The First Wife

A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)

Ah, my lord, are the tidings true,

That thy mother’s jewels are shapen anew?

I hear that a bride has chosen been,

The stars consulted, the parents seen.

Had I been childless, had never there smiled

The brilliant eyes from the face of a child,

Then at least I had understood

This thing they tell me thou findest good.

But I have been down to the River of Death,

With painful footsteps and shuddering breath,

Seven times; thou hast daughters three,

And four young sons who are fair as thee.

I am not unlovely, over my head

Not twenty summers as yet have sped.

‘T is eleven years since my opening life

Was given to thee by my father’s wife.

Ah, those days–They were lovely to me,

When little and shy I waited for thee.

Till I locked my arms round my lover above,

A child in form but a woman in love.

And I bore thy sons, as a woman should,

Year by year, as is meet and good.

Thy mother was ever content with me–

And Oh, Beloved, I worshipped thee!

And now it’s over; alas, my lord,

Better I felt thy sharpest sword.

I hear she is youthful and fair as I

When I came to thee in the days gone by.

Her breasts are firmer; this bosom slips

Somewhat, weighted by children’s lips.

But they were thy children. Oh, lord my king,

Ah, why hast thy heart devised this thing ?

I am not as the women of this thy land,

Meek and timid, broken to hand.

From the distant North I was given to thee,

Whose daughters are passionate, fierce and free,

I could not dwell by a rival’s side,

I seek a bridegroom, as thou a bride.

The night she yieldeth her youth to thee,

Death shall take his pleasure in me.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random 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 

• Борис Заходер – Про пана Трулялинского by Борис Заходер
• Валерий Брюсов – Е.Т. (Кто глаза ее оправил) by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Дворец любви by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Две вазы by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Две испанских песенки by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Двадцать лет назад ты умерла by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Два мака by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Дрожащие листья на бледные щеки by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Дозор by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Дождь перед ночью by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Дождь by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Голос города (Ру-ру, ру-ру, трах, рк-ру-ру) by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Годы в былом by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Гнутся высокие лотосы by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Глупое сердце, о чем же печалиться by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Гимн Нилу by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Гимн Атону by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Гимн Афродите by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Гесперидовы сады by Валерий Брюсов
• Валерий Брюсов – Германия (отрывки) by Валерий Брюсов

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works