Farewell to London poem – Alexander Pope

A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period

Dear, damn’d distracting town, farewell!

Thy fools no more I’ll tease:

This year in peace, ye critics, dwell,

Ye harlots, sleep at ease!

Soft B– and rough C–s adieu,

Earl Warwick made your moan,

The lively H–k and you

May knock up whores alone.

To drink and droll be Rowe allow’d

Till the third watchman’s toll;

Let Jervas gratis paint, and Frowde

Save three-pence and his soul.

Farewell, Arbuthnot’s raillery

On every learned sot;

And Garth, the best good Christian he,

Although he knows it not.

Lintot, farewell! thy bard must go;

Farewell, unhappy Tonson!

Heaven gives thee for thy loss of Rowe,

Lean Philips, and fat Johnson.

Why should I stay? Both parties rage;

My vixen mistress squalls;

The wits in envious feuds engage:

And Homer (damn him!) calls.

The love of arts lies cold and dead

In Halifax’s urn:

And not one Muse of all he fed

Has yet the grace to mourn.

My friends, by turns, my friends confound,

Betray, and are betrayed:

Poor Y–r’s sold for fifty pound,

And B–ll is a jade.

Why make I friendships with the great,

When I no favour seek?

Or follow girls, seven hours in eight?

I us’d but once a week.

Still idle, with a busy air,

Deep whimsies to contrive;

The gayest valetudinaire,

Most thinking rake, alive.

Solicitous for others’ ends,

Though fond of dear repose;

Careless or drowsy with my friends,

And frolic with my foes.

Luxurious lobster-nights, farewell,

For sober, studious days!

And Burlington’s delicious meal,

For salads, tarts, and pease!

Adieu to all, but Gay alone,

Whose soul, sincere and free,

Loves all mankind, but flatters none,

And so may starve with me.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 Redeemer by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Rear-Guard by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Poet as Hero by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The One-Legged Man by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Old Huntsman by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Last Meeting by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Kiss by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Investiture by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Imperfect Lover by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Heritage by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Hawthorn Tree by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Goldsmith by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The General by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Fathers by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Effect by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Dug-Out by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Dream by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Dragon & The Undying by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon
• The Death-Bed by Siegfried Sassoon by Siegfried Sassoon

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works