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:
- Владимир Британишский – Дали ему дивизию
- Book Review – The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
- Nevertheless by Marianne Moore
- Two Hundred Years After by Siegfried Sassoon
- Good Meäster Collins by William Barnes
- Progress by Michael McGovern
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о Земле
- From The Dark Chambers Of Dejection Freed by William Wordsworth
- Омар Хайям – Будь мягче к людям
- Poem on Sensibility by Robert Burns
- Robert Burns: The Dean Of Faculty: A New Ballad
- It Is a Beauteous Evening by William Wordsworth
- To Eva Descending The Stair by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жан, Жак, Гийом, Густав нормальные французы
- Владимир Британишский – Мы топор и лопату кладем про запас
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
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вот и настал этот час опять
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вот, главный вход
- Владимир Высоцкий – Войны и голодухи натерпелися мы всласть
- Владимир Высоцкий – Водой наполненные горсти
- Владимир Высоцкий – Веселая покойницкая
- Владимир Высоцкий – Побег на рывок
- Владимир Высоцкий – В холода, в холода
- Владимир Высоцкий – В тюрьме Таганской нас стало мало
- Владимир Высоцкий – В тайгу
- Владимир Высоцкий – В Средней Азии безобразие
- Владислав Ходасевич – Опять во тьме. У наших ног
- Владислав Ходасевич – Окна во двор
- Владислав Ходасевич – Обо всем в одних стихах не скажешь
- Владислав Ходасевич – О, если б в этот час желанного покоя
- Владислав Ходасевич – Новый год
- Владислав Ходасевич – Ночь
- Владислав Ходасевич – Ни розового сада
- Владислав Ходасевич – Нет, не шотландской королевой
- Владислав Ходасевич – Нет, молодость, ты мне была верна
- Яков Полонский – Диссонанс
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.