A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
Reading the menu at the morning service:
– Iced Venusberg perhaps, or buttered bum;
Orders the usual sex-ersatz, and, nervous,
Glances around; Will she or won’t she come?
The congregation dissected into pews
Gulping their strip teas in the luminous cavern
Agape’s sacamental berry stews;
The nickel-plated light and clatter of heaven
Receive him, temporary Tantalus
Into the Lookingglassland’s firescape.
Suckled on Jungfraumilch his eyes discuss,
The werwolf twins, their mock Sabellian rape.
This is their time to reap the standing scorn,
Blonde Rumina’s crop. Beneath her leafless tree
Ripe-rumped she lolls and clasps the plenteous horn.
Cool customers who defy his Trinity
Feel none the less, and thrill, ur-vater Fear
Caged in the son. For, though this ghost behave
Experienced daughters recognize King Leer:
Lot also had his daughters in a cave.
Full sail the proud three-decker sandwiches
With the eye-fumbled priestesses repass;
On their swan lake the enchanted icecreams freeze,
The amorous fountain prickles in the glass
And at the introit of this mass emotion
She comes, she comes, a balanced pillar of blood,
Guides through the desert, divides the sterile ocean,
Brings sceptic Didymus his berserk food,
Sits deftly, folding elegant thighs, and takes
Her time. She skins her little leather hands,
Conscious that wavering towards her like tame snakes
The polyp eyes converge…. The prophet stands
Dreading the answer from her burning bush:
This unconsuming flame, the outlaw’s blow,
Plague, exodus, Sinai, ruptured stones that gush,
God’s telegram: Dare Now! Let this people go!
A few random poems:
- Ballad of the Army Carts by Tu Fu
- The Dog and the Bear by William Somervile
- Morris Island by William Gilmore Simms
- Владимир Маяковский – Сказка о Пете, толстом ребенке, и о Симе, который тонкий
- The Breast by Russell Edson
- The India Wharf by Sara Teasdale
- The Jacket by Rudyard Kipling
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Знакомое место
- The Seafarer poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Inversnaid poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Константин Бальмонт – Цветок (Я цветок, и счастье аромата)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше иностранцы шли в Россию как разбойники и воры… (Роста №105)
- Hawk Roosting by Ted Hughes
- Николай Языков – А. И. Готовцевой (Влюблен я, дева-красота)
- Pace of Life by Pierre Reverdy
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
- The Bell Buoy by Rudyard Kipling
- The Ballad of the Red Earl by Rudyard Kipling
- The Ballad of the King’s Mercy by Rudyard Kipling
- The Ballad of the King’s Jest by Rudyard Kipling
- The Ballad of Fisher’s Boarding-House by Rudyard Kipling
- The Ballad of East and West by Rudyard Kipling
- The Answer by Rudyard Kipling
- Tarrant Moss by Rudyard Kipling
- Sussex by Rudyard Kipling
- Study of an Elevation, In Indian Ink by Rudyard Kipling
- South Africa by Rudyard Kipling
- Song of the Wise Children by Rudyard Kipling
- Song of the Red War-Boat by Rudyard Kipling
- Song of Diego Valdez by Rudyard Kipling
- Soldier an’ Sailor Too by Rudyard Kipling
- Snarleyow by Rudyard Kipling
- Sir Richard’s Song by Rudyard Kipling
- Shillin’ a Day by Rudyard Kipling
- Seven Watchmen by Rudyard Kipling
- Seal Lullaby by Rudyard Kipling
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

Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.