The Virgin Martyr

Every wild she-bird has nest and mate in the warm April weather,

But a captive woman, made for love – no mate, no nest has she.

In the spring of young desire, young men and maids are wed together,

And the happy mothers flaunt their bliss for all the world to see:

Nature’s sacramental feast for these – an empty board for me.

I, a young maid once, an old maid now, deposed, despised, forgotten –

I, like them have thrilled with passion and have dreamed of nuptial rest,

Of the trembling life within me of my children unbegotten,

Of a breathing new-born body to my yearning bosom prest,

Of the rapture of a little soft mouth drinking at my breast.

Time, that heals so many sorrows, keeps mine ever freshly aching;

Though my face is growing furrowed and my brown hair turning white,

Still I mourn my irremediable loss, asleep or waking –

Still I hear my son’s voice calling “mother” in the dead of night,

And am haunted by my girl’s eyes that will never see the light.

O my children that I might have had! my children, lost for ever!

O the goodly years that might have been – now desolate and bare!

O malignant God or Fate, what have I done that I should never

Take my birthright like the others, take the crown that women wear,

And possess the common heritage to which all flesh is heir?

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 

• My Friends by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• Language by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• It Is March by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• William Stanley Merwin – William Stanley Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• Green Fields by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• For The Anniversary Of My Death by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• For A Coming Extinction by W. S. Merwin by William Stanley Merwin
• When I Met My Muse by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Waking at 3 a.m. by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Traveling Through The Dark by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Thinking For Berky by William Stafford by William Stafford
• The Light By The Barn by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Security by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Returned To Say by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Remembering Mountain Men by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Objector by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Notice What This Poem Is Not Doing by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Lit Instructor by William Stafford by William Stafford
• Just Thinking by William Stafford by William Stafford
• William Stafford – William Stafford by William Stafford

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

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The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works