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:
- Robert Burns: Inscription: Written on the blank leaf of a copy of the last edition of my poems, presented to the Lady whom, in so many fictitious reveries of passion, but with the most ardent sentiments of real friendship, I have so often sung under the name of-“Chloris.”
- the_nomad039s_vision_ode_to_a_skylark_dressed_in_black.html
- Николай Некрасов – Встреча душ
- Autum by T.S. Hulme
- Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
- Sonnet 09 poem – John Milton poems
- Snowbanks North of the House by Robert Bly
- Prayer of St. Francis Xavier poem – Alexander Pope
- Address to Edinburgh by Robert Burns
- Criss-Cross Acrostic*: Ai My Eye ! by T. Wignesan
- Владимир Солоухин – У тихой речки детство проводя
- Владимир Степанов – Потемнели ветви
- The Secret Garden by Rita Dove
- Константин Бальмонт – Чет и нечет
- Aubade by William Shakespeare
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
- Валерий Брюсов – Где-то
- Валерий Брюсов – Газели
- Валерий Брюсов – Г.Г. Бахману (Вся красота тебе доступна)
- Валерий Брюсов – Фонарики
- Валерий Брюсов – Фламандцам
- Валерий Брюсов – Филлида
- Валерий Брюсов – Февраль
- Валерий Брюсов – Фаэтон
- Валерий Брюсов – Фабричная
- Валерий Брюсов – Её колени
- Валерий Брюсов – Еврейским девушкам
- Валерий Брюсов – Эту ночь я дышал тишиной
- Валерий Брюсов – Это я
- Валерий Брюсов – Это – не надежда и не вера
- Валерий Брюсов – Это матовым вечером мая
- Валерий Брюсов – Это было? Неужели?
- Валерий Брюсов – Есть поразительная белость
- Валерий Брюсов – Есть что-то позорное в мощи природы
- Валерий Брюсов – Италия
- Валерий Брюсов – Исполненное обещание романтическая поэма
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.