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:
- Wind by Ted Hughes
- I Loved
- The Road To Ruin by Siegfried Sassoon
- Inscription For A Stone Erected At The Sowing Of A Grove Of Oaks At Chillington, Anno 1790 by William Cowper
- Наум Коржавин – На друга-поэта
- The Self and the Mulberry by Marvin Bell
- Medallion poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Requests for Toy Piano by Tony Hoagland
- Владимир Маяковский – Ни на Европу не надейся, ни на прокукиш, надейся только на свои руки (Главполитпросвет №343)
- An Ode to the Democratic Rat
- Interlude: Songs Out Of Sorrow by Sara Teasdale
- The New Path
- A Subaltern’s Love Song poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Soldier by Robert Frost
- Владимир Лифшиц – Грустная шутка
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 – Не горюй, что забудется имя твое
- Омар Хайям – Не для веселости я пью вино
- Омар Хайям – Не бойтесь дарить согревающих слов
- Омар Хайям – Мы влюбчивая голь, здесь нету мусульман
- Омар Хайям – Мы пешки, небо же игрок
- Омар Хайям – Мы источник веселья, и скорби рудник
- Омар Хайям – Мы больше в этот мир вовек не попадем
- Омар Хайям – Муки старят красавиц
- Омар Хайям – Моя любовь к тебе достигла совершенства
- Омар Хайям – Мой друг, о завтрашнем заботиться не след
- Омар Хайям – Много зла и коварства таится кругом
- Омар Хайям – Мне с похмелья лекарство одно принеси
- Омар Хайям – Мир любви обрести без терзаний нельзя
- Омар Хайям – Миг придёт, и смерть исторгнет жадно
- Омар Хайям – Меняем реки, страны, города
- Омар Хайям – Люди тлеют в могилах, ничем становясь
- Омар Хайям – Любя тебя, сношу я все упрёки
- Омар Хайям – Любовь роковая беда
- Омар Хайям – Люблю вино, ловлю веселья миг
- Омар Хайям – Лучше впасть в нищету, голодать или красть
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.