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:
- Love of the heart by Timileyin Gabriel Olajuwon
- Robert Burns: On Chloris: Requesting me to give her a Spring of Blossomed Thorn.
- A Terre (being the philosophy of many soldiers) by Wilfred Owen
- A Star in a Stoneboat by Robert Frost
- Slant by Stephen Dunn
- The Blues by William Matthews
- Нина Пикулева – Ой, да чья ж это девчушка
- Not from the stars do I my judgment pluck (Sonnet 14) by William Shakespeare
- A Passing Glimpse by Robert Frost
- Before Summer Rain by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Requiem for the Croppies by Seamus Heaney
- Flowers Of The Dust by John Oxenham
- 白色四月
- The Basset-Table : An Eclogue poem – Alexander Pope
- Aftermath 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
- Lynching
- Kimchi
- The Kingfisher poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Cooling Tower poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Stacking The Straw poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Stacking The Straw poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Gradual Clearing poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- Brought From Beyond poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Hairline Fracture poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Cure At Porlock poem – Amy Clampitt poems | Poems and Poetry
- A Poem about Sauerkraut
- Cabbage
- Women’s Song Of The Corn poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Women’s Harvest Song poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Women’s Song Of The Corn poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Women’s Harvest Song poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- White Currants poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Vespers poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Two Lacquer Prints poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Twenty-Four Hokku On A Modern Theme poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
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.