A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
At noon thepaper tigers roar
— Miroslav Holub
The paper tigers roar at noon;
The sun is hot, the sun is high.
They roar in chorus, not in tune,
Their plaintive, savage hunting cry.
O, when you hear them, stop your ears
And clench your lids and bite your tongue.
The harmless paper tiger bears
Strong fascination for the young.
His forest is the busy street;
His dens the forum and the mart;
He drinks no blood, he tastes no meat:
He riddles and corrupts the heart.
But when the dusk begins to creep
From tree to tree, from door to door,
The jungle tiger wakes from sleep
And utters his authentic roar.
It bursts the night and shakes the stars
Till one breaks blazing from the sky;
Then listen! If to meet it soars
Your heart’s reverberating cry,
My child, then put aside your fear:
Unbar the door and walk outside!
The real tiger waits you there;
His golden eyes shall be your guide.
And, should he spare you in his wrath,
The world and all the worlds are yours;
And should he leap thejungle path
And clasp you with his bloody jaws,
Then say, as his divine embrace
Destroys the mortal parts of you:
I too am of that royal race
Who do what we are born to do.
A few random poems:
- Владимир Корнилов – Жизнь
- Out A-Nuttèn by William Barnes
- Cuchulan’s Fight With The Sea by William Butler Yeats
- The Cottage Hospital poem – John Betjeman poems
- In A Restaurant by Sara Teasdale
- Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots by Robert Burns
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вот, главный вход
- Robert Burns: Epistle To Mrs. Scott: Gudewife of Wauchope-House, Roxburghshire.
- Evenèn Twilight by William Barnes
- София Парнок – Ты помнишь коридорчик узенький
- Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Gulliver by Sylvia Plath
- Rain by Shel Silverstein
- Владимир Луговской – Краски
- Ambulances by Philip Larkin
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
- The Human Tragedy ACT IV poem – Alfred Austin
- The Human Tragedy ACT III poem – Alfred Austin
- The Human Tragedy ACT II poem – Alfred Austin
- The Human Tragedy ACT I poem – Alfred Austin
- The Golden Year! poem – Alfred Austin
- The Golden Year! poem – Alfred Austin
- The Golden Year! poem – Alfred Austin
- On Returning To England poem – Alfred Austin
- Off Mesolongi poem – Alfred Austin
- Nocturnal Vigils poem – Alfred Austin
- Nature And the Book poem – Alfred Austin
- Nature And the Book poem – Alfred Austin
- My Winter Rose poem – Alfred Austin
- “My soul is sunk in all–suffusing shame” poem – Alfred Austin
- “My northern blood exults to face” poem – Alfred Austin
- Mozart’s Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- Mozart’s Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- Messalina poem – Alfred Austin
- Off Mesolongi poem – Alfred Austin
- Mafeking poem – Alfred Austin
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.