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:
- Николай Заболоцкий – Приглашение на пир
- Николай Глазков – Почему я отказался от самолёта
- Иван Мятлев – Розы
- Song—Stay my Charmer by Robert Burns
- The Leäne by William Barnes
- Новелла Матвеева – Восток, прошедший чрез воображенье
- Demon by Vladimir Marku
- From Far Dakota’s Cañons. by Walt Whitman
- Bridal Song by William Shakespeare
- A Dialogue Between Thyrsis And Dorinda poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- The Dreadful Has Already Happened by Mark Strand
- The missing pen by Ross D Tyler
- Watching the Bird Watcher by Richard Schiffman
- Николай Языков – Виленскому (Не робко пей, товарищ мой)
- The Servant When He Reigneth by Rudyard Kipling
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 the Home Stretch by Robert Frost
- In Neglect by Robert Frost
- In Hardwood Groves by Robert Frost
- In a Vale by Robert Frost
- In a Disused Graveyard by Robert Frost
- Immigrants by Robert Frost
- II. The Pauper Witch of Grafton by Robert Frost
- I Will Sing You One-O by Robert Frost
- I. The Witch of Coös by Robert Frost
- Hyla Brook by Robert Frost
- Home Burial by Robert Frost
- Hannibal by Robert Frost
- Good Hours by Robert Frost
- Good-by and Keep Cold by Robert Frost
- Going for Water by Robert Frost
- Ghost House by Robert Frost
- Gathering Leaves by Robert Frost
- Fragmentary Blue by Robert Frost
- For Once, Then, Something by Robert Frost
- Flower-Gathering by Robert Frost
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.