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:
- The Last Judgment poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Федор Сологуб – Сверкайте, миги строгих дней
- Morris Island by William Gilmore Simms
- Hymn To Death poem – Alfred Austin
- No! by Thomas Hood
- Валерий Брюсов – Исполненное обещание романтическая поэма
- An Extempore poem – John Keats poems
- “I Sometimes Think” by Thomas Hardy
- Яков Полонский – Памяти С. Я. Надсона
- Ольга Берггольц – Не сына, не младшего брата
- Олег Бундур – Февраль
- To The Queen poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Only Iraq by Mahmoud Darwish
- The Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon
- Clear, with Light, Variable Winds poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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
- Taita Falcon above the Zambezi by Tom Mukasa
- Steeds of Autumn by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Sorry by Tom Mukasa
- Ribbons & Pearls by Timothy Cole
- Racial Memories of a Chickadee by Todd H. C. Fischer
- My Miracle Valentine by Tirtha Raj Baral (Sanu Punatare)
- Mother’s Day, 1993 by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Mother Earth; Her Beauty And Her Destruction by TMBedell
- Manifestations by Tom Shea
- Love’s Divinest Power by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- In Token Of The Love You Gave by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Imbrium by Todd H. C. Fischer
- I Make My bed Of Roses by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Gentle Heart, Indulge Thy Dreaming by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Edgar Allan Poe by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Cenotaph, Manitoulin Island by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Beyond The Veil by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- And Still to USA they get! by Tom Mukasa
- Walls at Drogheda by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
- The Death of Knowledge by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
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.