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 Степанов – Ёжик и дождик
- Crystal by Paul Celan
- The Gladness of Nature by William Cullen Bryant
- Шекспир – Мои глаза в тебя не влюблены – Сонет 141
- The Storm by Muralidharan Mudaliar
- Universe poem – Aminu Ola Rasaq poems | Poems and Poetry
- I Had To Leave by Subhash Misra
- Ludwig Von Beethoven’s Return To Vienna by Rita Dove
- They Wondered Why the Fruit had Been Forbidden by W H Auden
- Man In Black by Sylvia Plath
- To Mirth by Tobias Smollett
- Free Men Of God by John Oxenham
- A Late Walk by Robert Frost
- April Aubade by Sylvia Plath
- Picture of Daniel in the Lion’s Den at Hamilton Palace by William Wordsworth
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
- PLEADING by Satish Verma
- PERCEPTION by Satish Verma
- Pandering by Satish Verma
- OPTIONS by Satish Verma
- Olive Branch by Satish Verma
- OFF-LIMITS by Satish Verma
- Oblivion by Satish Verma
- O You by Satish Verma
- NIGHT RAID by Satish Verma
- Night Light by Satish Verma
- Muttering by Satish Verma
- MOURNING by Satish Verma
- Moony Affair by Satish Verma
- Monument by Satish Verma
- Metaphysical View by Satish Verma
- MANY NAMESAKES by Satish Verma
- Lying on a Slab by Satish Verma
- Lunar Eclipse by Satish Verma
- Live Baits by Satish Verma
- Listening To Rwanda Genocide by Satish Verma
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.