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:
- Under The Round Tower by William Butler Yeats
- A Song at Weicheng. by Wang Wei
- Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire by Robert Burns
- Two Sisters Of Persephone by Sylvia Plath
- A Sea-Shore Grave. To M. J. L. by Sidney Lanier
- To England At The Outbreak Of The Balkan War
- Владимир Маяковский – Спросили раз меня: “Вы любите ли НЭП?”
- Владимир Британишский – Старая Рига
- Elegy V. Anno Aet. 20. On The Approach Of Spring (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Robert Burns: Holy Willie’s Prayer: “And send the godly in a pet to pray.” – Pope.
- Future Verdict
- The Caucas poem – Alexander Pushkin
- “`Know, Nature, like the cuckoo, laughs at law” poem – Alfred Austin
- ‘Out, Out–‘ by Robert Frost
- Telescope by Mark R Slaughter
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
- Ольга Берггольц – Слышала, приедешь к нам не скоро ты
- Ольга Берггольц – Синеглазый мальчик, синеглазый
- Ольга Берггольц – Сибиринка
- Ольга Берггольц – Сестре
- Ольга Берггольц – Родине
- Ольга Берггольц – Разговор с соседкой
- Ольга Берггольц – Простите бедность этих строк
- Ольга Берггольц – Придешь, как приходят слепые
- Ольга Берггольц – Потеряла я вечером слово
- Ольга Берггольц – Порука
- Ольга Берггольц – Полуночная
- Ольга Берггольц – Покуда небо сумрачное меркнет
- Ольга Берггольц – Подбирают фомки и отмычки
- Ольга Берггольц – Письмо из Ленинграда
- Ольга Берггольц – Песня о жене патриота
- Ольга Берггольц – Песня о ленинградской матери
- Ольга Берггольц – Песня дочери
- Ольга Берггольц – Первое письмо на Каму
- Ольга Берггольц – Пахнет соснами, гарью, тленьем
- Ольга Берггольц – Память (Всей земною горечью и болью)
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.