Why above others was I so blessed
And honoured? to be chosen one
To hold you, sleeping, against my breast,
As now I may hold your only son.
Twelve months ago; that wonderful night!
You gave your life to me in a kiss;
Have I done well, for that past delight,
In return, to have given you this?
Look down at his face, your face, beloved,
His eyes are azure as yours are blue.
In every line of his form is proved
How well I loved you, and only you.
I felt the secret hope at my heart
Turned suddenly to the living joy,
And knew that your life and mine had part
As golden grains in a brass alloy.
And learning thus, that your child was mine,
Thrilled by the sense of its stirring life,
I held myself as a sacred shrine
Afar from pleasure, and pain, and strife,
That all unworthy I might not be
Of that you had deigned to cause to dwell
Hidden away in the heart of me,
As white pearls hide in a dusky shell.
Do you remember, when first you laid
Your lips on mine, that enchanted night?
My eyes were timid, my lips afraid,
You seemed so slender and strangely white.
I always tremble; the moments flew
Swiftly to dawn that took you away,
But this is a small and lovely you
Content to rest in my arms all day.
Oh, since you have sought me, Lord, for this,
And given your only child to me,
My life devoted to yours and his,
Whilst I am living, will always be.
And after death, through the long To Be,
(Which, I think, must surely keep love’s laws,)
I, should you chance to have need of me,
Am ever and always, only yours.
A few random poems:
- Шекспир – У сердца с глазом тайный договор – Сонет 47
- Point Of View by Shel Silverstein
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий, ты читал СНК наказ?.. (Главполитпросвет №292)
- A Stick Of Incense by William Butler Yeats
- The Mountain Tomb by William Butler Yeats
- What is Creativity Anyway and How Come the Human Mind is So Good at It?
- Poor Mailie’s Elegy by Robert Burns
- Weathering poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- Desertion by Rupert Brooke
- Николай Гумилев – Звездный ужас
- Огюст Барбье – Рафаэль
- Зинаида Александрова – Дозор
- Book First [Introduction-Childhood and School Time] by William Wordsworth
- Иван Дмитриев – Слепец, Собака его и Школьник
- Winter Apples by Tatiana Gusarova, translated by Fledermaus
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
- Омар Хайям – О доколе ты по свету будешь кружить
- Омар Хайям о Боге и религии: Рубаи, стихи Хайяма про Бога – Poetry Monster
- Омар Хайям – Ну, допустим, что будет тебе и почет
- Омар Хайям – Нищим дервишем ставши
- Омар Хайям – Никто не лицезрел ни рая, ни геенны
- Омар Хайям – Ни к другу не взывай, ни к небесам
- Омар Хайям – Нет ни рая, ни ада, о сердце моё
- Омар Хайям – Несовместимых мы порой полны желаний
- Омар Хайям – Неправ, кто думает, что бог неумолим
- Омар Хайям – Небо кушак, что облек изнуренный мой стан
- Омар Хайям – Не зли других и сам не злись
- Омар Хайям – Не зарекайся пить бесценных гроздий сок
- Омар Хайям – Не являй друзьям печальный вид
- Омар Хайям – Не выращивай в сердце печали росток
- Омар Хайям – Не устану в неверном театре теней
- Омар Хайям – Не у тех, кто во прах государства поверг
- Омар Хайям – Не таи в своем сердце обид и скорбей
- Омар Хайям – Не смешно ли весь век по копейке копить
- Омар Хайям – Не порочь лозы-невесты
- Омар Хайям – Не оплакивай, смертный, вчерашних потерь
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

Violet Nicolson ( 1865 – 1904); otherwise known as Adela Florence Nicolson (née Cory), was an English poetess who wrote under the pseudonym of Laurence Hope, however she became known as Violet Nicolson. In the early 1900s, she became a best-selling author. She committed suicide and is buried in Madras, now Chennai, India.