When I kneel down the dawn is only breaking;
Sleep fetters still the brown wings of the lark;
The wind blows pure and cool, for day is waking,
But stars are scattered still about the dark.
With open lattice, looking out and praying,
Ere yet the toil and trouble must be faced,
I see a silvery glimmer straying, straying,
To where the faint grey sky-line can be traced:
I see it slowly deepen, broaden, brighten,
With soft snow-fringes sweeping to the land;
The sheeny distance clear, and gleam, and whiten;
The cool cliff-shadows sharpen on the sand.
Some other sea the sunlight is adorning,
But mine is fair ‘neath waning stars and moon.
O friendly face!-O smile that comes at morning,
To shine through all the frowns that come at noon!
A beautiful wet opal-pale tints filling
A thousand shifting shallows-day at length.
The sweet, salt breeze, like richest wine, is thrilling
My drowsy heart and brain with life and strength.
I hear the voice of waters-strong waves dashing
Their white crests on the brown weed-sprinkled sod;
I hear the soft, continuous, measured plashing-
The pulse that vibrates from the heart of God,-
The long wash of the tide upon the shingle,
The rippling ebb of breakers on the shore,
Wherewith my prayers are fain to blend and mingle-
Whereto I set my dreams for evermore.
I hear the lap and swirl, I hear the thunder
In the dark grotto where the children play,-
Where walls to keep the sea and cave asunder,
And frail shell towers, were reared but yesterday.
The flood has filled my soul, and it is sweeping
My foolish stones and pebbles out to sea,
And floating in strange riches for my keeping,-
O friend! O God! I owe my best to Thee.
The best of every day, its peace and beauty,
From Thy mysterious treasure-house is drawn;
Thou teachest me the grace of life and duty,
When we two walk together in the dawn.
A few random poems:
- On Tam the Chapman by Robert Burns
- Ольга Берггольц – Осень (Мне осень озёрного края)
- Яков Полонский – Цветок
- For Life and Death of a Poet by Marcin Malek
- Владимир Высоцкий – Утренняя гимнастика
- Зинаида Александрова – Таня и волчок
- Олег Чупров – Подушка
- Владислав Крапивин – Спокойная ночь
- A Pastiche For Eve by Weldon Kees
- Николай Заболоцкий – Предостережение
- Sonnet LVIII by William Shakespeare
- ‘Out, Out–‘ by Robert Frost
- Far Within Us #7 by Vasko Popa
- Владимир Британишский – Мы кончили нашу работу
- I have fallen into unconsciousness by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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
- Владимир Маяковский – Только организация урожай умножит… (Главполитпросвет №33)
- Владимир Маяковский – Точеные слоны
- Владимир Маяковский – Типографы книги делают… (РОСТА №241)
- Владимир Маяковский – Тигр и киса
- Владимир Маяковский – Теоретики
- Владимир Маяковский – Тексты “окон”, переработанные для сборника “Грозный смех”
- Владимир Маяковский – Тексты для издательства “Сегодняшний лубок” (Плакаты)
- Владимир Маяковский – Тебе тепло?.. (РОСТА №599)
- Владимир Маяковский – Театры
- Владимир Маяковский – Тамара и демон
- Владимир Маяковский – Схема смеха
- Владимир Маяковский – Свидетельствую
- Владимир Маяковский – Студенту пролетарию
- Владимир Маяковский – Строители коммуны (РОСТА)
- Владимир Маяковский – Странно… но верно
- Владимир Маяковский – Столп
- Владимир Маяковский – Стой, товарищ! Стонет Поволжье, о помощи моля (Главполитпросвет №344)
- Владимир Маяковский – Стой!.. (РОСТА №416)
- Маяковский – Стоит баба с жопой метр на метр: стих, текст стихотворения Владимира Маяковского – Poetry Monster
- Владимир Маяковский – Стихотворение о проданной телятине
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

Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.