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:
- Deity of my dreams by Vasishta Sharma Gudi
- Night A-Zetten In by William Barnes
- My Words Embrace by Mary Etta Metcalf
- The Terms In Which I Think Of Reality poem – Allen Ginsberg
- Central Park At Dusk by Sara Teasdale
- I Wake And Feel The Fell Of Dark, Not Day poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Robert Burns: My Native Land Sae Far Awa:
- Design by Robert Frost
- The Host Of The Air by William Butler Yeats
- Address to a Haggis by Robert Burns
- He Said To by Marvin Bell
- [Greek Title] by Thomas Hardy
- Orlando Furioso Canto 9 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Panic poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Moonlight On The Door by William Barnes
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
- Ольга Ермолаева – Если о плачущих
- Ольга Ермолаева – Будет весь день долбить
- Ольга Ермолаева – Барственный Шехтель все ирисы лепит на фриз
- Ольга Берггольц – Вечерняя станция
- Ольга Берггольц – Ты в пустыню меня послала
- Ольга Берггольц – Ты будешь ждать
- Ольга Берггольц – Трагедия всех трагедий
- Ольга Берггольц – Стихи о себе
- Ольга Берггольц – Слепой
- Ольга Берггольц – Сейчас тебе всё кажется тобой
- Ольга Берггольц – Романс стойкого оловянного солдатика
- Ольга Берггольц – Разведчик
- Ольга Берггольц – Пусть голосуют дети
- Ольга Берггольц – Приятелям
- Ольга Берггольц – Феодосия
- Ольга Берггольц – Здравствуй
- Ольга Берггольц – Знаю, чем меня пленила
- Ольга Берггольц – Заметь, заметь, Как легчает сердце
- Ольга Берггольц – Я все оставляю тебе при уходе
- Ольга Берггольц – Я так хочу, так верю, так люблю
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.