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:
- To a Western Boy. by Walt Whitman
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Троянки (перевод)
- Prayer by Roland Flint
- Against Fruition
- Юрий Коринец – Не кажется ли вам
- A Dialogue Of Self And Soul by William Butler Yeats
- Epigram—The Keekin Glass by Robert Burns
- Вера Павлова – Попытка не пытка
- He is more than a hero by Sappho
- Омар Хайям – Египет, Рим, Китай держи ты под пятой
- Spring in New Hampshire by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Набоков – Скитальцы
- A Song of an Autumn Night. by Wang Wei
- Эмиль Верхарн – Вперед
- Robert Burns: Deluded Swain, The Pleasure:
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
- The Princess And The Goblins by Sylvia Plath
- The Other by Sylvia Plath
- The Other Two by Sylvia Plath
- The Night Dances by Sylvia Plath
- The Net-Menders by Sylvia Plath
- The Munich Mannequins by Sylvia Plath
- The Moon And The Yew Tree by Sylvia Plath
- The Manor Garden by Sylvia Plath
- The Lady And The Earthenware Head by Sylvia Plath
- The Jailer by Sylvia Plath
- The Hermit At Outermost House by Sylvia Plath
- The Hanging Man by Sylvia Plath
- The Great Carbuncle by Sylvia Plath
- The Goring by Sylvia Plath
- The Glutton by Sylvia Plath
- The Ghost’s Leavetaking by Sylvia Plath
- The Fearful by Sylvia Plath
- The Eye-Mote by Sylvia Plath
- The Everlasting Monday by Sylvia Plath
- The Dream by Sylvia Plath
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.