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:
- Admonition by William Wordsworth
- Limbo Under the Westway poem – André Rostant poems
- The Poor House by Sara Teasdale
- Ante Aram by Rupert Brooke
- Amabel by Thomas Hardy
- motionless_body.html
- Jeane’s Wedden Day In Mornen by William Barnes
- A Musician’s Wife by Weldon Kees
- Blackberrying by Sylvia Plath
- The Dying Christian to His Soul poem – Alexander Pope
- Владимир Маяковский – Успокоилась Франция, злобой не пышет… (РОСТА №625)
- The First Thrush by Mary Gilmore
- The Unborn by Sharon Olds
- Олег Григорьев – Ну, как тебе на ветке
- Гавриил Державин – Афинейскому витязю
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
- Earthy Anecdote by Wallace Stevens
- A Dish Of Peaches In Russia by Wallace Stevens
- Depression Before Spring by Wallace Stevens
- A Clear Day And No Memories by Wallace Stevens
- In The Carolinas by Wallace Stevens
- Another Weeping Woman by Wallace Stevens
- Anecdote Of Canna by Wallace Stevens
- You Felons on Trial in Courts. by Walt Whitman
- Yet, Yet, Ye Downcast Hours. by Walt Whitman
- Years of the Modern. by Walt Whitman
- Year that Trembled. by Walt Whitman
- Year of Meteors, 1859 ’60. by Walt Whitman
- World, Take Good Notice. by Walt Whitman
- World Below the Brine, The. by Walt Whitman
- With Antecedents. by Walt Whitman
- With All Thy Gifts. by Walt Whitman
- Whoever You are, Holding Me now in Hand. by Walt Whitman
- Who Learns My Lesson Complete? by Walt Whitman
- Who is now Reading This? by Walt Whitman
- Whispers of Heavenly Death. by Walt Whitman
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.