A poem by Aldous Huxley (1894 – 1963)
In the middle of countries, far from hills and sea,
Are the little places one passes by in trains
And never stops at; where the skies extend
Uninterrupted, and the level plains
Stretch green and yellow and green without an end.
And behind the glass of their Grand Express
Folk yawn away a province through,
With nothing to think of, nothing to do,
Nothing even to look at–never a “view”
In this damned wilderness.
But I look out of the window and find
Much to satisfy the mind.
Mark how the furrows, formed and wheeled
In a motion orderly and staid,
Sweep, as we pass, across the field
Like a drilled army on parade.
And here’s a market-garden, barred
With stripe on stripe of varied greens …
Bright potatoes, flower starred,
And the opacous colour of beans.
Each line deliberately swings
Towards me, till I see a straight
Green avenue to the heart of things,
The glimpse of a sudden opened gate
Piercing the adverse walls of fate …
A moment only, and then, fast, fast,
The gate swings to, the avenue closes;
Fate laughs, and once more interposes
Its barriers.
The train has passed.
A few random poems:
- Владимир Британишский – В нашем вновь обретенном ленинградском доме
- Владимир Маяковский – Смотри, шахтер! (РОСТА №894)
- By Moschus by William Cowper
- The Discovery of the Kama Sutra by Raj Arumugam
- The Young British Soldier by Rudyard Kipling
- The Nearness That Is All by Samuel Hazo
- The Gardener XI: Come As You Are by Rabindranath Tagore
- Robert Burns: Saw Ye My Dear, My Philly:
- The Sea and the Shadow by Paul Blackburn
- Владимир Маяковский – Весна (Город зимнее снял)
- In Answer to a Request poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Robert Burns: How Long And Dreary Is The Night :
- On The Way To The Bottom by Shel Silverstein
- The Stones by Sylvia Plath
- Федор Сологуб – Лиловато-розовый закат
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
- Иван Бунин – Не видно птиц
- Иван Бунин – За рекой луга зазеленели
- Иван Бунин – Надпись на могильной плите
- Иван Бунин – Богиня
- Иван Бунин – Безнадежность
- Иван Бунин – Беру твою руку и долго смотрю
- Иван Бунин – Балагула
- Иван Бунин – Апрель
- Иван Бунин – Алёнушка
- Иван Бунин – Пустыня, грусть в степных просторах
- Иван Барков – Выбор
- Иван Барков – Вопрос без ответу
- Иван Барков – Венерино оружие
- Иван Барков – Улика подьячего
- Иван Барков – Торжественным воротам
- Иван Барков – Стихи с матом без цензуры: читать матерные нецензурные стихотворения Баркова – Poetry Monster
- Исикава Такубоку – Дом
- Ирина Токмакова – Каша
- Иосиф Бродский – Бюст Тиберия
- Иосиф Бродский – Буров тракторист
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

Alcaeus of Mytilene ( c. 625/620 – c. 580 Before Christ) ] was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos who is credited with inventing the Alcaic stanza. He was included in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria.