A poem by Alexander Block – Alexandre Block – Alexandr Blok – Александр Блок
(1880-1921)
The river stretched. It flows, idly grieves,
And washes both banks.
In steppe, above light clay of cliffs
Rinks mourn in ranks.
O Russia! Dear wife! With clearness and pain
We see the lengthy way!
It sent an arrow of ancient Tartar reign;
In breast it lay.
The way through steppes and an incessant plight,
Through your, o Russia, lot!
And alien dark and dark of night
I fear not.
Let be the night. We’ll ride and light in gloom
Camp-fires late.
The holy flag will flash in fume,
And Khan’s steel blade …
And endless battle! We only dream of peace
Through blood and dust …
The mare of steppes flies on and flees,
And tramples the grass …
There’s no end! The miles and cliffs flash past
Stop crazy flood!
The frightened clouds go fast,
Sun sets in blood!
Sun sets in blood! Blood streams from heart away!
O cry, my heart …
There’s no peace! Through steppe the bay
Prolongs the flight!

A few random poems:
- What the Miner in the Desert Said by Vachel Lindsay
- A Fact, And An Imagination, Or, Canute And Alfred, On The Seashore by William Wordsworth
- Владимир Костров – Романс
- The Morning Breeze by Mousumi Guha Roy
- Николай Огарев – Свисти ты, о ветер, с бессонною силой
- Laila and the Khalifa by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Robert Burns: Ode For General Washington’s Birthday :
- Twas’ the Night Before Christmas and Santa got Drunk by Margaret Marie Hubbard
- A Father Out, An’ Mother Hwome by William Barnes
- Epitaph on Holy Willie by Robert Burns
- Intruder
- In Sutton Woods poem – Alfred Austin
- Николай Языков – А. И. Готовцевой (Влюблен я, дева-красота)
- Robert Burns: O Steer Her Up An’ Haud Her Gaun:
- Ольга Берггольц – Тост
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 Buried Train by Robert Bly
- The Defunct Drugstore by Robert Lloyd Jaffe
- The Apple Trees at Olema by Robert Hass
- Snowbanks North of the House by Robert Bly
- Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos
- Often I Am Permitted to Return to a Meadow by Robert Duncan
- No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos
- Need by Robert Lloyd Jaffe
- My Mother Would Be a Falconress by Robert Duncan
- Misery And Splendor by Robert Hass
- Lying Down by Robert Desnos
- Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos
- Iowa City: Early April by Robert Hass
- Interrupted Meditation by Robert Hass
- If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos
- Identity of Images by Robert Desnos
- I Have Dreamed of You so Much by Robert Desnos
- Heroic Simile by Robert Hass
- Fairy Tale by Robert Desnos
- Dove in the Arch by Robert Desnos
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
Alexander Blok (1880-1921), also Block, was a Russian poet, writer, publicist, playwright, translator and literary critic. A classic of Russian literature.