Tentanda via est, etc.
What shall I do to be forever known,
And make the age to come my own?
I shall like beasts or common people die,
Unless you write my elegy;
Whilst others great by being born are grown,
Their mothers’ labor, not their own.
In this scale gold, in th’other fame does lie,
The weight of that mounts this so high.
These men are fortune’s jewels, molded bright,
Brought forth with their own fire and light;
If I her vulgar stone, for either look,
Out of myself it must be strook.
Yet I must on : what sound is’t strikes mine ear?
Sure I Fame’s trumpet hear;
It sounds like the last trumpet, for it can
Raise up the buried man.
Unpassed Alps stop me, but I’ll cut through all,
And march, the Muses’ Hannibal.
Hence, all the flattering vanities that lay
Nets of roses in the way;
Hence, the desire of honors or estate
And all that is not above fate;
Hence, Love himself, the tyrant of my days,
Which intercepts my coming praise.
Come, my best friends, my books, and lead me on:
‘Tis time that I were gone.
Welcome, great Stagirite, and teach me now
All I was born to know;
Thy scholar’s vict’ries thou dost far outdo,
He conquered th’earth, the whole world you.
Welcome, learn’d Cicero, whose blest tongue and wit
Preserve Rome’s greatness yet:
Thou art the first of orators; only he
Who best can praise thee, next must be.
Welcome the Mantuan swan, Vergil the wise,
Whose verse walks highest, but not flies;
Who brought green poesy to her perfect age,
And made that art which was a rage.
Tell me, ye mighty three, what shall I do
To be like one of you?
But you have climbed the mountain’s top, there sit
On the calm flour’shing head of it,
And whilst with wearied steps we upward go,
See us and clouds below.
A few random poems:
- Battle Stars
- Broken Love by Talha Jafri
- A Brook in the City by Robert Frost
- Василий Жуковский – К Дмитриеву (Нет, не прошла)
- Владислав Ходасевич – Нет, молодость, ты мне была верна
- Where Are You?
- For The Country by Philip Levine
- Hound Voice by William Butler Yeats
- A Petition poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- In Honour of the City of London by William Dunbar
- I have been tricked by flying too close by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Song—The Fall of the Leaf by Robert Burns
- “My soul is sunk in all–suffusing shame” poem – Alfred Austin
- Orlando Furioso Canto 8 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Иван Варавва – Соловей на веточке
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
- The Hedger by William Barnes
- The Heäre by William Barnes
- The Guide Post by William Barnes
- The Girt Wold House O’ Mossy Stwone by William Barnes
- The Giants In Treädes by William Barnes
- The Flood In Spring by William Barnes
- The Farmer’s Woldest D’ter by William Barnes
- The Fancy Feäir At Maïden Newton by William Barnes
- The Fall by William Barnes
- The Evenèn Star O’ Zummer by William Barnes
- The Echo by William Barnes
- The Dree Woaks by William Barnes
- The Drèven O’ The Common by William Barnes
- The Do’set Militia by William Barnes
- The Common A-Took In by William Barnes
- The Clote (Water-Lily) by William Barnes
- The Church An’ Happy Zunday by William Barnes
- The Child’s Greäve by William Barnes
- The Child an’ the Mowers by William Barnes
- The Castle Ruins 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

Abraham Cowley (1618 – 1667), the Royalist Poet.Poet and essayist Abraham Cowley was born in London, England, in 1618. He displayed early talent as a poet, publishing his first collection of poetry, Poetical Blossoms (1633), at the age of 15. Cowley studied at Cambridge University but was stripped of his Cambridge fellowship during the English Civil War and expelled for refusing to sign the Solemn League and Covenant of 1644. In turn, he accompanied Queen Henrietta Maria to France, where he spent 12 years in exile, serving as her secretary. During this time, Cowley completed The Mistress (1647). Arguably his most famous work, the collection exemplifies Cowley’s metaphysical style of love poetry. After the Restoration, Cowley returned to England, where he was reinstated as a Cambridge fellow and earned his MD before finally retiring to the English countryside. He is buried at Westminster Abbey alongside Geoffrey Chaucer and Edmund Spenser. Cowley is a wonderful poet and an outstanding representative of the English baroque.