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:
- Soledad by Robert Hayden
- Жан де Лафонтен – Кошка, превращенная в женщину
- Владимир Маяковский – Шестой
- The Cottage Hospital poem – John Betjeman poems
- Алексей Жемчужников – Всем хлеба
- Every Hour Henceforth
- Second Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns
- Canto I poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Ольга Ермолаева – Вот сойдешь с ума и станешь Юрия
- Владимир Маяковский – Прощанье
- Divided Passion
- Яков Полонский – Поцелуй
- Esteemed Bliss by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Exmoor poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- If By Dull Rhymes Our English Must Be Chain’d poem – John Keats 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
- Orlando Furioso Canto 9 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 8 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 7 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 6 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 5 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 4 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 3 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 24 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 23 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 22 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 21 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 20 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 2 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 19 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 18 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 17 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 16 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 15 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso Canto 14 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Orlando Furioso canto 13 by Ludovico Ariosto
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