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:
- Parting Words by Rabindranath Tagore
- Orlando Furioso Canto 18 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Individuality
- haiku
- Untitled
- Chain Of Pearls by Rabindranath Tagore
- Torn Shades by Thomas Lux
- Like A Vocation by W H Auden
- Evenèn Light by William Barnes
- Pequeña niña mía by Mara Romero Torres
- Владимир Британишский – Мы топор и лопату кладем про запас
- Recessional by Rudyard Kipling
- Love’s Wisdom poem – Alfred Austin
- Daniel Dwithen, The Wise Chap by William Barnes
- A Prayer For My Son by William Butler Yeats
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
- On The High Price Of Fish by William Cowper
- On the Grasshopper (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- On The Death Of The Bishop Of Ely. Anno Aet. 17. (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- On The Death Of Mrs. Throckmorton’s Bullfinch by William Cowper
- On The Death Of Damon. (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- On The Benefit Received By His Majesty From Sea-Bathing, In The Year 1789 by William Cowper
- On The Author Of Letters On Literature by William Cowper
- On The Astrologers (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- On Receiving Heyne’s Virgil From Mr. Hayley by William Cowper
- On Receiving Hayley’s Picture by William Cowper
- On Receipt Of My Mother’s Picture by William Cowper
- On Pedigree. From Epicharmus by William Cowper
- On Pallas Bathing, From A Hymn Of Callimachus by William Cowper
- On One Ignorant And Arrogant (Translated From Owen) by William Cowper
- On Observing Some Names Of Little Note Recorded In The Biographia Britannica by William Cowper
- On Niobe (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- On Mrs. Montague’s Feather Hangings by William Cowper
- On Miltiades by William Cowper
- On Late Acquired Wealth (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- On Invalids (From The Greek) by William Cowper
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.