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:
- Ad Martialem by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Forbidden Silence by Preeth Nambiar
- Sonnet CXXVIII by William Shakespeare
- Laus Mariae by Sidney Lanier
- Celia Beeding, To the Surgeon by Thomas Carew
- I Hear America Singing. by Walt Whitman
- The Isle Of Portland poem – A. E. Housman
- Низами Гянджеви – Я бросил молодость в пожар моей любви
- The Deserted House poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Николай Языков – Элегия (Любовь, любовь! веселым днем)
- Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel
- On The Queen’s Visit To London, The Night Of The 17th March 1789 by William Cowper
- Cabbage
- November, 1806 by William Wordsworth
- Sonnet 118: Like as to make our appetite more keen 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
- Владимир Степанов – Почему не спят котята?
- Владимир Степанов – Осы
- Владимир Степанов – Ослик
- Владимир Степанов – Облако-овечка
- Владимир Степанов – Неваляшка (Буква Н)
- Владимир Степанов – Наша Армия
- Владимир Степанов – Мышь и кошка
- Владимир Степанов – Мишка (Буква М)
- Владимир Степанов – Масленица
- Владимир Степанов – Лисички
- Владимир Степанов – Кто хозяин
- Владимир Степанов – Кот
- Владимир Степанов – Конкурс красоты
- Владимир Степанов – Как живете? Что жуете?
- Владимир Степанов – Гусь и цыплёнок
- Владимир Степанов – Гном (Буква Г)
- Владимир Степанов – Галочка-считалочка
- Владимир Степанов – Эскимос (Буква Э)
- Владимир Степанов – Енот (Буква Е)
- Владимир Степанов – Двенадцать месяцев
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.