A poem by Aeschylus (c. 525 – c. 456 Before Christ )
A GLEAM – a gleam – from Ida’s height,
By the Fire-god sent, it came;
From watch to watch it leapt, that light,
As a rider rode the flame!
It shot through the startled sky,
And the torch of that blazing glory
Old Lemnos caught on high,
On its holy promontory,
And sent it on, the jocund sign,
To Athos, Mount of Jove divine.
Wildly the while, it rose from the isle,
So that the might of the journeying Light
Skimmed over the back of the gleaming brine!
Farther and faster speeds it on,
Till the watch that keeps Macistus steep
See it burst like a blazing Sun!
Doth Macistus sleep
On his tower-clad steep?
No! rapid and red doth the wild fire sweep;
It flashes afar on the wayward stream
Of the wild Euripus, the rushing beam!
It rouses the light on Messapion’s height,
And they feed its breath with the withered heath.
But it may not stay!
And away – away –
It bounds in its freshening might.
Silent and soon,
Like a broadened moon,
It passes in sheen, Asopus green,
And bursts on Cithaeron gray!
The warder wakes to the Signal-rays,
And it swoops from the hill with a broader blaze.
On, on the fiery Glory rode;
Thy lonely lake, Gorgopis, glowed!
To Megara’s Mount it came;
They feed it again
And it streams amain-
A giant beard of Flame!
The headland cliffs that darkly down
O’er the Saronic waters frown,
Are passed with the Swift One’s lurid stride,
And the huge rock glares on the glaring tide.
With mightier march and fiercer power
It gained Arachne’s neighboring tower;
Thence on our Argive roof its rest it won,
Of Ida’s fire the long-descended Son!
Bright Harbinger of glory and of joy!
So first and last with equal honor crowned,
In solemn feasts the race-torch circles round. –
And these my heralds! – this my SIGN OF PEACE;
Lo! while we breathe, the victor lords of Greece
Stalk, in stern tumult, through the halls of Troy!
A few random poems:
- Olney Hymn 34: The Waiting Soul by William Cowper
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не бывает кораблей без названия
- Sporting Acquaintances by Siegfried Sassoon
- Василий Курочкин – Юмористическим чутьем
- Monody on a Lady, famed for her Caprice by Robert Burns
- Parting Words by Rabindranath Tagore
- These Green-Going-to-Yellow by Marvin Bell
- The Blues by William Matthews
- Владимир Корнилов – Женщины
- К нам приходит в день февральский снежною тропой
- a laugh song by Raj Arumugam
- Strumpet Song by Sylvia Plath
- Robert Burns: The Lover’s Morning Salute To His Mistress:
- The Rice Was Under Water
- Endymion: Book IV poem – John Keats poems
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
- To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor by Phillis Wheatley
- To Captain H—–d, of the 65th Regiment by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Lady On The Death Of The Three Relations by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Lady On The Death Of Her Husband by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady on Her Remarkable Preservation by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady on Her Coming to North-America by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Lady and Her Children by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Gentleman on His Voyage to Great-Britain by Phillis Wheatley
- To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister by Phillis Wheatley
- To A Clergyman On The Death Of His Lady by Phillis Wheatley
- Thoughts On The Works Of Providence by Phillis Wheatley
- One Being Brought From Africa To America by Phillis Wheatley
- On Virtue by Phillis Wheatley
- On the Death of the Rev. Dr. Sewell by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of Rev. Mr. George Whitefield by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of J. C. An Infant by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of Dr. Samuel Marshall by Phillis Wheatley
- On The Death Of A Young Lady Of Five Years Of Age by Phillis Wheatley
- On the Death of a Young Gentleman by Phillis Wheatley
- On Recollection by Phillis Wheatley
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

Aeschylus (525 Before Christ to 456 B.C.) was an ancient Greek author of Greek tragedy, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academics’ knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is largely based on inferences made from reading his surviving plays. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in the theatre and allowed conflict among them.