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:
- Robert Burns: Pegasus At Wanlockhead:
- Алексей Плещеев – Ее мне жаль
- Sweet Dancer by William Butler Yeats
- Before you knew you owned it poem – Alice Walker
- Writing Science Poetry
- Rule I By Eric Mottram Stop Writing Literature You Garrulous Indian
- At A Solemn Musick poem – John Milton poems
- On Your Midnight Pallet Lying poem – A. E. Housman
- A Song : The Sparkling Eye by William Cowper
- Moment’s Indulgence by Rabindranath Tagore
- Orlando Furioso Canto 23 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Юнна Мориц – Это да, это нет
- The Voice of Woman by Shahida Latif
- Валерий Брюсов – Голос мертвого
- Алексей Толстой – Ты почто, злая кручинушка
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
- Robinson by Weldon Kees
- The End Of The Library by Weldon Kees
- Late Evening Song by Weldon Kees
- La Vita Nuova by Weldon Kees
- Interregnum by Weldon Kees
- Dead March by Weldon Kees
- Covering Two Years by Weldon Kees
- Colloquy by Weldon Kees
- A Pastiche For Eve by Weldon Kees
- A Musician’s Wife by Weldon Kees
- 1926 by Weldon Kees
- Woods by Wendell Berry
- What We Need Is Here by Wendell Berry
- Water by Wendell Berry
- The Wish to be Generous by Wendell Berry
- The Silence by Wendell Berry
- The Real Work by Wendell Berry
- The peace of wild things by Wendell Berry
- The Man Born to Farming by Wendell Berry
- The Lilies by Wendell Berry
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.