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:
- Casualty by Winifred Mary Letts
- Counting Sheep by Russell Edson
- Growth: for Allen Qing Yuan by Mike Yuan
- Вера Павлова – Они влюблены и счастливы
- The Friend by Marge Piercy
- Николай Заболоцкий – В этой роще березовой
- Tim Turpin by Thomas Hood
- The Winds Out of the West Land Blow poem – A. E. Housman
- Images by Mary Etta Metcalf
- The Soul of the City Receives the Gift of the Holy Spirit by Vachel Lindsay
- Владимир Маяковский – Венера Милосская и Вячеслав Полонский
- Bishop Blougram’s Apology by Robert Browning
- Владимир Набоков – Осень
- Snapshots Of A Daughter In Law
- Алексей Толстой – Ты не спрашивай, не распытывай
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
- Robert Burns: There Was A Bonie Lass:
- Robert Burns: Inscription At Friars’ Carse Hermitage: To the Memory of Robert Riddell.
- Robert Burns: Bonie Peg-a-Ramsay:
- Robert Burns: Epigram On Mr. James Gracie:
- Robert Burns: Epitaph For Mr. Gabriel Richardson:
- Robert Burns: Apology For Declining An Invitation To Dine:
- Robert Burns: Jerusalem Tavern, Dumfries.: Inscription On A Goblet
- Robert Burns: Compliments Of John Syme Of Ryedale: Lines sent with a Present of a Dozen of Porter.
- Robert Burns: The Solemn League And Covenant:
- Robert Burns: Craigieburn Wood:
- Robert Burns: A Man’s A Man For A’ That:
- Robert Burns: For The Sake O’ Somebody:
- Robert Burns: The Tear-Drop:
- Robert Burns: My Nanie’s Awa:
- Robert Burns: Canst Thou Leave Me Thus, My Katie:
- Robert Burns: Farewell Thou Stream:
- Robert Burns: Contented Wi’ Little And Cantie Wi’ Mair:
- Robert Burns: Philly And Willy:
- Robert Burns: Lassie Wi’ The Lint-White Locks:
- Robert Burns: The Charming Month Of May:
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.