A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
What pleasures have great princes? These: to know
Themselves reputed mad with pride or power;
To speak few words — few words and short bring low
This ancient house, that city with flame devour;
To make old men, their father’s enemies,
Drunk on the vintage of the former age;
To have great painters show their mistresses
Naked to the succeeding time; engage
The cunning of able, treacherous ministers
To serve, despite themselves, the cause they hate,
And leave a prosperous kingdom to their heirs
Nursed by the caterpillars of the state;
To keep their spies in good men’s hearts; to read
The malice of the wise, and act betimes;
To hear the Grand Remonstrances of greed
Led by the pure; cheat justice of her crimes;
To beget worthless sons and, being old,
By starlight climb the battlements, and while
The pacing sentry hugs himself for cold,
Keep vigil like a lover, muse and smile,
And think, to see from the grim castle steep
The midnight city below rejoice and shine:
“There my great demon grumbles in his sleep
And dreams of his destruction, and of mine.”
A few random poems:
- Sonnet 91: Some glory in their birth, some in their skill by William Shakespeare
- Time To Transplant by Nijole Miliauskaite
- An Excursion Steamer Sunk in the Tay by William Topaz McGonagall
- Superior by Rabindranath Tagore
- Алексей Жемчужников – Заметки о некоторой публицистике
- Юнна Мориц – Античная картина
- Николай Заболоцкий – Рубрук в Монголии
- Falling Asleep by Siegfried Sassoon
- Open sky by Shailendra Chauhan
- Олег Чупров – Взлетев высоко и прекрасно
- Robert Burns: Man Was Made To Mourn: A Dirge:
- The First Part: Sonnet 14 – Nor Arne, nor Mincius, nor stately Tiber, by William Drummond
- Юнна Мориц – Не вспоминай меня
- A Ballad (Thesis for a Doctor’s Degree) poem – Andrei Voznesensky poems
- Roar Shack poem – Alice Fulton poems | Poetry Monster
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
- In Imitation of E. of Rochester : On Silence poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of E. of Dorset : Artemisia poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Dr. Swift : The Happy Life of a Country Parson poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Cowley : The Garden poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Chaucer poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Impromptu, to Lady Winchelsea poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Imitations of Horace: The First Epistle of the Second Book poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- From an Essay on Man poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Essay on Man poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle IV, To Richard Boyle, poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle II: To A Lady (Of the Characters of Women) poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle To Mrs Teresa Blount.[On Her Leaving The Town After The Coronation] poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle To Mrs Teresa Blount.[On Her Leaving The Town After The Coronation] poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Eloisa to Abelard poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Couplets on Wit poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Chorus of Youths and Virgins poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Chorus of Athenians poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.