Liebestod

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.

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 

• Вера Павлова – Вот и пришли времена by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Вопрос ребра by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Весть обызвестковалась by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Вергилий в предсмертном бреду by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – В ранец тетрадки собраны by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Утро вечера мудренее by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Удобряю ресницы снами by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Учась любовной науке by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – У святителя вместо спины by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Ты вольно или невольно by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Твоя хладность by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Трогающему грудь by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Торчащее обтесать by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Толстые икры правителей by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Телефонные кнопки by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Сражаться с прошлым by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Снежную бабочку-однодневку by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Снег by Вера Павлова
• Вера Павлова – Слово держу осторожно by Вера Павлова
• Вера Полозкова – Или, к примеру, стоял какой-нибудь by Вера Полозкова

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