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:
- Юрий Галансков стихи: читать все стихотворения, поэмы поэта Юрий Галансков – Поэзия на Poetry Monster
- What the People Said by Rudyard Kipling
- Psalm 81 poem – John Milton poems
- Tony Harrison – Tony Harrison
- Валерий Брюсов – Грустный вечер
- Николай Гербель – В дорогу
- Among Children by Philip Levine
- Outside the Window, Snow
- Джон Китс – Девчонка из Девона
- Untitled by Quincy Troupe
- Niagara by Vachel Lindsay
- A Father’s Hands by Scott Ransopher
- The Kind Moon by Sara Teasdale
- Wordsworth At Dove Cottage poem – Alfred Austin
- Flying Wishes by Osman cisse Hanif
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
- time by tulip
- The Sound Of Music -a Ghazal by Umamaheswari Anandane
- the secrets , we hide by tulip
- The Tears In Cupid’s Eyes by Tupac Shakur
- The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur
- said, unsaid by tulip
- Quest for Thee by Vanessa Perkins
- Paradise On Earth! by V. Muthu Manickam
- Overnight at the Riverside Tower by Tu Fu
- once i saw a old man’s shop by tulip
- On a Prospect of T’ai-shan by Tu Fu
- Morning Rain by Tu Fu
- Moonlit Night by Tu Fu
- Tu Fu – Tu Fu
- Tu Fu – Tu Fu
- In The Event Of My Demise by Tupac Shakur
- In The Depths Of Solitude by Tupac Shakur
- Gazing at the Sacred Peak by Tu Fu
- Full Moon by Tu Fu
- Fallen Star: Dedicated to Huey P. Newton by Tupac Shakur
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.