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:
- Calling The Spirits
- Robert Burns: The Bonie Lass Of Albany:
- Lucy Gray [or Solitude] by William Wordsworth
- Robert Burns: The Charming Month Of May:
- Ольга Берггольц – Марш оловянных солдатиков
- Song—O let me in this ae night by Robert Burns
- Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh by Robert Burns
- The Vaudois by William Wordsworth
- Владимир Маяковский – Помощь не придет на такой вой… (Главполитпросвет №14)
- Олег Бундур – Вид с задней парты
- When I Came Last to Ludlow poem – A. E. Housman
- The Old Gumbie Cat by T. S. Eliot
- Traveling
- Primitive by Sharon Olds
- Владимир Степанов – Зима
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
- Zitten Out The Wold Year by William Barnes
- Zellen Woone’s Honey To Buy Zome’hat Sweet by William Barnes
- Woodcom’ Feast by William Barnes
- Wold Friends A-Met by William Barnes
- A Wold Friend by William Barnes
- A Witch by William Barnes
- Whitsuntide An’ Club Walken by William Barnes
- Vo’k A-Comèn Into Church by William Barnes
- Vellen O’ The Tree by William Barnes
- Uncle An’ Aunt by William Barnes
- Treat Well Your Wife by William Barnes
- To Me by William Barnes
- The Zilver-Weed by William Barnes
- The Woodlands by William Barnes
- The Wold Wall by William Barnes
- The Wold Waggon by William Barnes
- The Wold Vo’k Dead by William Barnes
- The Woddy Hollow by William Barnes
- The Winter’s Willow by William Barnes
- The Window Freäm’d Wi’ Stwone by William Barnes
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.