BOOK I (excerpt)
I sing the man who Judah’s sceptre bore
In that right hand which held the crook before;
Who from best poet, best of kings did grow;
The two chief gifts Heav’n could on man bestow.
Much danger first, much toil did he sustain,
Whilst Saul and Hell cross’d his strong fate in vain.
Nor did his crown less painful work afford;
Less exercise his patience, or his sword;
So long her conqueror fortunes spite pursued;
Till with unwearied virtue he subdued
All homebred malice, and all foreign boasts;
Their strength was armies, his the Lord of Hosts.
Thou, who didst David’s royal stem adorn,
And gav’st him birth from whom thy self wast born;
Who didst in triumph at death’s court appear,
And slew’st him with thy nails, thy cross and spear,
Whilst Hell’s black tyrant trembled to behold,
The glorious light he forfeited of old;
Who Heav’ns glad burden now, and justest pride,
Sit’st high enthron’d next thy great Father’s side,
(Where hallowed flames help to adorn that head
Which once the blushing thorns environed,
Till crimson drops of precious blood hung down
Like rubies to enrich thine humble crown.)
Even thou my breast with such blest rage inspire,
As mov’d the tuneful strings of David’s lyre,
Guide my bold steps with thine old travelling flame,
In these untrodden paths to sacred fame;
Lo, with pure hands thy heav’enly fires to take,
My well-chang’d Muse I a chaste vestal make!
From earth’s vain joys, and love’s soft witchcraft free,
I consecrate my Magdalene to thee!
Lo, this great work, a temple to thy praise,
On polish’d pillars of strong verse I raise!
A temple, where if thou vouchsafe to dwell,
It Solomon’s, and Herod’s shall excel.
Too long the Muses-land have heathen bin;
Their gods too long were devils, and virtues sin;
But thou, Eternal Word, has call’d forth me
Th’ apostle, to convert that world to thee;
T’ unbind the charms that in slight fables lie,
And teach that truth is purest poesy.
…
A few random poems:
- Olney Hymn 38: Looking Upwards In A Storm by William Cowper
- The Nympholept
- Morning-Land by Siegfried Sassoon
- Sappho to Phaon (Ovid Heroid XV) poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- The Flight by Sara Teasdale
- Жан Расин – Британик
- Words by Sylvia Plath
- Coming and Going by Tony Hoagland
- A Leaf for Hand in Hand. by Walt Whitman
- Sea God and the wind rose by Vinko Kalinić
- Олег Сердобольский – Корова и божья коровка
- Valgovinds Boat Song
- The Freshness by Rumi
- To The Hills
- Poppies on Ludlow Castle by Willa Cather
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
- Funeral Day Thoughts by Sudheesh Vs
- Flying Home by Sudeep Sen
- Do You Remember 1914 Grandad? by Steve Sant
- Crossroads by Suchi Gaur
- Closure by Suchi Gaur
- Borrowed Verses by Subhash Misra
- A Different September by Steve Sant
- Zen-moment by Sunil Sharma
- Young mother by Sunil Sharma
- Winter dusk at the railway halt by Sunil Sharma
- Valley-dawn by Sunil Sharma
- The workers by Sunil Sharma
- The light from an earthen lamp by Sunil Sharma
- The humble earthen lamp by Sunil Sharma
- The gypsy song by Sunil Sharma
- The Chant of the Indignant of the World by Sunil Sharma
- Surreal landscapes by Sunil Sharma
- To a son abroad by Sunil Sharma
- Relations by Sunil Sharma
- Pharaohs, Protests and Public by Sunil Sharma
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

Abraham Cowley (1618 – 1667), the Royalist Poet.Poet and essayist Abraham Cowley was born in London, England, in 1618. He displayed early talent as a poet, publishing his first collection of poetry, Poetical Blossoms (1633), at the age of 15. Cowley studied at Cambridge University but was stripped of his Cambridge fellowship during the English Civil War and expelled for refusing to sign the Solemn League and Covenant of 1644. In turn, he accompanied Queen Henrietta Maria to France, where he spent 12 years in exile, serving as her secretary. During this time, Cowley completed The Mistress (1647). Arguably his most famous work, the collection exemplifies Cowley’s metaphysical style of love poetry. After the Restoration, Cowley returned to England, where he was reinstated as a Cambridge fellow and earned his MD before finally retiring to the English countryside. He is buried at Westminster Abbey alongside Geoffrey Chaucer and Edmund Spenser. Cowley is a wonderful poet and an outstanding representative of the English baroque.