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:
- Sonnet V. To A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses poem – John Keats poems
- If Only
- 1991-II by Wendell Berry
- Doomes-Day: The Twelfth Houre by William Alexander
- Ольга Берггольц – Твоя молодость
- From Menander by William Cowper
- Владимир Британишский – Младший брат
- Алексей Толстой – Слепой
- A Cat Perched on the Railing poem – Amy Cavanaugh poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Florida Ghost. by Sidney Lanier
- I was born with a cry by Nur Al-Alam
- Ок Мельникова – All I want, all I need
- Robert Burns: Beware O’ Bonie Ann:
- Rhymes for Gloriana by Vachel Lindsay
- Robert Burns: Elegy On Willie Nicol’s Mare:
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
- Олег Григорьев – Ну, как тебе на ветке
- Олег Григорьев – Не свались в колодец, Ольга
- Олег Григорьев – На заборе валенки
- Олег Григорьев – На собрании
- Олег Григорьев – На боку кобура болталась
- Олег Григорьев – Мотылек
- Олег Григорьев – Много нас по подобию божию
- Олег Григорьев – Мазохисту на лавке
- Олег Григорьев – Люди
- Олег Григорьев – Лежу я в одиночестве
- Олег Григорьев – Кресло рассохлось
- Олег Григорьев – Крадучись, точно вор
- Олег Григорьев – Конфеты
- Олег Григорьев – Комары
- Олег Григорьев – Картинка
- Олег Григорьев – Как вы думаете, где лучше тонуть
- Олег Григорьев – Как бумажный пароходик
- Олег Григорьев – К себе домой из дальних стран
- Олег Григорьев – Иду я среди голодный
- Олег Григорьев – Григорьев Олег ел тыкв
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