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:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня автомобилиста
- O the Chimneys by Nelly Sachs
- phantasm.html
- The Welcome
- Николай Языков – А. В. Тихвинскому (Как знать, куда моя дорога)
- Sonnet 10 poem – John Milton poems
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Светлые ночи
- Kumarakom (after the boat tragedy) by Shreekumar Varma
- Apostroph. by Walt Whitman
- Robert Burns: The Parting Kiss:
- Владимир Британишский – 1942 год
- Meeting with Te Rauparaha by Michael O’Leary
- Bertie the Goldfish by Ross D Tyler
- Владимир Маяковский – Поэт рабочий
- Ballade Of Aucassin poem – Andrew Lang poems
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
- Fireflies in the Garden by Robert Frost
- Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
- Evening in a Sugar Orchard by Robert Frost
- Dust of Snow by Robert Frost
- Dust in the Eyes by Robert Frost
- Devotion by Robert Frost
- Design by Robert Frost
- Desert Places by Robert Frost
- Come In by Robert Frost
- Christmas Trees by Robert Frost
- But Outer Space by Robert Frost
- Brown’s Descent by Robert Frost
- Bond and Free by Robert Frost
- Blue-Butterfly Day by Robert Frost
- Bereft by Robert Frost
- Atmosphere by Robert Frost
- Asking For Roses by Robert Frost
- An Old Man’s Winter Night by Robert Frost
- An Encounter by Robert Frost
- An Empty Threat 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.