A poem by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012)
Thinking of Caroline Herschel (1750-1848),
astronomer, sister of William; and others.
A woman in the shape of a monster
a monster in the shape of a woman
the skies are full of them
a woman ‘in the snow
among the Clocks and instruments
or measuring the ground with poles’
in her 98 years to discover
8 comets
She whom the moon ruled
like us
levitating into the night sky
riding the polished lenses
Galaxies of women, there
doing penance for impetuousness
ribs chilled
in those spaces of the mind
An eye,
‘virile, precise and absolutely certain’
from the mad webs of Uranusborg
encountering the NOVA
every impulse of light exploding
from the core
as life flies out of us
Tycho whispering at last
‘Let me not seem to have lived in vain’
What we see, we see
and seeing is changing
the light that shrivels a mountain
and leaves a man alive
Heartbeat of the pulsar
heart sweating through my body
The radio impulse
pouring in from Taurus
I am bombarded yet I stand
I have been standing all my life in the
direct path of a battery of signals
the most accurately transmitted most
untranslatable language in the universe
I am a galactic cloud so deep so invo-
luted that a light wave could take 15
years to travel through me And has
taken I am an instrument in the shape
of a woman trying to translate pulsations
into images for the relief of the body
and the reconstruction of the mind.
A few random poems:
- Robert Burns: Lines To Mr. John Kennedy:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Живёт на свете человек
- Вера Павлова – Вопрос ребра
- The Princess: A Medley: As thro’ the land poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Shame
- Юлия Друнина – Ржавчина
- Lady Clare poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Impromptu, to Lady Winchelsea poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Robert Burns: Poor Mailie’s Elegy:
- On Tam the Chapman by Robert Burns
- Lines on Meeting with Lord Daer by Robert Burns
- If Only
- Михаил Ломоносов – Богиня, дщерь божеств, науки основавших
- Earliest Spring by William Dean Howells
- Владимир Маяковский – Проч руки от Китая
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
- Moonlight On The Door by William Barnes
- Me’th Below The Tree by William Barnes
- Meary-Ann’s Child by William Barnes
- Meaken Up A Miff by William Barnes
- Meäry’s Smile by William Barnes
- Meäry Wedded by William Barnes
- Martin’s Tide by William Barnes
- Married Peäir’s Love Walk by William Barnes
- Looks A-Know’d Avore by William Barnes
- Linda Deäne by William Barnes
- Light Or Sheäde by William Barnes
- Leaves A-Vallèn by William Barnes
- Leady-Day, An’ Ridden House by William Barnes
- Keepen Up O’ Chris’mas by William Barnes
- John Bloom In Lon’on by William Barnes
- John Bleäke At Hwome At Night by William Barnes
- Jeane’s Wedden Day In Mornen by William Barnes
- In The Stilness O’ The Night by William Barnes
- I’m Out O’ Door by William Barnes
- Hope In Spring by William Barnes
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

Adrienne Cecile Rich (1929 – 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and feminist.