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:
- Ballade Of Blind Love poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Listening to the moon by Yosa Buson
- Fate Knows No Tears
- Millions of Us poem – Alice Notley
- Anti-Thelyphthora. A Tale In Verse by William Cowper
- A Cruel Mistress. by Thomas Carew
- The India Wharf by Sara Teasdale
- Владимир Маяковский – Стих как бы шофера
- Loneliness poem – John Betjeman poems
- Николай Карамзин – К соловью
- English Poetry. Thomas Aird. The Devil’s Dream on Mount Aksbeck. Томас Эрд.
- Dreams poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Жан де Лафонтен – Шершни и Пчелы
- The Devon Maid: Stanzas Sent In A Letter To B. R. Haydon poem – John Keats poems
- Омар Хайям – Чем пустыми мечтами себя донимать
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
- Conviction (iii) by Stevie Smith
- Conviction (ii) by Stevie Smith
- Conviction (i) by Stevie Smith
- Bag-Snatching In Dublin by Stevie Smith
- Away, Melancholy by Stevie Smith
- Autumn by Stevie Smith
- Alone In The Woods by Stevie Smith
- The Triangle by Subhash Misra
- The Last Summer by Subhash Misra
- The Grammar Lesson by Steve Kowit
- The dawn by Sukumaran Devarajan
- Some Clouds by Steve Kowit
- Scribbles by Suchi Gaur
- Rainbow Hues by Suchi Gaur
- Purple Heart Liz (My Girl At Woodstock) by Steve Sant
- Notice by Steve Kowit
- Must Work by Steve Downes
- Lifetime Of Death by Steve Sant
- In The Chapel Of Rest by Steve Sant
- I Had To Leave by Subhash Misra
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.