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:
- Владимир Гиляровский – Я эоловой арфы струна
- Вера Павлова – Они влюблены и счастливы
- Огюст Барбье – Васильки
- Robert Burns: On A Swearing Coxcomb:
- Валерий Брюсов – После ночи бессонной
- The Next Chance
- October Journey by Margaret Walker
- Lines of John M’Murdo by Robert Burns
- Senses by Rabindranath Tagore
- “Veruca Salt…” by Roald Dahl
- Far Within Us #2 by Vasko Popa
- Xai Kou From Book Seeds Of Faith
- You’re by Sylvia Plath
- Cyprian, in my dream by Sappho
- Владимир Маяковский – Точеные слоны
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
- One’s-Self I Sing. by Walt Whitman
- One Hour to Madness and Joy. by Walt Whitman
- Once I Pass’d Through a Populous City. by Walt Whitman
- On the Beach at Night, Alone. by Walt Whitman
- On Journeys Through The States. by Walt Whitman
- Old Ireland. by Walt Whitman
- Offerings. by Walt Whitman
- Of the Visage of Things. by Walt Whitman
- Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances. by Walt Whitman
- Of Him I Love Day and Night. by Walt Whitman
- O You Whom I Often and Silently Come. by Walt Whitman
- O Tan-faced Prairie Boy. by Walt Whitman
- O Sun of Real Peace. by Walt Whitman
- O Star of France. by Walt Whitman
- O Living Always—Always Dying. by Walt Whitman
- O Hymen! O Hymenee! by Walt Whitman
- O Bitter Sprig! Confession Sprig! by Walt Whitman
- Now List to my Morning’s Romanza. by Walt Whitman
- Now Finale to the Shore. by Walt Whitman
- Not Youth Pertains to Me. by Walt Whitman
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.