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:
- Яков Полонский – После праздника
- Василий Курочкин – На погребение бедового критика
- Алишер Навои – Он любить мне запрещает
- Despairing Cries. by Walt Whitman
- Огюст Барбье – Покинутый
- She and Drugs by Mark R Slaughter
- A Christmas Ghost Story by Thomas Hardy
- politeness.html
- Нина Воронель – Харьков
- Robert Burns: A Bottle And Friend:
- Orlando Furioso Canto 4 by Ludovico Ariosto
- The Fairies by William Allingham
- Work and Play by Ted Hughes
- Sonnet 19: Devouring Time blunt thou the lion’s paws by William Shakespeare
- Степан Щипачев – Не громок, не бросок мой стих
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
- Федор Сологуб – Слышу голос милой
- Федор Сологуб – Словно лепится сурепица
- Федор Сологуб – Словами горькими надменных отрицаний
- Федор Сологуб – Слепой судьбе противореча
- Федор Сологуб – Сладко мечтается мне
- Федор Сологуб – Скупа Филис, но пыл мятежный
- Федор Сологуб – Скоро солнце встанет
- Федор Сологуб – Под холодною властью тумана
- Федор Сологуб – Под сению креста рыдающая мать
- Федор Сологуб – Под кустами
- Федор Сологуб – Под черёмухой цветущей
- Федор Сологуб – Побеждайте радость
- Федор Сологуб – Плачет безутешная вдова
- Федор Сологуб – Певице
- Федор Сологуб – Моя верховная воля
- Федор Сологуб – Лихо
- Федор Сологуб – Лиловато-розовый закат
- Федор Сологуб – Либава, Либава, товарная душа
- Федор Сологуб – Лежу и дышу осторожно
- Федор Сологуб – Лесная тропа
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.