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 Garden poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Ольга Седакова – Вечерняя песня
- Fight to a Finish by Siegfried Sassoon
- The Lion by Vachel Lindsay
- Commination
- Юлия Друнина – Бежала от морозов, вот беда
- The Owl And The Lark poem – Alfred Austin
- Sonnet To Byron poem – John Keats poems
- Владимир Корнилов – Повторение
- Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Жрец искусства
- The Grasshopper
- The Decree Of Athena
- Sonnet CVII: Not Mine Own Fears, Nor the Prophetic Soul by William Shakespeare
- Gigolo by Sylvia Plath
- Where fair Sabrina’s wand’ring currents flow by William Somervile
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 Beginning by Rabindranath Tagore
- The Astronomer by Rabindranath Tagore
- Religious Obsession — translation from Dharmamoha by Rabindranath Tagore
- Poems On Time by Rabindranath Tagore
- Poems On Man by Rabindranath Tagore
- Poems On Love by Rabindranath Tagore
- Poems On Life by Rabindranath Tagore
- Poems On Beauty by Rabindranath Tagore
- One Day In Spring…. by Rabindranath Tagore
- On The Nature Of Love by Rabindranath Tagore
- My Friend, Come In These Rains — English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
- Lover’s Gifts LVI: The Evening Was Lonely by Rabindranath Tagore
- Lord Of My Life by Rabindranath Tagore
- Lamp Of Love by Rabindranath Tagore
- Kinu Goala’s Alley – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
- In The Dusky Path Of A Dream by Rabindranath Tagore
- In The Country – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
- I Found A Few Old Letters by Rabindranath Tagore
- I Cast My Net Into The Sea by Rabindranath Tagore
- Gift Of The Great – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
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