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:
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
- Tell Me
- Алишер Навои – О сердце, столько на земле
- Sonnet 138: When my love swears that she is made of truth by William Shakespeare
- Tell me not here, it needs not saying poem – Alfred Edward Housman
- The Captive Trumpeter by William Somervile
- Ariosto Orlando Furioso Canto X 91 99
- The Roussalka poem – Alexander Pushkin
- The Fancy Feäir At Maïden Newton by William Barnes
- Владимир Высоцкий – Мне в душу ступит кто-то посторонний
- Poetic Vision – Heaven’s Door
- Владимир Высоцкий – Он не вернулся из боя
- Old Homeless Man by Walter William Safar
- A Humble Heroine by William Topaz McGonagall
- Федор Тютчев – Князю Суворову
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
- Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Спортивный марш
- Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Солнце садится
- Василий Тредиаковский – Видеть все женские лица
- Василий Тредиаковский – В сем озере бедные любовники
- Василий Тредиаковский – В белости ее румяной
- Василий Тредиаковский – Песенка любовна
- Василий Тредиаковский – Описание грозы, бывшей в Гааге
- Василий Тредиаковский – О коль мне тамо сладка веселия было
- Василий Тредиаковский – Ну, так уже я не стал быть вашим отныне
- Василий Тредиаковский – Невозможно быть довольным
- Василий Тредиаковский – Мое сердце все было в страсти
- Василий Тредиаковский – Леший и мужик
- Василий Тредиаковский – К почтению, льзя объявить любовь
- Василий Тредиаковский – Дворы там весьма суть уединенны
- Василий Тредиаковский – Будь жестока, будь упорна
- Василий Жуковский – Деревенский сторож в полночь
- Василий Жуковский – Цветок
- Василий Жуковский – Человек
- Василий Жуковский – Был у меня товарищ
- Василий Жуковский – Бородинская годовщина
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.