A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
I.
To one fair lady out of Court,
And two fair ladies in,
Who think the Turk and Pope a sport,
And wit and love no sin!
Come, these soft lines, with nothing stiff in,
To Bellenden, Lepell, and Griffin.
With a fa, la, la.
II.
What passes in the dark third row,
And what behind the scene,
Couches and crippled chairs I know,
And garrets hung with green;
I know the swing of sinful hack,
Where many damsels cry alack.
With a fa, la, la.
III.
Then why to Courts should I repair,
Where’s such ado with Townsend?
To hear each mortal stamp and swear,
And every speech with “Zounds” end;
To hear them rail at honest Sunderland,
And rashly blame the realm of Blunderland.
With a fa, la, la.
IV.
Alas! like Schutz I cannot pun,
Like Grafton court the Germans;
Tell Pickenbourg how slim she’s grown,
Like Meadows run to sermons;
To court ambitious men may roam,
But I and Marlbro’ stay at home.
With a fa, la, la.
V.
In truth, by what I can discern,
Of courtiers, ‘twixt you three,
Some wit you have, and more may learn
From Court, than Gay or Me:
Perhaps, in time, you’ll leave high diet,
To sup with us on milk and quiet.
With a fa, la, la.
VI.
At Leicester Fields, a house full nigh,
With door all painted green,
(A Milliner, I mean);
There may you meet us three to three,
For Gay can well make two of Me.
With a fa, la, la.
VII.
But should you catch the prudish itch,
And each become a coward,
Bring sometimes with you lady Rich,
And sometimes mistress Howard;
For virgins, to keep chaste, must go
Abroad with such as are not so.
With a fa, la, la.
VIII.
And thus, fair maids, my ballad ends;
God send the king safe landing;
And make all honest ladies friends
To armies that are standing;
Preserve the limits of those nations,
And take off ladies’ limitations.
With a fa, la, la.
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- Sparkles from The Wheel. by Walt Whitman
- Doomsday by Sylvia Plath
- How We Heard The Name
- By Garpal Stream by Stanley Wilkin
- Chosen by William Butler Yeats
- Федор Сологуб – Слепой судьбе противореча
- Robert Burns: The Braes O’ Killiecrankie:
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Напоминание
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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
- Виктор Гюго – Без книги в мире ночь и ум людской убог
- Виктор Гусев – Сестра
- Виктор Гусев – Песня о Москве
- Виктор Гусев – Октябрьский смотр
- Виктор Гончаров – Скоро, скоро я домой поеду
- Виктор Гончаров – Прощайте, спасибо
- Виктор Гончаров – Опять пришла пора дождей
- Виктор Гончаров – Не знаю, что делать с душою
- Виктор Гончаров – Когда тебя бессонной ночью
- Виктор Гончаров – Дождь
- Виктор Гончаров – Больной, как будто бы гранату
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Чатырдаг
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Буря и тишь
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Борьба
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Богач
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Близ берегов
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Благодарю Вас за цветы
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бивак
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бездна
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бегун морей дорогою безбрежной
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
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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 Pope (1688 – 1744) was a a post-Restoration English poet and satirist. He is a poet of the (British) Augustan period and one of its greatest artistic exponents.