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 laugh song by Raj Arumugam
- Matter For Gratitude poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- Olney Hymn 39: The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death by William Cowper
- Song, by a Person of Quality poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- This I Beg To Have by Luis Estable
- The Meeting by Sara Teasdale
- The Winged Mariners
- Robert Burns: Wandering Willie: Revised Version
- Владимир Набоков – Встреча
- The Eagle poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Though In My Firmament Thou Wilt Not Shine
- Lost Time by Rabindranath Tagore
- Resurgam
- Endymion: Book IV poem – John Keats poems
- said, unsaid by tulip
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
- Here’s to the Mice! by Vachel Lindsay
- On the Road to Nowhere by Vachel Lindsay
- Heart of God by Vachel Lindsay
- On the Garden Wall by Vachel Lindsay
- On the Building of Springfield by Vachel Lindsay
- On Reading Omar Khayyam by Vachel Lindsay
- Niagara by Vachel Lindsay
- My Lady in Her White Silk Shawl by Vachel Lindsay
- Michaelangelo by Vachel Lindsay
- Mark Twain and Joan of Arc by Vachel Lindsay
- Love and Law by Vachel Lindsay
- Look You, I’ll Go Pray by Vachel Lindsay
- Lincoln by Vachel Lindsay
- King Arthur’s Men Have Come Again by Vachel Lindsay
- Incense by Vachel Lindsay
- In Praise of Songs that Die by Vachel Lindsay
- In Memory of a Child by Vachel Lindsay
- I Went Down into the Desert by Vachel Lindsay
- I Heard Immanuel Singing by Vachel Lindsay
- How Samson Bore Away the Gates of Gaza by Vachel Lindsay
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.