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.
A few random poems:
- A Sunrise Song. by Sidney Lanier
- Whenever I Go There by W. S. Merwin
- And Still to USA they get! by Tom Mukasa
- Lord when the wise men came from farr by Sidney Godolphin
- Soil by Roger McGough
- Cleared by Rudyard Kipling
- A Piece Of The Storm by Mark Strand
- On The Disadvantages Of Central Heating poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- As I Walked Out One Evening by W. H. Auden
- Love’s Wisdom poem – Alfred Austin
- Олег Бундур – Вовка дразнит Свету
- I threaded a garland with the memories of a spring… by Preeth Nambiar
- A Strange Gentlewoman Passing By His Window by William Strode
- On Being Brought from Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley
- Robert Burns: Forlorn, My Love, No Comfort Near:
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
- Moonlight On The Door by William Barnes
- Me’th Below The Tree by William Barnes
- Meary-Ann’s Child by William Barnes
- Meaken Up A Miff by William Barnes
- Meäry’s Smile by William Barnes
- Meäry Wedded by William Barnes
- Martin’s Tide by William Barnes
- Married Peäir’s Love Walk by William Barnes
- Looks A-Know’d Avore by William Barnes
- Linda Deäne by William Barnes
- Light Or Sheäde by William Barnes
- Leaves A-Vallèn by William Barnes
- Leady-Day, An’ Ridden House by William Barnes
- Keepen Up O’ Chris’mas by William Barnes
- John Bloom In Lon’on by William Barnes
- John Bleäke At Hwome At Night by William Barnes
- Jeane’s Wedden Day In Mornen by William Barnes
- In The Stilness O’ The Night by William Barnes
- I’m Out O’ Door by William Barnes
- Hope In Spring by William Barnes
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.