Kotri By The River

At Kotri, by the river, when the evening’s sun is low,

The waving palm trees quiver, the golden waters glow,

The shining ripples shiver, descending to the sea;

At Kotri, by the river, she used to wait for me.

So young, she was, and slender, so pale with wistful eyes

As luminous and tender as Kotri’s twilight skies.

Her face broke into flowers, red flowers at the mouth,

Her voice,–she sang for hours like bulbuls in the south.

We sat beside the water through burning summer days,

And many things I taught her of Life and all its ways

Of Love, man’s loveliest duty, of Passion’s reckless pain,

Of Youth, whose transient beauty comes once, but not again.

She lay and laughed and listened beside the water’s edge.

The glancing rirer glistened and glinted through the sedge.

Green parrots flew above her and, as the daylight died,

Her young arms drew her lover more closely to her side.

Oh days so warm and golden! oh nights so cool and still!

When Love would not be holden, and Pleasure had his will.

Days, when in after leisure, content to rest we lay,

Nights, when her lips’ soft pressure drained all my life away.

And while we sat together, beneath the Babul trees,

The fragrant, sultry weather cooled by the river breeze,

If passion faltered ever, and left the senses free,

We heard the tireless river decending to the sea.

I know not where she wandered, or went in after days,

Or if her youth she squandered in Love’s more doubtful ways.

Perhaps, beside the river, she died, still young and fair;

Perchance the grasses quiver above her slumber there.

At Kotri, by the river, maybe I too shall sleep

The sleep that lasts for ever, too deep for dreams; too deep.

Maybe among the shingle and sand of floods to be

Her dust and mine may mingle and float away to sea.

Ah Kotri, by the river, when evening’s sun is low,

Your faint reflections quiver, your golden ripples glow.

You knew, oh Kotri river, that love which could not last.

For me your palms still shiver with passions of the past.

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 

• Lines on the Fall of Fyers by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lines on the Author’s Death by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lines on Meeting with Lord Daer by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lines on Fergusson, the Poet by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lines Inscribed under Fergusson’s Portrait by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lines Inscribed in a Lady’s Pocket Almanack by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Lament For Culloden by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• John Barleycorn: A Ballad by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• John Barleycorn by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• John Anderson by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscription to Miss Graham of Fintry by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscription to Jessie Lewars by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscription to Chloris by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• inscription on Mr. Syme’s crystal goblet by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscription for the Headstone of Fergusson the Poet by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscription at Friars’ Carse Hermitage by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Inscribed on a Work of Hannah More’s by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Impromptu on Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Impromptu on Carron Iron Works by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Impromptu Lines to Captain Riddell by Robert Burns by Robert Burns

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