Through the wild night, the silence and the dark,
Through league on league of the uncharted sky,
Lonelier than dove of fable from its ark,
The fieldfares fly.
Mate with his tiny mate, and younglings frail,
That only knew the crevice of their tree
Until, in faith stupendous, they set sail
Across the sea.
The black North Sea, that takes such savage toll
Of ships and men-and yet could not appal
These little mariners, who seek their goal
Beyond it all.
Turning those soft, indomitable breasts
To meet the unchained Titans of the deep-
Calm, as if cradled in Norwegian nests,
Their course they keep.
No more than thistledown or flake of snow
To those great gods at play, they win the game;
Never sped archer’s arrow from his bow
With surer aim.
Still tossed and scattered, their unwinking eyes
Point to that pole unseen where wanderings cease;
Still on they press, and warble to the skies
With hearts at peace.
Scenting the English morning in the air,
Through the salt night, ere any morning wakes-
The perfumed fields, the dun woods, sere and bare,
The brambly brakes-
The well-loved orchard, with its hawthorn hedge,
Where luscious berries, red and brown, are found-
The misty miles of water-mead and sedge
Where gnats abound.
But what is this, ‘twixt sea and surf-bound shore?
What form stands there, amid the shadows gray,
With flaming blade that smites them as they soar,
And bars their way?
Hushed are the twittering throats; each silken head
Turns to the voiceless siren-turns and stares-
By some strange lure of mystery and dread
Caught unawares.
It draws them on, as the magnetic sun
Draws vagrant meteors to its burning breast.
The day is near, the harbour all but won-
That English nest.
But here they meet inexorable Fate;
Here lies a dreadful reef of fire and glass;
Here stands a glittering sentry at the gate-
They cannot pass.
Confused, dismayed, they flutter in the gale,
Those little pinions that have lost their track;
The gallant hearts that sped them reel and fail
Like ships aback.
Sucked in a magic current, like a leaf
Torn from autumnal tree, they drift abroad,
But ever nearer to the siren reef,
The ruthless sword.
On, on, transfixed and swooning, without check,
To the lee shore of that bedazzling wall,
Until they strike, and break in utter wreck,
And founder all.
Brave little wings, that sailed the storm so well,
Trimmed to the set of every wayward blast!
Brave little hearts, that never storm could quell,
Beaten at last!
That great sea swallows them, and they are gone,
For ever gone, like bubbles of the foam;
And the bright star that lured them, shining on,
Still points to Home.
A few random poems:
- Михаил Лермонтов – Чума в Саратове
- Robert Burns: Bonie Peggy Alison:
- Turtledove of the Green Land – Dedicated to Tunisian poet, Huda Hajji by Nizar Sartawi
- Василий Жуковский – Герой
- Antimatter by Russell Edson
- Владимир Маяковский – Сказка о красной шапочке
- Джон Донн – Любовная наука
- Adieu poem – Yuvraj Johri poems | Poetry Monster
- Алексей Толстой – Средь шумного бала, случайно
- Resurgam
- Ella Mason And Her Eleven Cats by Sylvia Plath
- Flowers of Sion: Sonnet 3 – Look how the flower by William Drummond
- Николай Некрасов – Я не люблю иронии твоей
- symphony_in_red.html
- the_poet_angels_who_came_to_dinner.html
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
- Омар Хайям – Из допущенных в рай и повергнутых в ад
- Омар Хайям – Имей друзей поменьше, не расширяй их круг
- Омар Хайям – И теперь живу под гнетом страха
- Омар Хайям – И сиянье рая, и ада огни
- Омар Хайям – Грех Хайям совершил и совсем занемог
- Омар Хайям – Где вы, друзья! Где вольный ваш припев?
- Омар Хайям – Этот мастер всевышний
- Омар Хайям – Это время любви, словно тёплая осень
- Омар Хайям – Есть много вер, и все несхожи
- Омар Хайям – Если жизнь все равно неизбежно пройдет
- Омар Хайям – Если все государства, вблизи и вдали
- Омар Хайям – Если ты не впадаешь в молитвенный раж
- Омар Хайям – Если счастлив от счастья
- Омар Хайям – Если любишь, то стойко разлуку терпи
- Омар Хайям – Если гурия страстно целует в уста
- Омар Хайям – Если есть у тебя для жилья закуток
- Омар Хайям – Если бог не услышит меня в вышине
- Омар Хайям – Египет, Рим, Китай держи ты под пятой
- Омар Хайям – Двести лет проживешь, или тысячу лет
- Омар Хайям – Душой ты безбожник с Писаньем в руке
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.