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:
- Absolution by Siegfried Sassoon
- Hesperus The Bringer by Sappho
- 1954 by Sharon Olds
- Яков Полонский – Орел и голубка
- Владимир Высоцкий – Странные скачки
- America To Great Britain by Washington Allston
- Stalker poem – Alice Notley
- Владимир Британишский – Утром 10 мая 1945 года
- A Slight Change by Rixa White
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Калиф и раб
- Poor Mailie’s Elegy by Robert Burns
- A Dream (English Translation) by Rabindranath Tagore
- Владимир Маяковский – Понедельник – субботник
- Sonnet 02 poem – John Milton poems
- After A Journey by Thomas Hardy
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 Wind In Woone’s Feäce by William Barnes
- The Wind At The Door by William Barnes
- The Widow’s House by William Barnes
- The White Road Up Athirt The Hill by William Barnes
- The Wheel Routs by William Barnes
- The Welshnut Tree by William Barnes
- The Weepen Leady by William Barnes
- The Weather-Beaten Tree by William Barnes
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
- The Water Crowvoot by William Barnes
- The Waggon A-Stooded by William Barnes
- The Vrost by William Barnes
- The Vier-Zide by William Barnes
- The Veairy Veet That I Do Meet by William Barnes
- The Vaïces That Be Gone by William Barnes
- The Two Churches by William Barnes
- The Turnstile by William Barnes
- The Turn O’ The Days by William Barnes
- The Thorns In The Geäte by William Barnes
- The Stwonen Bwoy Upon The Pillar 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.