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:
- Ugliest Man In Town by Shel Silverstein
- To the Author of a Poem Entitled Succession poem – Alexander Pope
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Запретный плод
- Robert Burns: On James Grieve, Laird Of Boghead, Tarbolton :
- The Bard by Thomas Gray
- To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady’s Brother and Sister by Phillis Wheatley
- The Song of the Women by Rudyard Kipling
- Indian Wedding Customs – Eastern and Western Indian Wedding Traditions
- Владимир Маяковский – Небылицы в лицах
- Morning Song by Sylvia Plath
- AN HYMN TO THE MUSES by Robert Herrick
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песенка-представление орлёнком Эдом Атаки Гризли
- Владимир Высоцкий – В холода, в холода
- Precious Pearl by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Biography In The First Person by Stephen Dunn
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
- Олег Бундур – Сложный предмет
- Олег Бундур – Сломанное дерево
- Олег Бундур – Скука
- Олег Бундур – Силачи
- Олег Бундур – Шляпа
- Олег Бундур – Школа живёт
- Олег Бундур – Семейный совет
- Олег Бундур – Счастливый
- Олег Бундур – Родня
- Олег Бундур – Разногласия
- Олег Бундур – Разговор
- Олег Бундур – Ранним утром
- Олег Бундур – Пёс
- Олег Бундур – Просьба
- Олег Бундур – Про затрещины
- Олег Бундур – Про любовь
- Олег Бундур – Про чемпионов
- Олег Бундур – Праздник встречи
- Олег Бундур – Поссорились
- Олег Бундур – После дождя
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.