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:
- Sonnet 12
- Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell
- Peace Universal Good
- Absence: A Farewell Ode On Quitting School For Jesus College by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Three Sonnets Written In Mid-Channel poem – Alfred Austin
- Farewell to the Court by Sir Walter Raleigh
- little teddy bear lost by Raj Arumugam
- As I Sat Alone by Blue Ontario’s Shores. by Walt Whitman
- On Leaving Some Friends At An Early Hour poem – John Keats poems
- The Ballad Of Father Gilligan by William Butler Yeats
- Низами Гянджеви – Хмельное счастье мое очнется
- A Memory by Rupert Brooke
- Wuthering Heights by Sylvia Plath
- Валерий Брюсов – После сенокоса
- Blue-Eyed Ann by Tobias Smollett
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
- Алексей Плещеев – Цветок
- Алексей Плещеев – Бабушка и внучек
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Золото
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Земля
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Хлоя
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Весенний дождь
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Утро
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Талисман
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Суд
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Семик
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Приворот
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Плач
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Осеннее золото
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Москва
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Лесная дева
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Лель
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Купальские игрища
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Колыбельная
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Гроза
- Алексей Николаевич Толстой – Егорий, волчий пастырь
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.