A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)
I who, conceived beneath another star,
Had been a prince and played with life, instead
Have been its slave, an outcast exiled far
From the fair things my faith has merited.
My ways have been the ways that wanderers tread
And those that make romance of poverty —
Soldier, I shared the soldier’s board and bed,
And Joy has been a thing more oft to me
Whispered by summer wind and summer sea
Than known incarnate in the hours it lies
All warm against our hearts and laughs into our eyes.
I know not if in risking my best days
I shall leave utterly behind me here
This dream that lightened me through lonesome ways
And that no disappointment made less dear;
Sometimes I think that, where the hilltops rear
Their white entrenchments back of tangled wire,
Behind the mist Death only can make clear,
There, like Brunhilde ringed with flaming fire,
Lies what shall ease my heart’s immense desire:
There, where beyond the horror and the pain
Only the brave shall pass, only the strong attain.
Truth or delusion, be it as it may,
Yet think it true, dear friends, for, thinking so,
That thought shall nerve our sinews on the day
When to the last assault our bugles blow:
Reckless of pain and peril we shall go,
Heads high and hearts aflame and bayonets bare,
And we shall brave eternity as though
Eyes looked on us in which we would seem fair —
One waited in whose presence we would wear,
Even as a lover who would be well-seen,
Our manhood faultless and our honor clean.
A few random poems:
- From One Who Stays poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The house where I was born (04) by Yves Bonnefoy
- Георгий Иванов – Танцуй, монах, танцуй, поэт
- Even if I don’t hear your voice, I know by Vinko Kalinic
- Sonnet # 19 by Luis A. Estable
- Mingus At The Showplace by William Matthews
- My Mother’s Body by Marge Piercy
- Robert Burns: A Dream: Thoughts, words, and deeds, the Statute blames with reason; But surely Dreams were ne’er indicted Treason. On reading, in the public papers, the Laureate’s Ode, with the other parade of June 4th, 1786, the Author was no sooner dropt asleep, than he imagined himself transported to the Birth-day Levee: and, in his dreaming fancy, made the following Address:
- The Lame Guy by Rob Leatherman Sr.
- Prison Souvenirs, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan.
- Burnt in contemplation by Nishant Deherkar
- Ghazal of Rumi by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ольга Берггольц – Письмо из Ленинграда
- My Heart Goes Out by Stevie Smith
- Frankincense and Myrrh poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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
Alan Seeger (1888-1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist and musicologist and the uncle of folk musician, Pete Seeger.