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:
- Низами Гянджеви – В привычке сердца воровать ты
- Ars Poetica
- Анатолий Жигулин – Кострожоги
- A Death-Day Recalled by Thomas Hardy
- Gammony Gaÿ by William Barnes
- Paradise Lost: Book 01 poem – John Milton poems
- Primeval my Love for the Woman I Love. by Walt Whitman
- Sonnet 05 poem – John Milton poems
- My Sweet Lad You Have Not Been Lost poem – Yiannis Ritsos poems | Poetry Monster
- Where Are You?
- Everymaid by John Oxenham
- Николай Заболоцкий – Зеленый луч
- Robert Burns: The Lass That Made The Bed To Me :
- Tumi Sandhyar Meghamala – You Are A Cluster Of Clouds – Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
- To Delia by William Cowper
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
- An Aquarium poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Afternoon Rain in State Street poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Afternoon Rain in State Street poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Aftermath poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Aftermath poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- After Hearing a Waltz poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- After Hearing a Waltz poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Absence poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Absence poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Winter Ride poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Winter Ride poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Tulip Garden poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Tale of Starvation poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Tale of Starvation poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Roxbury Garden poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Roxbury Garden poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Petition poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Petition poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M. poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M. poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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.