The Old Maids Story

Ay, many and many a year’s gone by,

Since the dawn of that day in spring,

When we met in the pine-woods, Harry and I,

And he gave me this golden ring.

I had lovers in plenty, of high degree,

Who wooed in my father’s hall;

But none were so noble and brave as he,

Though he was the scorn’d of all.

On the soft, green grass, where the shadows lay,

All fleck’d with the sun and dew,

With a ring and a kiss did we seal, that day,

Our vow to be leal and true.

‘Twas a life-long vow;-but they did not know-

And they thought not of love or pain;-

We met just once in the sleet and snow-

We were never to meet again!

He was sent away o’er the blank, wide sea,

And I, with my hopes and fears,

Had never a message to comfort me

For over a score of years.

They laugh’d at my heart, they paraded my hand,

But I answer’d them, cold and grim-

“If Harry ne’er comes to his native land,

They shall only belong to him.”

At last came a tale from the battle-field;-

And they were not scornful now.

The sentence of exile might be repealed-

They would honour our plighted vow!

They told how my Harry, like olden knights,

Had fought for his land and Queen;

Fought hard and well on the Alma heights,

Where the deadliest strife was seen.

They told how he fell in the fire and smoke,

And they gave me his things to keep;

They wonder’d why I never cried or spoke,-

But it was too late to weep.

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 

• Николай Гумилев – Какое отравное зелье by Николай Гумилев
• Николай Гумилев – Как труп, бессилен небосклон by Николай Гумилев
• Николай Гумилев – Избиение женихов by Николай Гумилев
• Николай Глазков – Размышленья by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Раздумья by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Рассчитывая на успех by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Пятнадцать лет спустя by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Пусть будет эта повесть by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Про пожары by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Про чертей by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Последний зимний by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Пошел тропой by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Покуда карты не раскрыты by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Поэзия! Ты не потерпишь фальши by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Поэтоград by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Подражание by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Почему я отказался от самолёта by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Эрмитаж by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Эпилог by Николай Глазков
• Николай Глазков – Движутся телеги и калеки by Николай Глазков

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