A poem by Alcaeus of Mytilene (c. 625/620 – c. 580 BC)
What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlement, or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities fair, with spires and turrets crown’d;
No:–Men, high-minded men,
With powers as far above dull brutes endued
In forest, brake or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude:–
Men who their duties know,
But know their rights, and knowing, dare maintain;
Prevent the long-aimed blow,
And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain.
A few random poems:
- When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer. by Walt Whitman
- The First Part: Sonnet 3 – Ye who so curiously do paint your thoughts, by William Drummond
- Since That Summer by Mike Yuan
- Dreamer
- The Wound by Robert McNamara
- Old Times by Rixa white
- The Last Redoubt poem – Alfred Austin
- Юлия Друнина – А всё равно
- Commination
- Владимир Маяковский – Селькор
- Let us pull, pull the boat by Raj Arumugam
- Sound And Sense poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Though In My Firmament Thou Wilt Not Shine
- As Once The Winged Energy Of Delight by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Fancy In Nubibus, Or The Poet In The Clouds by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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
- Lord Roberts by Rudyard Kipling
- Loot by Rudyard Kipling
- Lichtenberg by Rudyard Kipling
- L’Envoi by Rudyard Kipling
- La Nuit Blanche by Rudyard Kipling
- Kitchener’s School by Rudyard Kipling
- Kim by Rudyard Kipling
- Justice by Rudyard Kipling
- Jubal and Tubal Cain by Rudyard Kipling
- In the Neolithic Age by Rudyard Kipling
- In the Matter of One Compass by Rudyard Kipling
- In Springtime by Rudyard Kipling
- If by Rudyard Kipling
- I Keep Six Honest… by Rudyard Kipling
- Hymn Before Action by Rudyard Kipling
- Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack by Rudyard Kipling
- Helen all Alone by Rudyard Kipling
- Harp Song of the Dane Women by Rudyard Kipling
- Half-Ballad of Waterval by Rudyard Kipling
- Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
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Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
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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

Alcaeus of Mytilene ( c. 625/620 – c. 580 Before Christ) ] was a lyric poet from the Greek island of Lesbos who is credited with inventing the Alcaic stanza. He was included in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria.