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:
- A Soft Day by Winifred Mary Letts
- State Fair Time by Michael S Wilson
- Robert Burns: The Belles Of Mauchline:
- The ME inside by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- My Dear Old Mother by Walter William Safar
- Robert Burns: Contented Wi’ Little And Cantie Wi’ Mair:
- Гавриил Державин – К первому соседу
- The Lake Isle poem – Ezra Pound poems
- Eclogue:–The Veäiries by William Barnes
- Morpheus poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Love Sonnet XXV poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- “My soul is sunk in all–suffusing shame” poem – Alfred Austin
- Manure by Mark R Slaughter
- To A Poet, Who Would Have Me Praise Certain Bad Poets, Imitators Of His And Mine by William Butler Yeats
- Heaven, an envious home by Mahak Raithatha S
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
- France, the 18th year of These States. by Walt Whitman
- For Him I Sing. by Walt Whitman
- Fast Anchor’d, Eternal, O Love. by Walt Whitman
- Facing West from California’s Shores. by Walt Whitman
- Faces. by Walt Whitman
- Excelsior. by Walt Whitman
- Europe, the 72d and 73d years of These States. by Walt Whitman
- Ethiopia Saluting the Colors. by Walt Whitman
- Elemental Drifts. by Walt Whitman
- Eidólons. by Walt Whitman
- Earth! my Likeness! by Walt Whitman
- Drum-Taps. by Walt Whitman
- Dresser, The. by Walt Whitman
- Dirge for Two Veterans. by Walt Whitman
- Despairing Cries. by Walt Whitman
- Delicate Cluster. by Walt Whitman
- Debris. by Walt Whitman
- Darest Thou Now, O Soul. by Walt Whitman
- Dalliance of the Eagles, The. by Walt Whitman
- Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. by Walt Whitman
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