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:
- A Precise Woman by Yehuda Amichai
- Elegy on the Death of Robert Ruisseaux by Robert Burns
- A Song at Weicheng. by Wang Wei
- Михаил Кузмин – Уж не слышен конский топот
- English Literature for Shaping Your Ideas
- A Lover’s Complaint by William Shakespeare
- Forever Ya by Miraj Patel
- Zermatt To The Matterhorn. by Thomas Hardy
- Sonet 42 by William Alexander
- from Book I, Paterson by William Carlos Williams
- Юрий Левитанский – Что я знаю про стороны света
- His Mercy Endureth For Ever by John Oxenham
- Владимир Маяковский – Студенту пролетарию
- The most noble bird, wife by Mukeshkumar Raval
- Какие яблоки в саду
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
- Владимир Маяковский – Рассказ про то, как узнал Фадей закон
- Владимир Маяковский – Рассказ одного об одной мечте
- Владимир Маяковский – Рассказ о Климе, купившем заем, и Прове, не подумавшем о счастье своем
- Владимир Маяковский – Расчистка пути (РОСТА)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше. Теперь
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше офицера только рубить учили… (РОСТА №632)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше иностранцы шли в Россию как разбойники и воры… (Роста №105)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше были писатели белоручки… (Роста №52)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раньше буржуи о производстве думали… (РОСТА №792)
- Владимир Маяковский – Раек (РОСТА №8)
- Владимир Маяковский – Радуются ли империалисты-победители? (Главполитпросвет №335)
- Владимир Маяковский – Радоваться рано
- Владимир Маяковский – Работникам стиха и прозы, на лето едущим в колхозы
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий, ты читал СНК наказ?.. (Главполитпросвет №292)
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий! (РОСТА №735)
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий при капитализме работал из-под палки… (РОСТА №666)
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий, не смотри Антанте в рот… (РОСТА №173)
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий корреспондент
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий! Глупость беспартийную выкинь!.. (РОСТА)
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий, читай постановление СТО от 15 июня 1921 года (Главполитпросвет №222)
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.