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:
- INTO THE LAIR by Satish Verma
- Cavalry Crossing a Ford. by Walt Whitman
- Life Brings Me to this Journey. by Stephen Sweitzer
- Владимир Высоцкий – Отпустите мне грехи
- The City Limits poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Robert Burns: On James Grieve, Laird Of Boghead, Tarbolton :
- Альфред Теннисон – Леди Клара Вер-де-Вер
- Parliament Hill Fields by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о планах
- In Abeyance by Satish Verma
- Idyll by Siegfried Sassoon
- Keen, Fitful Gusts are Whisp’ring Here and There poem – John Keats poems
- Омар Хайям – Любовь роковая беда
- Владимир Маяковский – Вместо 2 280 товарных вагонов… (РОСТА №920)
- Владимир Маяковский – Головотяпам
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 Бундур – Поросенок и свиньи
- Олег Бундур – Полёт
- Олег Бундур – Под сосной
- Олег Бундур – Почему собаки дерутся
- Олег Бундур – Письмо от бабушки
- Олег Бундур – Певец Александр Серов
- Олег Бундур – Первый пирог
- Олег Бундур – Переселение
- Олег Бундур – Папино влияние
- Олег Бундур – Папа возмущается
- Олег Бундур – Папа собирается на рыбалку
- Олег Бундур – Папа пристал
- Олег Бундур – Папа и родительское собрание
- Олег Бундур – Орлан-белохвост
- Олег Бундур – Окошки
- Олег Бундур – Однажды на даче
- Олег Бундур – Обновки
- Олег Бундур – Неправильный кот
- Олег Бундур – Не ходите ночью
- Олег Бундур – Не верится
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