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.

A few random poems:
- Firesong by Sylvia Plath
- Before The World Was Made by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о планах
- The Old Men Admiring Themselves In The Water by William Butler Yeats
- Наум Коржавин – Наверно, я не так на свете жил
- Sonnet 136: If thy soul check thee that I come so near by William Shakespeare
- Михаил Лермонтов – Земля и небо
- He is more than a hero by Sappho
- On A Fowler, By Isidorus by William Cowper
- Out of Your Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Out of Town poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Snow by Walter de la Mare
- Валерий Брюсов – Две испанских песенки
- A Carta/The Letter by Soaroir de Campos
- The Grasshopper
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
- Robert Burns: Ca’ The Yowes To The Knowes: Second Version
- Robert Burns: On The Seas And Far Away:
- Robert Burns: Inscription To Miss Graham Of Fintry:
- Robert Burns: Ode For General Washington’s Birthday :
- Robert Burns: It Was A’ For Our Rightfu’ King:
- Robert Burns: The Highland Widow’s Lament :
- Robert Burns: The Highland Balou:
- Robert Burns: Bannocks O’ Bear Meal:
- Robert Burns: Charlie, He’s My Darling:
- Robert Burns: The Lovely Lass O’ Inverness:
- Robert Burns: Sonnet On The Death Of Robert Riddell: Of Glenriddell and Friars’ Carse.
- Robert Burns: On John Bushby, Esq., Tinwald Downs:
- Robert Burns: On Wm. Graham, Esq., Of Mossknowe:
- Robert Burns: On Capt. Lascelles:
- Robert Burns: Epitaph On A Noted Coxcomb: Capt. Wm. Roddirk, of Corbiston.
- Robert Burns: Epistle From Esopus To Maria :
- Robert Burns: Epitaph For Mr. Walter Riddell:
- Robert Burns: Pinned To Mrs. Walter Riddell’s Carriage:
- Robert Burns: The Epitaph:
- Robert Burns: Monody: On a lady famed for her Caprice.
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.