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:
- My Sweet Lad You Have Not Been Lost poem – Yiannis Ritsos poems | Poetry Monster
- English Poetry. William Barnes. Third Collection. The Broken Heart. Уильям Барнс.
- What The Doctor Said by Raymond Carver
- Alchemy by Sara Teasdale
- At Dawn poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Vagina Envy by Nin Andrews
- Владимир Бенедиктов – День и две ночи
- Robert Burns: Raging Fortune:
- Bereft by Robert Frost
- Battle For Madness by Satish Verma
- Robert Burns: Prologue: Spoken by Mr. Woods on his benefit-night, Monday, 16th April, 1787
- America To Great Britain by Washington Allston
- Missile – A Tanka Poem
- Doomes-Day: The Eighth Houre by William Alexander
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заживайте, раны мои
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
- By the Spring, at Sunset by Vachel Lindsay
- Buddha by Vachel Lindsay
- Blanche Sweet by Vachel Lindsay
- Beyond the Moon by Vachel Lindsay
- At Mass by Vachel Lindsay
- An Indian Summer Day on the Prarie by Vachel Lindsay
- An Argument by Vachel Lindsay
- An Apology for the Bottle Volcanic by Vachel Lindsay
- Alone in the Wind, on the Prairie by Vachel Lindsay
- Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay
- Above the Battle’s Front by Vachel Lindsay
- A Sense of Humor by Vachel Lindsay
- A Rhyme About an Electrical Advertising Sign by Vachel Lindsay
- A Prayer to All the Dead among Mine Own People by Vachel Lindsay
- A Net to Snare the Moonlight by Vachel Lindsay
- A Curse for Kings by Vachel Lindsay
- Vaishnavi Prakash by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Transcended Land Of Love by Vaishnavi Prakash
- The Monastery Of Life by Vaishnavi Prakash
- The Castle By The River by Vaishnavi Prakash
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.