THOUGH you be absent here, I needs must say
The Trees as beauteous are, and flowers as gay,
As ever they were wont to be ;
Nay the Birds rural musick too
Is as melodious and free,
As if they sung to pleasure you:
I saw a Rose-Bud ope this morn ; I’ll swear
The blushing Morning open’d not more fair.
How could it be so fair, and you away ?
How could the Trees be beauteous, Flowers so gay ?
Could they remember but last year,
How you did Them, They you delight,
The sprouting leaves which saw you here,
And call’d their Fellows to the sight,
Would, looking round for the same sight in vain,
Creep back into their silent Barks again.
Where e’er you walk’d trees were as reverend made,
As when of old Gods dwelt in every shade.
Is ‘t possible they should not know,
What loss of honor they sustain,
That thus they smile and flourish now,
And still their former pride retain ?
Dull Creatures! ’tis not without Cause that she,
Who fled the God of wit, was made a Tree.
In ancient times sure they much wiser were,
When they rejoyc’d the Thracian verse to hear ;
In vain did Nature bid them stay,
When Orpheus had his song begun,
They call’d their wondring roots away,
And bad them silent to him run.
How would those learned trees have followed you ?
You would have drawn Them, and their Poet too.
But who can blame them now ? for, since you’re gone,
They’re here the only Fair, and Shine alone.
You did their Natural Rights invade ;
Where ever you did walk or sit,
The thickest Boughs could make no shade,
Although the Sun had granted it :
The fairest Flowers could please no more, neer you,
Then Painted Flowers, set next to them, could do.
When e’er then you come hither, that shall be
The time, which this to others is, to Me.
The little joys which here are now,
The name of Punishments do bear ;
When by their sight they let us know
How we depriv’d of greater are.
‘Tis you the best of Seasons with you bring ;
This is for Beasts, and that for Men the Spring
A few random poems:
- Extracts From An Opera poem – John Keats poems
- Владислав Ходасевич – Нет, не шотландской королевой
- Heal Your Broken Heart With Heart Touching Poems
- Colbert Report: Australia by Raj Arumugam
- Salutation poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Alameda by Paul Blackburn
- Book Tenth {Residence in France continued] by William Wordsworth
- Labor Pains
- Алексей Плещеев – Ёлка в школе
- Self-Portrait poem – Andrei Voznesensky poems
- To R. B. poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- At Night poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Бедняк
- Robert Burns: O Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast:
- Владимир Набоков – Воскресение мёртвых
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
- Poor Mailie’s Elegy by Robert Burns
- Poem on Sensibility by Robert Burns
- Pegasus at Wanlockhead by Robert Burns
- Paraphrase of the First Psalm by Robert Burns
- One Night as I did Wander by Robert Burns
- On the late Captain Grose’s Peregrinations by Robert Burns
- On the Death of Robert Dundas, Esq., of Arniston by Robert Burns
- On the Death of John M’Leod, Esq. by Robert Burns
- On the Birth of a Posthumous Child by Robert Burns
- On Tam the Chapman by Robert Burns
- On seeing Mrs. Kemble in Yarico by Robert Burns
- On Scaring some Water-Fowl in Lock Turit by Robert Burns
- On Glenriddell’s Fox breaking his chain: A Fragment by Robert Burns
- On Elphinstone’s Translation of Martial’s Epigrams by Robert Burns
- On Chloris requesting a sprig of blossom’d thorn by Robert Burns
- Oh Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast by Robert Burns
- Ode, Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Oswald of Auchencruive by Robert Burns
- Ode on the Departed Regency Bill by Robert Burns
- Ode for General Washington’s Birthday by Robert Burns
- Note to Mr. Renton of Lamerton by Robert Burns
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.