A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
I.
Silence! coeval with Eternity;
Thou wert, ere Nature’s-self began to be,
‘Twas one vast Nothing, all, and all slept fast in thee.
II.
Thine was the sway, ere heav’n was form’d, or earth,
Ere fruitful Thought conceiv’d creation’s birth,
Or midwife Word gave aid, and spoke the infant forth.
III.
Then various elements, against thee join’d,
In one more various animal combin’d,
And fam’d the clam’rous race of busy Human-kind.
IV.
The tongue mov’d gently first, and speech was low,
‘Till wrangling Science taught it noise and show,
And wicked Wit arose, thy most abusive foe.
V.
But rebel Wit deserts thee oft’ in vain;
Lost in the maze of words he turns again,
And seeks a surer state, and courts thy gentle reign.
VI.
Afflicted Sense thou kindly dost set free,
Oppress’d with argumental tyranny,
And routed Reason finds a safe retreat in thee.
VII.
With thee in private modest Dulness lies,
And in thy bosom lurks in Thought’s disguise;
Thou varnisher of Fools, and cheat of all the Wise!
VIII.
Yet thy indulgence is by both confest;
Folly by thee lies sleeping in the breast,
And ’tis in thee at last that Wisdom seeks for rest.
IX.
Silence the knave’s repute, the whore’s good name,
The only honour of the wishing dame;
Thy very want of tongue makes thee a kind of Fame.
X.
But could’st thou seize some tongues that now are free,
How Church and State should be oblig’d to thee!
At Senate, and at Bar, how welcome would’st thou be!
XI.
Yet speech ev’n there, submissively withdraws,
From rights of subjects, and the poor man’s cause:
Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy Laws.
XII.
Past services of friends, good deeds of foes,
What Fav’rites gain, and what the Nation owes,
Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repose.
XIII.
The country wit, religion of the town,
The courtier’s learning, policy o’ th’ gown,
Are best by thee express’d; and shine in thee alone.
XIV.
The parson’s cant, the lawyer’s sophistry,
Lord’s quibble, critic’s jest; all end in thee,
All rest in peace at last, and sleep eternally.
A few random poems:
- Владимир Британишский – Дом (Время ведь с годами ведь)
- Жан де Лафонтен – Два Мула
- Василий Жуковский – Гаральд
- The Silver Jubilee poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Hellcat
- Missing Person by Vinita Agrawal
- the_christening.html
- Lord when the wise men came from farr by Sidney Godolphin
- THE WARS by Satish Verma
- The Gardener XX: Day After Day He Comes by Rabindranath Tagore
- Memorials Of A Tour In Scotland, 1803 XII. Sonnet Composed At —- Castle by William Wordsworth
- Ballades I – To Theocritus, In Winter poem – Andrew Lang poems
- In Praise Of England poem – Alfred Austin
- Ode poem – Amr ibn Kulthum poems | Poems and Poetry
- Kangaroo talks to the Sun by Raj Arumugam
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
- Love by Robert Creeley
- Kore by Robert Creeley
- I Know A Man by Robert Creeley
- Goodbye by Robert Creeley
- Four Days In Vermont by Robert Creeley
- Clemente’s Images by Robert Creeley
- Ballad Of The Despairing Husband by Robert Creeley
- America by Robert Creeley
- Age by Robert Creeley
- A Wicker Basket by Robert Creeley
- A Token by Robert Creeley
- A Song by Robert Creeley
- Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came by Robert Browning
- Cavalier Tunes: Marching Along by Robert Browning
- Cavalier Tunes: Give a Rouse by Robert Browning
- By The Fire-Side by Robert Browning
- Boot And Saddle by Robert Browning
- Bishop Blougram’s Apology by Robert Browning
- Before by Robert Browning
- Any Wife To Any Husband by Robert Browning
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.