The Twelve poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster

A poem by Alexander Block – Alexandre Block – Alexandr Blok – Александр Блок
(1880-1921)

III

Our sons have gone

to serve the Reds

to serve the Reds

to risk their heads!

O bitter,bitter pain,

Sweet living!

A torn overcoat

an Austrian gun!

-To get the bourgeosie

We’ll start a fire

a worldwide fire, and drench it

in blood-

The good Lord bless us!

-O you bitter bitterness,

boring boredom,

deadly boredom.

This is how I will

spend my time.

This is how I will

scratch my head,

munch on seeds,

some sunflower seeds,

play with my knife

play with my knife.

You bourgeosie, fly as a sparrow!

I’ll drink your blood,

your warm blood, for love,

for dark-eyed love.

God, let this soul, your servant,

rest in peace.

Such boredom!

XII

… On they march with sovereign tread…

‘Who else goes there? Come out! I said

come out!’ It is the wind and the red

flag plunging gaily at their head.

The frozen snow-drift looms in front.

‘Who’s in the drift! Come out! Come here!’

There’s only the homeless mongrel runt

limping wretchedly in the rear …

‘You mangy beast, out of the way

before you taste my bayonet.

Old mongrel world, clear off I say!

I’ll have your hide to sole my boot!

The shivering cur, the mongrel cur

bares his teeth like a hungry wolf,

droops his tail, but does not stir …

‘Hey answer, you there, show yourself.’

‘Who’s that waving the red flag?’

‘Try and see! It’s as dark as the tomb!’

‘Who’s that moving at a jog

trot, keeping to the back-street gloom?’

‘Don’t you worry ~ I’ll catch you yet;

better surrender to me alive!’

‘Come out, comrade, or you’ll regret

it ~ we’ll fire when I’ve counted five!’

Crack ~ crack ~ crack! But only the echo

answers from among the eaves …

The blizzard splits his seams, the snow

laughs wildly up the wirlwind’s sleeve …

Crack ~ crack ~ crack!

Crack ~ crack ~ crack!

… So they march with sovereign tread …

Behind them limps the hungry dog,

and wrapped in wild snow at their head

carrying a blood-red flag ~

soft-footed where the blizzard swirls,

invulnerable where bullets crossed ~

crowned with a crown of snowflake pearls,

a flowery diadem of frost,

ahead of them goes Jesus Christ.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random 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 

• Like Truthless Dreams, So Are My Joys Expired by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• Life by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• His Pilgrimage by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• Her Reply by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• Farewell to the Court by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• Epitaph by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• A Literature Lesson. Sir Patrick Spens in the Eighteenth Century Manner by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• A Farewell to False Love by Sir Walter Raleigh by Walter Raleigh
• On Catullus by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Of Clementina by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Corinna, from Athens, to Tanagra by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Ianthe! You are Call’d to Cross the Sea by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Mother, I cannot mind my Wheel by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Ianthe by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Child of a Day by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Late Leaves by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• One Lovely Name by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• On An Eclipse Of The Moon by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• Mild is the Parting Year by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor
• I Entreat You, Alfred Tennyson by Walter Savage Landor by Walter Savage Landor

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works