A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)
I have sought Happiness, but it has been
A lovely rainbow, baffling all pursuit,
And tasted Pleasure, but it was a fruit
More fair of outward hue than sweet within.
Renouncing both, a flake in the ferment
Of battling hosts that conquer or recoil,
There only, chastened by fatigue and toil,
I knew what came the nearest to content.
For there at least my troubled flesh was free
From the gadfly Desire that plagued it so;
Discord and Strife were what I used to know,
Heartaches, deception, murderous jealousy;
By War transported far from all of these,
Amid the clash of arms I was at peace.
A few random poems:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не возьмут и невзгоды в крутой оборот…
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Роза и дева
- Sonnet. Why Did I Laugh Tonight? poem – John Keats poems
- And ask ye why these sad tears stream? poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Book Ends by Tony Harrison
- Are You There? by W H Auden
- A Lover To His Mistress by William Strode
- Василий Жуковский – Торжество победителей
- Владимир Набоков – Еще безмолвствую и крепну я в тиши
- Sonet 55 by William Alexander
- from The Cave of Making by W H Auden
- Иван Крылов – Ода, выбранная из псалма 71-го
- Feelings Of The Tyrolese by William Wordsworth
- Incense by Vachel Lindsay
- Spilt Milk by William Butler Yeats
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
- Bereavement by William Lisle Bowles
- Beautiful Aberfoyle by William Topaz McGonagall
- Balmoral Castle by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Ode in Time of Hesitation by William Vaughn Moody
- An Excursion Steamer Sunk in the Tay by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Address to the New Tay Bridge by William Topaz McGonagall
- An Address to Shakespeare by William Topaz McGonagall
- All Kinds by William Wright Harris
- A Welcome by William Browne
- A Soldier’s Reprieve by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Requisition to the Queen by William Topaz McGonagall
- A Poetry Reading At West Point by William Matthews
- A Grey Day by William Vaughn Moody
- I see the Four-fold Man by William Blake
- An Imitation of Spenser by William Blake
- Gwin King of Norway by William Blake
- Intorduction to the Songs of Experience by William Blake
- Fair Elanor by William Blake
- England! awake! awake! awake! by William Blake
- I Rose Up at the Dawn of Day by William Blake
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 Seeger (1888-1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist and musicologist and the uncle of folk musician, Pete Seeger.