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:
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заповедник
- How to Make Money Online Writing and Selling eBooks
- Do Not Get Angry
- Mafeking poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Степанов – Жучка и тучка
- The Princess And The Goblins by Sylvia Plath
- Flowers by Thomas Hood
- Омар Хайям – Если бог не услышит меня в вышине
- Николай Гумилев – О, если я весь мир постиг
- Cigarettes And Whiskey And Wild, Wild Women by Anne Sexton
- Doors Of The Temple poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Epigram to Miss Ainslie in Church by Robert Burns
- I the People poem – Alice Notley
- Spain 1873–’74. by Walt Whitman
- Old Boy poem – A. Van Jordan poems
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
- Владимир Высоцкий – О знаках Зодиака
- Владимир Высоцкий – О нашей встрече
- Владимир Высоцкий – О конце войны
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нынче он закончил вехи
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нынче мне не до улыбок
- Владимир Высоцкий – Ну почему
- Владимир Высоцкий – Ну что, Кузьма
- Владимир Высоцкий – Новые левые, мальчики бравые
- Владимир Высоцкий – Невидимка
- Владимир Высоцкий – Неужто здесь сошёлся клином свет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нет рядом никого, как ни дыши
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нет меня, я покинул Расею
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не заманишь меня на эстрадный концерт
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не возьмут и невзгоды в крутой оборот…
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не писать стихов мне и романов
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не отдавайте в физики детей
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не могу ни выпить, ни забыться
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не дыми, голова трещит
- Владимир Высоцкий – Не бывает кораблей без названия
- Владимир Высоцкий – Наводчица
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.