Burns
- Song—Behold the Hour, the Boat, arrive by Robert Burns
- Song—Behold, my love, how green the groves by Robert Burns
- Song—Awa’, Whigs, Awa’ by Robert Burns
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