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:
- A Lyric to Mirth by Robert Herrick
- Cuckoo Song by Rudyard Kipling
- A Piece Of The Storm by Mark Strand
- Robert Burns: Scotch Drink :
- You by Vladimir Mayakovsky
- Robert Burns: To The Weavers Gin Ye Go:
- Missile – A Tanka Poem
- he_who_creates_re_creates_himself.html
- Battle Salamis
- A Bucolic Betwixt Two; Lacon and Thyrsis by Robert Herrick
- The Pleiades poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Banquet Song
- Verbal Calisthenics by Sylvia Plath
- Coming Through The Rye by Robert Burns
- Sonnet I: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase by William Shakespeare
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
- Italy poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Inspiration poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- In Uncertainty To A Lady poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Doors Of The Temple poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Darkness poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Crapulous Impression poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Complaint Of A Poet Manqué poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- By The Fire poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Books And Thoughts poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Anniversaries poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- A Melody By Scarlatti poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- A Little Memory poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- September
- Scenes Of The Mind
- Revelation
- Return From Business
- Private Property
- Points And Lines
- Poem
- Panic
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.