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:
- Afternoon Rain in State Street poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Dark Hour by William Henry Davies
- The Two April Mornings by William Wordsworth
- Sonnet. To A Young Lady Who Sent Me A Laurel Crown poem – John Keats poems
- Владимир Высоцкий – Схвати судьбу за горло, словно посох
- Sonnet 31: Thy bosom is endearèd with all hearts by William Shakespeare
- Hark! Hark! The Lark by William Shakespeare
- If It Were Beginning by Sriparna Bandyopadhyay
- Subjective Genocide by Marie Starr
- How Many Bards Gild The Lapses Of Time! poem – John Keats poems
- The Carter by William Barnes
- When Day Is Done by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Room by Mark Strand
- Lines Written On Visiting The Chateaux On The Loire poem – Alfred Austin
- Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson 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
- A Song of Enchantment by Walter de la Mare
- Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare
- Napoleon by Walter de la Mare
- Arabia by Walter de la Mare
- An Epitaph by Walter de la Mare
- To His Love When He Had Obtained Her by Sir Walter Raleigh
- To a Lady with an Unruly and Ill-mannered Dog Who Bit several Persons of Importance by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Silent Lover ii by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Silent Lover i by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Nymph’s Reply To The Shepherd by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Lie by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Conclusion by Sir Walter Raleigh
- The Artist by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Stans Puer ad Mensam by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Song of Myself by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Sestina Otiosa by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Now What Is Love by Sir Walter Raleigh
- On Being Challenged to Write an Epigram in the Manner of Herrick by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Nature that Washed Her Hands in Milk by Sir Walter Raleigh
- My Last Will by Sir Walter Raleigh
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
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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