“Friend,” quoth Lord Nevil, “thou art young
To face the world, and thou art blind
To subtle ways of womankind;
The meshes thou wilt fall among.
“Take an old married man’s advice;
Use the experience I have earned;
Watch well where women are concerned,-
They’re not all birds of paradise!
“Be circumspect, or thou mayst fall;
Abjure a blind faith-nay, trust none-
Till thou hast chosen, proven one;
Then trust her truly-trust in all.
“Keep a calm brain and quiet eye,
And watch. The doll of powder and paint,
The flirt, the artificial saint,
The loud man-woman pass them by.
“The innocent one, who craves thy cares
To shield her from life’s fret and fray;
Lad, watch her-maybe she’ll betray
Some doubtful knowledge, unawares.
“The pensive one, who droops and sighs-
Wait till her dreaming comes to test;
Be gentle, yet be wary, lest
‘Tis but a graceful grey disguise.
“The world-wise husband-hunter-she
Who knows no love but love of gold,
And lands and titles-empty, cold,-
Pity her, lad, and let her be.
“And the rich heiress-let her pass.
Belike she’s stupid, drugged with wealth,
And just enjoys her life and health
As some fat cow in clover grass.
“Or insolent with prosperity,
Unsharpened, shallow, unrefined;-
And thou art poor, and thou wilt mind
That proud blood cometh down to thee.
“The gushing gossip-she who rains
Incessant chatter in thine ears;-
She may be worth thy keenest fears,
She may be simply lacking brains,
“And lacking grace and modesty.
She will make mischief, at the best;
She may be wily, like the rest;
Keep thy tongue still when she is by.
“They that would master thee, if they could,
In brain and muscle-flaring lights-
The clamorous for false woman’s rights;-
Snub them, my friend-it does them good-
“And do not think of them for wives.
Fit mates for such seem somewhat rare;
But when two odd ones make a pair,
They spoil at least four precious lives.
“But shouldst thou chance to meet a girl
With brave, bright eyes, that front thee straight,
A kindly tongue that does not prate,
And quiet lips that cannot curl;
“With fine sense, quick to understand,
With dignity that is not cold,
Sweet, sunny mirth that is not bold,
A ready ear, a willing hand;
“One skilled in household arts, and skilled
In little courteous, graceful ways,
That make no show and win no praise-
Wherewith discordant jars are stilled:
“One who will never touch a sore;
One who sheds sunshine round about,
And draws life’s hidden comfort out;
One whom the boys and babes adore:
“One with an intellect to reach
The highest range that thou canst rise;
Who will aye help thee, woman-wise,
And yet not set herself to teach:
“One of whom women love to speak,
In honest kindness, and whose name
Men let alone; whose chiefest fame
Lies hidden where men may not seek;-
“Friend, woo her, as a good knight can,
And win her. Lay thou at her feet
Faith, love, and honour, true and sweet;
And count thyself a happy man.”
A few random poems:
- Robert Burns: The Charms Of Lovely Davies:
- every_hour_henceforth.html
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Напрасные жертвы
- Allegro Maestoso by William Ernest Henley
- Follies of War by Michael Levy
- Иннокентий Анненский – Франсис Жамм. Когда для всех меня не станет меж живыми
- The True Lover poem – A. E. Housman
- Sonnet 67: Ah, wherefore with infection should he live by William Shakespeare
- Morning at the Window by T. S. Eliot
- One Hour to Madness and Joy. by Walt Whitman
- Sonnet 77: Thy glass will show thee how thy beauties wear by William Shakespeare
- The Mother Of A Poet by Sara Teasdale
- Robert Burns: Address To The Shade Of Thomson: On Crowning His Bust at Ednam, Roxburghshire, with a Wreath of Bays.
- Book Seventh [Residence in London] by William Wordsworth
- The Little Boy And The Old Man by Shel Silverstein
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
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 07 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 06 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 05 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 04 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 03 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 02 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 01 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 01 – part 07 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 01 – part 06 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 01 – part 03 by Torquato Tasso
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 01 – part 01 by Torquato Tasso
- Io v’amo sol perche (I Love You Simply Because) by Torquato Tasso
- Io v’amo sol perche (I Love You Simply Because) by Torquato Tasso
- Ecco Mormorar L’onde (Now The Waves Murmur) by Torquato Tasso
- Vegetable Swallow by Tristan Tzara
- To Make A Dadist Poem by Tristan Tzara
- The Last Breath of a Ship by Tri Tran
- The Great Lament Of My Obscurity Three by Tristan Tzara
- Proclamation Without Pretension by Tristan Tzara
- Cinema Calendar Of The Abstract Heart; 09 by Tristan Tzara
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

Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.