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:
- Famine Song
- The Three Beggars by William Butler Yeats
- I stood musing in a black world by Stephen Crane
- Love Sonnet XLIV poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- How Many Bards Gild The Lapses Of Time! poem – John Keats poems
- The Chestnut Casts His Flambeaux poem – A. E. Housman
- “`The smiling slopes with olive groves bedecked” poem – Alfred Austin
- A Soft Day by Winifred Mary Letts
- Валерий Брюсов – Из тихих бездн
- Poem on Sensibility by Robert Burns
- The Heritage by Siegfried Sassoon
- Forlorn, my love, no comfort here (Song) by Robert Burns
- Bleäke’s House In Blackmwore by William Barnes
- Epigram on an Innkeeper (“The Marquis”) by Robert Burns
- Ribbons & Pearls by Timothy Cole
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
- How Do You Produce Original Articles?
- Create Wealth With Creative Thinking
- How to Earn Money Writing and Selling Books
- In the Philippines, August Is a Celebration of Buwan Ng Wika
- Christopher Okigbo – Looking Back at His Short-lived Life and Taking Stock of His Poetic Legacy
- Mary’s Son – A Tale of Christmas – An Inspiring Read
- Most Memorable Mother’s Day Gift Ideas
- Proactive Responses to Recession – 7 Creative Ways to Make Extra Money With Real Estate
- Love Expression in Marriage
- Family Caregivers Have Promises to Keep
- Follow My Directions, Please: A Fun Christian Preschool Activity
- Creative Self Sabotage – 5 Favourite Sabotage Techniques Of Creative Artists & How To Avoid Them
- Is Resume Writing Really That Important?
- Literary Cubism – A Non-Structured Structure For Twenty-first Century Storytelling
- Los Able Minded Poets Music Review
- How to Choose a Federal Resume Writing Service
- The Truth About Propolis Benefits
- Insights Into History, Culture, & Creativity of Sri Lanka – Explore the Cultural Triangle
- The Columbian Exchange Beginning With Spanish Colonization
- 3 Inspirational Quotes That Encourage You to Be Yourself
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.