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 Working Party by Siegfried Sassoon
- Валерий Брюсов – После смерти Ленина
- a_dialogue.html
- Who is at my door? by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Remorseful Apology by Robert Burns
- Duino Elegies: The Fourth Elegy by Rainer Maria Rilke
- O Sing, Fair Lady, When With Me poem – Alexander Pushkin
- After An Epigram Of Clement Marot
- Юлия Друнина – Стал холоден мой тёплый старый дом
- Sassoon’s Public Statement Of Defiance by Siegfried Sassoon
- Elegy II. On The Death Of The University Beadle At Cambridge (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- Thompson’s Lunch Room – Grand Central Station poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Memorials Of A Tour Of Scotland, 1803 VI. Glen-Almain, Or, The Narrow Glen by William Wordsworth
- Creativity Leads to Family Enrichment
- I Know A Man by Yehuda Amichai
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
- A Winter Ship by Sylvia Plath
- A Secret by Sylvia Plath
- Years by Sylvia Plath
- Wuthering Heights by Sylvia Plath
- Words by Sylvia Plath
- Witch Burning by Sylvia Plath
- Wintering by Sylvia Plath
- Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath
- Widow by Sylvia Plath
- Who by Sylvia Plath
- Whitsun by Sylvia Plath
- Whiteness I Remember by Sylvia Plath
- Verbal Calisthenics by Sylvia Plath
- Vanity Fair by Sylvia Plath
- Tulips by Sylvia Plath
- Touch-And-Go by Sylvia Plath
- Totem by Sylvia Plath
- Three Women by Sylvia Plath
- Thalidomide by Sylvia Plath
- Terminal 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.