Malaria

He lurks among the reeds, beside the marsh,

Red oleanders twisted in His hair,

His eyes are haggard and His lips are harsh,

Upon His breast the bones show gaunt and bare.

The green and stagnant waters lick His feet,

And from their filmy, iridescent scum

Clouds of mosquitoes, gauzy in the heat,

Rise with His gifts: Death and Delirium.

His messengers: They bear the deadly taint

On spangled wings aloft and far away,

Making thin music, strident and yet faint,

From golden eve to silver break of day.

The baffled sleeper hears th’ incessant whine

Through his tormented dreams, and finds no rest

The thirsty insects use his blood for wine,

Probe his blue veins and pasture on his breast.

While far away He in the marshes lies,

Staining the stagnant water with His breath,

An endless hunger burning in His eyes,

A famine unassuaged, whose food is Death.

He hides among the ghostly mists that float

Over the water, weird and white and chill,

And peasants, passing in their laden boat,

Shiver and feel a sense of coming ill.

A thousand burn and die; He takes no heed,

Their bones, unburied, strewn upon the plain,

Only increase the frenzy of His greed

To add more victims to th’ already slain.

He loves the haggard frame, the shattered mind,

Gloats with delight upon the glazing eye,

Yet, in one thing, His cruelty is kind,

He sends them lovely dreams before they die;

Dreams that bestow on them their heart’s desire,

Visions that find them mad, and leave them blest,

To sink, forgetful of the fever’s fire,

Softly, as in a lover’s arms, to rest.

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 

• Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Rankine by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Busby, Esq., Tinwald Downs by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on James Grieve by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on Holy Willie by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on Captain Lascelles by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a noted coxcomb by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a Noisy Polemic by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, Schoolmaster by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. W. Cruickshank by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. Gabriel Richardson, Brewer by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for James Smith by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to the Rev. John M’Math by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns by Robert Burns

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.

 

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The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works