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:
- Кондратий Рылеев – К N. N. (У вас в гостях бывать накладно)
- In The Dusky Path Of A Dream by Rabindranath Tagore
- Омар Хайям – До того, как мы чашу судьбы изопьем
- Федор Сологуб – Светлый пир
- Вера Полозкова – И тут он приваливается к оградке
- Rivulose poem – A. R. Ammons poems | Poetry Monster
- He Made This Screen by Marianne Moore
- Lyonnesse by Sylvia Plath
- Athens Stone Of Sapphire Of Ground The Ring
- Владимир Маяковский – Чтоб жизнь трудовую наладить заново
- Алексей Плещеев – Есть дни, ни злоба, ни любовь
- Владимир Высоцкий – Куплеты Бенгальского
- Palms and Hearts by Olawuyi Mutiu
- Christmas Trees by Robert Frost
- Аля Кудряшева – Рыбный вальсок
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
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Ифигения в Авлиде («Ифигения-жертва») (перевод)
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Геракл (перевод)
- Илья Зданевич – Пабло Пикассо
- Илья Зданевич – Ослиный Бох
- Илья Зданевич – Опять на жизненную скуку
- Илья Зданевич – Галоша
- Илья Зданевич – Экспромт
- Илья Эренбург – Жилье в горах, как всякое жилье
- Илья Эренбург – Я знаю, будет золотой и долгий
- Илья Эренбург – Я так любил тебя, до грубых шуток
- Илья Эренбург – Я слышу всё, и горестные шепоты
- Илья Эренбург – Я помню, давно уже я уловил
- Илья Эренбург – Я не трубач, труба
- Илья Эренбург – Я бы мог прожить совсем иначе
- Илья Эренбург – Взвился рыжий, ближе
- Илья Эренбург – Вы приняли меня в изысканной гостиной
- Илья Эренбург – Ода
- Илья Эренбург – О Москве
- Илья Эренбург – Легкий сон
- Илья Эренбург – Круг
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.