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:
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
- Moon, I hear you are moving away by Raj Arumugam
- Risus Dei by Thomas Edward Brown
- Summer – The Second Pastoral; or Alexis poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Владимир Высоцкий – Наводчица
- Andromeda poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Translations Dante Inferno Canto Xxvi
- Вера Звягинцева – А если ты любишь не можешь
- My arm for a pillow by Yosa Buson
- was it you, mooon? by Raj Arumugam
- Олег Григорьев – Люди
- My Heart Is Heavy by Sara Teasdale
- Вероника Тушнова – Мать
- Владимир Гиляровский – На Севере
- Don’t Hang Up The Phone by Miraj Patel
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 Mystic Isle by Rainbow Reed
- Spiritual Memories of Mother by Raj Napal
- Primrose Rose by Rainbow Reed
- Prayers by Rainbow Reed
- This by Ralph Angel
- Man in a Window by Ralph Angel
- Breaking and Entering by Ralph Angel
- Online Lover by Rainbow Reed
- One Day You Will Miss Me.. by Rahul S
- Of Love and All by Raja Mannar
- Mother Teresa by Raj Napal
- Mother by Sachin Yadav (Pen Name: Rahul Nachhiketa)
- Journey with God by Raj Napal
- It Takes a While to Disappear by Ralph Angel
- In Every Direction by Ralph Angel
- I Thank You, Mum by Raj Napal
- Hope for a New World by Raj Napal
- God Cut the Cord by Raj Napal
- Even Because by Ralph Angel
- Dinner Date by Rainbow Reed
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.