A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
As some fond virgin, whom her mother’s care
Drags from the town to wholesome country air,
Just when she learns to roll a melting eye,
And hear a spark, yet think no danger nigh;
From the dear man unwilling she must sever,
Yet takes one kiss before she parts for ever:
Thus from the world fair Zephalinda flew,
Saw others happy, and with sighs withdrew;
Not that their pleasures caused her discontent,
She sigh’d not that they staid, but that she went.
She went to plain-work, and to purling brooks,
Old-fashion’d halls, dull aunts, and croaking rooks:
She went from opera, park, assembly, play,
To morning-walks, and prayers three hours a-day:
To part her time ‘twixt reading and bohea,
To muse, and spill her solitary tea;
Or o’er cold coffee trifle with the spoon,
Count the slow clock, and dine exact at noon;
Divert her eyes with pictures in the fire,
Hum half a tune, tell stories to the ‘squire;
Up to her godly garret after seven,
There starve and pray, for that’s the way to heaven.
Some ‘squire, perhaps, you take delight to rack;
Whose game is whist, whose treat, a toast in sack;
Who visits with a gun, presents you birds,
Then gives a smacking buss, and cries–No words!
Or with his hound comes hallooing from the stable,
Makes love with nods, and knees beneath a table;
Whose laughs are hearty, though his jests are coarse,
And loves you best of all things–but his horse.
In some fair evening, on your elbow laid,
You dream of triumphs in the rural shade;
In pensive thought recall the fancied scene,
See coronations rise on every green;
Before you pass the imaginary sights
Of lords, and earls, and dukes, and garter’d knights,
While the spread fan o’ershades your closing eyes;
Then give one flirt, and all the vision flies.
Thus vanish sceptres, coronets, and balls,
And leave you in lone woods, or empty walls!
So when your slave, at some dear idle time,
(Not plagued with headaches, or the want of rhyme)
Stands in the streets, abstracted from the crew,
And while he seems to study, thinks of you;
Just when his fancy paints your sprightly eyes,
Or sees the blush of soft Parthenia rise,
Gay pats my shoulder, and you vanish quite,
Streets, chairs, and coxcombs rush upon my sight;
Vex’d to be still in town, I knit my brow,
Look sour, and hum a tune, as you do now.
A few random poems:
- Новелла Матвеева – Мне кажется
- Олег Бундур – В гостях на великом
- A Purse-String by William Strode
- Шекспир – Меня не радует твоя печаль – Сонет 34
- Владислав Крапивин – Рыжий конь
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бездна
- On An Ugly Fellow (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- Lines to a Gentleman who sent a Newspaper by Robert Burns
- Николай Глазков – Что ни год, идёт вперёд
- Владимир Костров – Бедное сердце болит спозаранку
- A Supplication
- Loves Blindness
- The Fool By The Roadside by William Butler Yeats
- The Oak poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Ольга Седакова – Элегия осенней воды
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
- The Hedger by William Barnes
- The Heäre by William Barnes
- The Guide Post by William Barnes
- The Girt Wold House O’ Mossy Stwone by William Barnes
- The Giants In Treädes by William Barnes
- The Flood In Spring by William Barnes
- The Farmer’s Woldest D’ter by William Barnes
- The Fancy Feäir At Maïden Newton by William Barnes
- The Fall by William Barnes
- The Evenèn Star O’ Zummer by William Barnes
- The Echo by William Barnes
- The Dree Woaks by William Barnes
- The Drèven O’ The Common by William Barnes
- The Do’set Militia by William Barnes
- The Common A-Took In by William Barnes
- The Clote (Water-Lily) by William Barnes
- The Church An’ Happy Zunday by William Barnes
- The Child’s Greäve by William Barnes
- The Child an’ the Mowers by William Barnes
- The Castle Ruins by William Barnes
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

Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) was a a post-Restoration English poet and satirist. He is a poet of the (British) Augustan period and one of its greatest artistic exponents.