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:
- Kotri By The River
- Song Of The Spinning Wheel by William Wordsworth
- Remembrance poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Sonnet 24: Mine eye hath played the painter and hath stelled by William Shakespeare
- Sound and Spirit by Oladele Hussein
- Lament for the Makers by William Dunbar
- Leave Me, O Love Which Reachest But To Dust by Sir Philip Sidney
- Омар Хайям – Чистый дух, заключенный в нечистый сосуд
- Perseus by Sylvia Plath
- Love Sonnet XXIX poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- A Song In Passing by Yvor Winters
- Иван Дмитриев – Слепец, Собака его и Школьник
- The Kingdom by Rudyard Kipling
- Calidore: A Fragment poem – John Keats poems
- Epistle to John Goldie, in Kilmarnock by Robert Burns
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
- Зинаида Александрова – Маленькой елочке холодно зимой
- Зинаида Александрова – Лошадка
- Зинаида Александрова – Кролики
- Зинаида Александрова – Котята
- Зинаида Александрова – Колокольчики
- Зинаида Александрова – Карманный фонарик
- Зинаида Александрова – Игрушки
- Зинаида Александрова – Гибель Чапаева
- Зинаида Александрова – Дозор
- Зинаида Александрова – Давайте, девочки, купаться
- Зинаида Александрова – Четыре старушки
- Зинаида Александрова – Чай в саду
- Зинаида Александрова – Большая ложка
- Зинаида Александрова – Белочка
- Зинаида Александрова – Баиньки
- Владимир Вишневский – Звучит воинственно: “носки”
- Владимир Вишневский – Заявка на романс
- Владимир Вишневский – Я желаю вам громких успехов
- Владимир Вишневский – Хотел я искупаться в знак протеста
- Владимир Вишневский – Вернувшись от дверей, присела
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