The British
by A. S. J. Tessimond
We are a people living in shells and moving
Crablike; reticent, awkward, deeply suspicious;
Watching the world from a corner of half-closed eyelids,
Afraid lest someone show that he hates or loves us,
Afraid lest someone weep in the railway train.
We are coiled and clenched like a foetus clad in armour.
We hold our hearts for fear they fly like eagles.
We grasp our tongues for fear they cry like trumpets.
We listen to our own footsteps. We look both ways
Before we cross the silent empty road.
We are a people easily made uneasy,
Especially wary of praise, of passion, of scarlet
Cloaks, of gesturing hands, of the smiling stranger
In the alien hat who talks to all or the other
In the unfamiliar coat who talks to none.
We are afraid of too-cold thought or too-hot
Blood, of the opening of long-shut shafts or cupboards,
Of light in caves, of X-rays, probes, unclothing
Of emotion, intolerable revelation
Of lust in the light, of love in the palm of the hand.
We are afraid of, one day on a sunny morning,
Meeting ourselves or another without the usual
Outer sheath, the comfortable conversation,
And saying all, all, all we did not mean to,
All, all, all we did not know we meant.
A few random poems:
- The Fruit Garden Path poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Анатолий Жигулин – Гулко эхо от ранних шагов
- Sonnet 120: That you were once unkind befriends me now by William Shakespeare
- A Plain Life by William Henry Davies
- Itri poem – Yahya Kemal Beyatli poems | Poetry Monster
- Legacy by Vinko Kalinić
- In Salutation to the Eternal Peace by Sarojini Naidu
- Can You See The Pride In The Panther? by Tupac Shakur
- March on, Yes! by Miles
- Hohenlinden by Thomas Campbell
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Напоминание
- The Day’s Work by Rudyard Kipling
- The Song of Death by Robert Burns
- Владимир Британишский – Читая Ремарка
- Untitled XXIX by Yunus Emre
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
- The Princess: A Medley: Our Enemies have Fall’n poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: O Swallow poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: Home they Brought her Warrior Dead poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: Come down, O Maid poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: Ask me no more poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Princess: A Medley: As thro’ the land poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Passing Of Arthur poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Palace of Art poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Owl poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Oak poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Miller’s Daughter poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Merman poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Mermaid poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Marriage Of Geraint poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Lord of Burleigh poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Letters poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Last Tournament poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Lady of Shalott | Best Love Poems
- The Holy Grail poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
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