Oh, Masters, you who rule the world,
Will you not wait with me awhile,
When swords are sheathed and sails are furled,
And all the fields with harvest smile?
I would not waste your time for long,
I ask you but, when you are tired,
To read how by the weak, the strong
Are weighed and worshipped and desired.
When weary of the Mart, the Loom,
The Withering-house, the Riffle-blocks,
The Barrack-square, the Engine-room,
The pick-axe, ringing on the rocks,–
When tents are pitched and work is done,
While restful twilight broods above,
By fresh-lit lamp, or dying sun,
See in my songs how women love.
We shared your lonely watch by night,
We knew you faithful at the helm,
Our thoughts went with you through the fight,
That saved a soul,–or wrecked a realm
Ah, how our hearts leapt forth to you,
In pride and joy, when you prevailed,
And when you died, serene and true:
–We wept in silence when you failed!
Oh, brain that did not gain the gold!
Oh, arm, that could not wield the sword,
Here is the love, that is not sold,
Here are the hearts to hail you Lord!
You played and lost the game? What then?
The rules are harsh and hard we know,
You, still, Oh, brothers, are the men
Whom we in secret reverence so.
Your work was waste? Maybe your share
Lay in the hour you laughed and kissed;
Who knows but what your son shall wear
The laurels that his father missed?
Ay, you who win, and you who lose,
Whether you triumph,–or despair,–
When your returning footsteps choose
The homeward track, our love is there.
For, since the world is ordered thus,
To you the fame, the stress, the sword,
We can but wait, until to us
You give yourselves, for our reward.
To Whaler’s deck and Coral beach,
To lonely Ranch and Frontier-Fort,
Beyond the narrow bounds of speech
I lay the cable of my thought.
I fain would send my thanks to you,
(Though who am I, to give you praise?)
Since what you are, and work you do,
Are lessons for our easier ways.
‘Neath alien stars your camp-fires glow,
I know you not,–your tents are far.
My hope is but in song to show,
How honoured and dear you are.
A few random poems:
- A Sign-Seeker by Thomas Hardy
- The Stranger poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- Sonnet 46: Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Высоцкий – Про королевское шествие
- Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den at Hamilton Palace by William Wordsworth
- In Christ there is No East Or West by John Oxenham
- Solitudes by Satish Verma
- Нина Воронель – Поэты военных лет
- The Wishing-Caps by Rudyard Kipling
- Climbing poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Василий Жуковский – Торжество победителей
- Яков Полонский – Откуда
- Vietnam Vet befriends an immigrant in Pittsburgh, Pa – ( let’s put it that way ) by Vasil Slavov
- I Hoed and Trenched and Weeded poem – A. E. Housman
- There is a Candle in your Heart by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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
- I am only the house of your beloved by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- I am only the house of your beloved by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- I am a sculptor, a molder of form by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- How Long by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ghazal of Rumi by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ghazal of Rumi by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ghazal 314 by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Ghazal 119 by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Every day I bear a burden by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Every day I bear a burden by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Did I Not Say To You by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Description of Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Confused and Distraught by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Come, Come, Whoever You Are by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Bring Wine by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Book1 Prologue by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Birdsong by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Because I Cannot Sleep by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Be With Those Who Help Your Being by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Be Lost In The Call by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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.