A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
What did I study in your School of Night?
When your mouth’s first unfathomable yes
Opened your body to be my book, I read
My answers there and learned the spell aright,
Yet, though I searched and searched, could never guess
What spirits it raised nor where their questions led.
Those others, familiar tenants of your sleep,
The whisperers, the grave somnambulists
Whose eyes turn in to scrutinize their woe,
The giant who broods above the nightmare steep,
That sleeping girl, shuddering, with clenched fists,
A vampire baby suckling at her toe,
They taught me most. The scholar held his pen
And watched his blood drip thickly on the page
To form a text in unknown characters
Which, as I scanned them, changed and changed again:
The lines grew bars, the bars a Delphic cage
And I the captive of his magic verse.

A few random poems:
- Temporary City by Nijole Miliauskaite
- A New Year Greeting by W H Auden
- Whispers of Heavenly Death. by Walt Whitman
- Poor Devil! by Stephen Vincent Benet
- Three Sonnets Written In Mid-Channel poem – Alfred Austin
- Solitude: An Ode poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Olney Hymn 61: The Narrow Way by William Cowper
- Юнна Мориц – Свежий бублик
- Владимир Маяковский – В РСФСР 130 миллионов населения (Агитплакаты)
- Vellen O’ The Tree by William Barnes
- The Poetic Principle by Mark Olynyk
- The Boy by William Henry Davies
- Вера Полозкова – Мало ли кто
- Cenotaph, Manitoulin Island by Todd H. C. Fischer
- The Answer by Sara Teasdale
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
- Morning Poem #6 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #59 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #43 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #40 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #39 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #39 by Wanda Phipps
- Morning Poem #1 by Wanda Phipps
- Your Voice by Walter William Safar
- The Land Beyond the Rainbow by Walter William Safar
- Old Homeless Man by Walter William Safar
- Ode to Poetry by Walter William Safar
- Ode to Mother Nature by Walter William Safar
- Mother Nature by Walter William Safar
- Me, The Wind and the Old Shadow by Walter William Safar
- Lonely Nights by Walter William Safar
- Life by Walter William Safar
- It’s Beautiful to See Through the Eyes of the Sky by Walter William Safar
- In The Name of Eternal Love by Walter William Safar
- In the Name of Eternal Love by Walter William Safar
- Immigrant by Walter William Safar
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.