A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)
Over the radiant ridges borne out on the offshore wind,
I have sailed as a butterfly sails whose priming wings unfurled
Leave the familiar gardens and visited fields behind
To follow a cloud in the east rose-flushed on the rim of the world.
I have strayed from the trodden highway for walking with upturned eyes
On the way of the wind in the treetops, and the drift of the tinted rack.
For the will to be losing no wonder of sunny or starlit skies
I have chosen the sod for my pillow and a threadbare coat for my back.
Evening of ample horizons, opaline, delicate, pure,
Shadow of clouds on green valleys, trailed over meadows and trees,
Cities of ardent adventure where the harvests of Joy mature,
Forests whose murmuring voices are amorous prophecies,
World of romance and profusion, still round my journey spread
The glamours, the glints, the enthralments, the nurture of one whose feet
From hours unblessed by beauty nor lighted by love have fled
As the shade of the tomb on his pathway and the scent of the winding-sheet.
I never could rest from roving nor put from my heart this need
To be seeing how lovably Nature in flower and face hath wrought, —
In flower and meadow and mountain and heaven where the white clouds breed
And the cunning of silken meshes where the heart’s desire lies caught.
Over the azure expanses, on the offshore breezes borne,
I have sailed as a butterfly sails, nor recked where the impulse led,
Sufficed with the sunshine and freedom, the warmth and the summer morn,
The infinite glory surrounding, the infinite blue ahead
A few random poems:
- Design poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- With How Sad Steps, O Moon, Thou Climb’st the Sky by William Wordsworth
- The Men Who Wear My Clothes by Vernon Scannell
- The Snowy Spring Is Raging Mad poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- Concerning Emperors by Vachel Lindsay
- Any Night by Philip Levine
- Вера Павлова – Снег
- Couplet 2 poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- Divided Destinies by Rudyard Kipling
- Ольга Берггольц – Синеглазый мальчик, синеглазый
- The Net-Menders by Sylvia Plath
- Notes To A Neophyte by Sylvia Plath
- Robert Burns: Farewell To Ballochmyle:
- To My Brothers poem – John Keats poems
- Echo by Thomas Moore
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
- Sonnet 12
- Sonnet 11
- Sonnet 10
- Sonnet 08
- Sonnet 07
- Sonnet 06
- Sonnet 05
- Sonnet 04
- Sonnet 03
- Sonnet 02
- Sonnet 01
- Resurgam
- Rendezvous
- Paris
- On The Cliffs Newport
- On A Theme In The Greek Anthology
- Maktoob
- Lyonesse
- Liebestod
- La Nue
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

Alan Seeger (1888-1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist and musicologist and the uncle of folk musician, Pete Seeger.