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:
- Аля Кудряшева – Помнишь, как это
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Развалины
- Анатолий Жигулин – Деревья с черными грачами
- Lover’s Gifts XXXIX: There Is a Looker-On by Rabindranath Tagore
- Bishop Blougram’s Apology by Robert Browning
- My Government Frustrates Me by Olaniyi Beloved Abimbola
- By Broad Potomac’s Shore. by Walt Whitman
- MANY NAMESAKES by Satish Verma
- The Methodist by Thomas Chatterton
- What Was Lost by William Butler Yeats
- Taylor Swift
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий, читай постановление СТО от 15 июня 1921 года (Главполитпросвет №222)
- There is a Way by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 06 – part 03 by Torquato Tasso
- Василий Курочкин – Двуглавый орел
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
- Николай Огарев – Отцу
- Николай Огарев – Осеннее чувство
- Николай Огарев – Она никогда его не любила
- Николай Некрасов – Я посягну на неприличность
- Николай Некрасов – Я не люблю иронии твоей
- Николай Некрасов – Не рыдай так безумно над ним
- Николай Некрасов – Взирает он на жизнь сурово, строго
- Николай Некрасов – Вступление к песням 1876-77 годов
- Николай Некрасов – Встреча душ
- Николай Некрасов – Возвращение
- Николай Некрасов – Вор
- Николай Некрасов – Во вражде неостывающей
- Николай Некрасов – Внимая ужасам войны
- Николай Некрасов – Влас
- Николай Некрасов – Весна
- Николай Некрасов – Великодушный поступок
- Николай Некрасов – Вчера, сегодня
- Николай Некрасов – В тоске по юности моей
- Николай Некрасов – В полном разгаре страда деревенская
- Николай Некрасов – Дни идут… всё так же воздух душен
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
