A poem by Alan Dugan
Because of the unaccountable spirit of the troops
oh we were marched as we were never marched before
and flanked them off from home. Stupid Meade
was after them, head on to tail, but we convinced
him, finally, to flank, flank, cut off their head.
He finally understood, the idiot, and got a fort
named after him, for wisdom. He probably thought
Lee would conquer Washington from Appomattox
if he, Meade, should march his infantry behind
him, Lee. Ah well, the unaccountable spirit of the troops
triumphed, Meade got his fort, Grant got his presidency,
Sherman got his motto, what was it? War is heck?, Lee got a military school
for the education of young Southern gentlemen, and the Union
Army was taken over by Southern noncommissioned officers
in the wars against the Indians to the west. I know all
about this, I know who won, I served under them
for three hundred and fifty years in World War II,
just long enough not to be called a rookie but a veteran,
and realized the rank and order of my enemies:
first, the West Point officers; second, the red-neck sergeants;
third, the Nazis and perhaps the Japanese. I won
all of these wars as a private soldier, for a while,
and am happy to have done so: without me
Hitler and Hirohito would he ruling the world
instead of America and Russia, but I still will not
drive through Georgia with New York license plates.
A few random poems:
- Magi by Sylvia Plath
- Fifth Grade Autobiography by Rita Dove
- Владимир Маяковский – Солнечный флаг
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 06 – part 05 by Torquato Tasso
- AN EPITAPH UPON A CHILD by Robert Herrick
- Pegasus at Wanlockhead by Robert Burns
- Presences by William Butler Yeats
- Владимир Маяковский – Размышления у парадного подъезда
- Air Of Diabelli’s by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Spenserian Stanzas On Charles Armitage Brown poem – John Keats poems
- When I’m among a Blaze of Lights by Siegfried Sassoon
- And you love me by Stephen Crane
- Yarrow Revisited by William Wordsworth
- To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant
- Альфред де Мюссе – Что так усиленно сердце больное
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
- God Neither Known Nor Loved By The World by William Cowper
- Glory To God Alone by William Cowper
- From The Greek Of Julianus by William Cowper
- From Menander by William Cowper
- Epitaph On Mrs. M. Higgins, Of Weston by William Cowper
- Epitaph On Johnson by William Cowper
- Epitaph On Fop, A Dog Belonging To Lady Throckmorton by William Cowper
- Epitaph On A Free But Tame Redbreast, A Favourite Of Miss Sally Hurdis by William Cowper
- Epitaph On Mr. Chester Of Chicheley by William Cowper
- Epigram : To Leonora Singing At Rome (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Epigram : To Christina, Queen Of Sweden, With Cromwell’s Picture (Translation) by William Cowper
- Epigram : The Cottager And His Landlord. A Fable (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Epigram : On The Inventor Of Gunpowder (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Epigram : To Leonora Singing At Rome 2 (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy VII. Anno Aetates Undevigesimo (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy VI. To Charles Diodati, When He Was Visiting In The Country (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy V. Anno Aet. 20. On The Approach Of Spring (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy III. Anno Aet. 17. On The Death Of The Bishop Of Winchester (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy II. On The Death Of The University Beadle At Cambridge (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Elegy I. To Charles Deodati (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
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

Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.