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:
- Robert Burns: Go On, Sweet Bird, And Sooth My Care:
- Галина Гампер – Здесь сегодня все пошло с молотка
- Robert Burns: Mally’s Meek, Mally’s Sweet:
- Олег Григорьев – Тонет муха в сладости
- Cholera Camp by Rudyard Kipling
- Владимир Луговской – Игорь
- The Masks of Love
- Olney Hymn 52: For The Poor by William Cowper
- Psalm 81 poem – John Milton poems
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Недоверчивость
- Федор Сологуб – В камине пылания много
- Валерий Брюсов – И снова давние картины
- Ballade Of The Dream poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille
- In The Valley Of The Elwy poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins 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
- The Eagle That is Forgotten by Vachel Lindsay
- The Drunkards in the Street by Vachel Lindsay
- The Dandelion by Vachel Lindsay
- The Cornfields by Vachel Lindsay
- The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race by Vachel Lindsay
- The City That Will Not Repent by Vachel Lindsay
- The Chinese Nightingale by Vachel Lindsay
- The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken by Vachel Lindsay
- The Booker Washington Trilogy by Vachel Lindsay
- The Beggar’s Valentine by Vachel Lindsay
- The Bankrupt Peace-Maker by Vachel Lindsay
- The Amaranth by Vachel Lindsay
- The Alchemist’s Petition by Vachel Lindsay
- Sweethearts of the Year by Vachel Lindsay
- Sweet Briars of the Stairways by Vachel Lindsay
- Sunshine by Vachel Lindsay
- Star of My Heart by Vachel Lindsay
- St. Francis of Assisi by Vachel Lindsay
- Springfield Magical by Vachel Lindsay
- Shakespeare by Vachel Lindsay
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.