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:
- Forgotten by Priya Prithviraj
- The Blessed by William Butler Yeats
- Lament for James, Earl of Glencairn by Robert Burns
- wonder life by PALLAVI SINGH
- Ballade Of Worldly Wealth poem – Andrew Lang poems
- I Dream’d in a Dream. by Walt Whitman
- La Vita Nuova by Weldon Kees
- The Bonnie House O’ Airly poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Deep In The Night by Sara Teasdale
- Excerpt from “What’s O’Clock” poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Autumn by Walter Savage Landor
- Design poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- A Man Young And Old: II. Human Dignity by William Butler Yeats
- Ольга Берггольц – Придешь, как приходят слепые
- Юлия Друнина – Я горожанка
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
- Pay your last respects by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- My rains by Vinko Kalinic
- My mother was telling me by Vinko Kalinic
- My angel’s face by Vinko Kalinić
- Missing Person by Vinita Agrawal
- Mi ha el by Vinko Kalinić
- Manifesto for your smile and my songs by Vinko Kalinic
- Lets go by Vinko Kalinić
- Legacy by Vinko Kalinić
- Joy of giving by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Instead of farewell by Vinko Kalinić
- If you love the life by Vinko Kalinić
- I don’t want to have you by Vinko Kalinic
- I am your friend by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- I’ve dreamt of dreaming ’bout you by Vinko Kalinić
- House For Sale by Vinita Agrawal
- Hey! Mr.Pothole by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Happy Teacher’s Day by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Get together by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Fear by Vinko Kalinić
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.