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:
- Владимир Маяковский – Тревога
- Лермонтов – Бородино: Стихотворение “Скажи-ка, дядя, ведь не даром”, читать текст стиха полностью онлайн на Poetry Monster
- Николай Языков – П. Н. Шепелеву (Ты мой приятель задушевной)
- Олег Григорьев – Вкусно от меда во рте
- Юлия Друнина – Забытая тетрадь, Истертые листы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Нараспашку, при любой погоде
- The Delibash poem – Alexander Pushkin
- From the Mountain by Wang Wei
- Николай Карамзин – Приношение грациям
- Оливер Голдсмит – Оленья туша
- Influence
- Оливер Голдсмит – Эпитафия Неду Пардону
- A Life Story
- A Wanderer by Siegfried Sassoon
- Василий Жуковский – Мщение
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
- Низами Гянджеви – Искендер-наме – Страница 13 из 15
- Низами Гянджеви – Искендер-наме – Страница 11 из 15
- Низами Гянджеви – Готова молодость твоя откочевать
- Низами Гянджеви – Где путь в кумирню
- Низами Гянджеви – Газелеокая
- Низами Гянджеви – Если б радость не лучилась
- Низами Гянджеви – Другим знавала ты меня
- Низами Гянджеви – День мой благословен
- Низами Гянджеви – Будь весел — короток наш век
- Нинель Эпатова – Настя с мамою в лесочке
- Нина Воронель – Запахи детства еще не забыты
- Нина Воронель – Юбилей в доме литераторов
- Нина Воронель – Я не хочу опять вернуться в детство
- Нина Воронель – Харьков
- Нина Воронель – Высокосный год
- Нина Воронель – Вечная мерзлота
- Нина Воронель – В чаще
- Нина Воронель – Суета
- Нина Воронель – Суд современников не значит ни черта
- Нина Воронель – Снег
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.