And must I wear a silken life,
Hemmed in by city walls?
And must I give my garden up
For theatres and balls?
Nay, though the cage be made of gold,
‘Tis better to be free;
The green of the green meadows, love,
Is quite enough for me.
I’d rather ramble through the lanes
Than drive about in town;
I’d rather muse or dream than dance,
When the stars are shining down.
I do not care for diamonds, dear,
But I care a deal for flowers;
And thousands are just creeping out
For the sunshine and the showers.
I like to hear the Household band,
But I love the bird-songs best;
And hark! how they are twittering now
Round each half-hidden nest!
The wind is whispering in the leaves,
And the downy bees begin
To hum in the blossoming sycamores,
And the brook is chiming in.
There is such melody in the woods,
Such music in the air!
The streets are full of life and sound,
And yet ’tis silent there.
I like to see the pictures-ay,
But I am hard to please!
I never saw a picture yet
As great and grand as these;
Such tones of colour as transform
The tender green and brown,
When the pink dawn is flushing up,
Or the red sun sinking down;
Such painting as the chestnut bud
Shows in its opening heart;
Such lights as shine ‘twixt earth and sky
When rain-clouds break apart;
Such soft, warm, subtle tints, as lie
In every mossy patch-
On the blue-brown trunks, now filled with life,
And the humble roof of thatch,-
In the purple hollows of the hills,
In the lichen on the wall,
In the orchard and the feathery woods,
And the sun-lit waterfall.
I like my humble country ways,
My simple, early meals;
I like to potter about the yard,
With my chickens at my heels.
I’d rather climb this brambly steep,
Where freshest sea-winds blow,
With my old straw hat hanging down my back.
Than canter along the Row.
To me (it’s vulgar, dear, I know)
No fête is half so gay
As a cricket-match on the village green,
Or a picnic in the hay.
Ah, yes! I’m happier as I am,-
I’m ignorant, you see;
And the life of fashion that you love
Would never do for me.

A few random poems:
- Househunting by Mike Yuan
- day_dream.html
- Вера Полозкова – И тут он приваливается к оградке
- The Other Side of Panic by Martina Reisz Newberry
- Base Details by Siegfried Sassoon
- English Poetry. Thomas Moore. From “Irish Melodies”. 85. Oh For the Swords of Former Time. Томас Мур.
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Троянки (перевод)
- The Swamp Fox by William Gilmore Simms
- Fake Identity by Roberto Cocina
- Another by Thomas Carew
- Robert Burns: Despondency: An Ode:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Парня спасём, парня в детдом
- On The Luxembourg Gallery by Washington Allston
- Cloudy Sky by Shel Silverstein
- Respect her by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
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
- In A Restaurant by Sara Teasdale
- In A Railroad Station by Sara Teasdale
- In A Garden by Sara Teasdale
- In A Cuban Garden by Sara Teasdale
- “If I Must Go” by Sara Teasdale
- I Would Live In Your Love by Sara Teasdale
- “I Know The Stars” by Sara Teasdale
- Helen Of Troy by Sara Teasdale
- Grandfather’s Love by Sara Teasdale
- In A Garden by Sara Teasdale
- Galahad In The Castle Of The Maidens by Sara Teasdale
- From The Woolworth Tower by Sara Teasdale
- From The North by Sara Teasdale
- For The Anniversary Of John Keats’ Death by Sara Teasdale
- Eight O’Clock by Sara Teasdale
- Effigy Of A Nun by Sara Teasdale
- Dusk In War Time by Sara Teasdale
- Dusk In June by Sara Teasdale
- Dusk In Autumn by Sara Teasdale
- Deep In The Night by Sara Teasdale
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
Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.