The Pleasure of Princes – The Poetry Monster

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.”

divider_poems

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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

On Hermocratia (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On Flaxman’s Penelope by William Cowper by William Cowper
On Flatteries (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On Female Inconstancy (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On Envy (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On Delia (Bid Adieu, My Sad Heart) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On An Ugly Fellow (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On An Old Woman (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On An Infant (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A True Friend (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Thief (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Spaniel, Called Beau, Killing A Young Bird by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Similar Character (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Plant Of Virgin’s-Bower, Designed To Cover A Garden-seat by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Mistake In His Translation Of Homer by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Miser (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Miser, 3 (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Miser, 2 (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Mischievous Bull, Which The Owner Him Sold At The Author’s Instance by William Cowper by William Cowper
On A Good Man (From The Greek) by William Cowper by William Cowper

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Alec Derwent-Hope

Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.

Tagged 20, 21, Alec Derwent-Hope, Australia, australianpoems, australianpoetry, australianpoets, contemporary, englishlanguage, modernism, satire, satyre, XX, XXI