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.
A few random poems:
- Иннокентий Анненский – Еврипид. Орест (перевод)
- I just love you by Raj Arumugam
- A New Year Greeting by W H Auden
- Эмиль Верхарн – Хлебопечение
- Pride and Fury by Mahmoud Darwish
- The Waist of Time by The Waist of Time
- Lonely Burial by Stephen Vincent Benet
- The Wicked Postman by Rabindranath Tagore
- mark.html
- A HYMN TO BACCHUS by Robert Herrick
- A Death Song by William Morris
- Федор Сологуб – Зальдивши тайный зной страстей, Валерий
- Know, Celia, Since Thou Art So Proud by Thomas Carew
- World’s Sweetest Sister Of Mine by Miraj Patel
- Олег Бундур – Тополёк
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
- A Drinking Song by William Butler Yeats
- A Dream Of Death by William Butler Yeats
- A Dialogue Of Self And Soul by William Butler Yeats
- A Deep Sworn Vow by William Butler Yeats
- A Crazed Girl by William Butler Yeats
- A Cradle Song by William Butler Yeats
- A Coat by William Butler Yeats
- A Bronze Head by William Butler Yeats
- He Reproves The Curlew by William Butler Yeats
- He Remembers Forgotten Beauty by William Butler Yeats
- He Hears The Cry Of The Sedge by William Butler Yeats
- He Gives His Beloved Certain Rhymes by William Butler Yeats
- He Bids His Beloved Be At Peace by William Butler Yeats
- Gratitude To The Unknown Instructors by William Butler Yeats
- Girl’s Song by William Butler Yeats
- From The ‘Antigone’ by William Butler Yeats
- Fragments by William Butler Yeats
- For Anne Gregory by William Butler Yeats
- Fergus And The Druid by William Butler Yeats
- Father And Child by William Butler Yeats
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
Alexander Blok (1880-1921), also Block, was a Russian poet, writer, publicist, playwright, translator and literary critic. A classic of Russian literature.