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:
- Алишер Навои – Украсишь ты свой наряд красным
- A Hymn To Venus by Sappho
- Two sparrows and my heart by Nizar Sartawi
- The Motherless Child by William Barnes
- Ольга Седакова – Филемон и Бавкида
- “Take not the Gods to task, for they are wise” poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Орлов – Март
- There Pass the Careless People poem – A. E. Housman
- “The Girt Woak Tree That’s In the Dell” by William Barnes
- Raise the head, child by Vinko Kalinić
- The Poor Fisherman
- Elegy II. On The Death Of The University Beadle At Cambridge (Translated From Milton) by William Cowper
- The Happy Townland by William Butler Yeats
- Unsaid by Victoria Bukofske
- A Saint Between Us by Satish Verma
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
- Альфред де Мюссе – Намуна
- Альфред де Мюссе – Майская ночь
- Альфред де Мюссе – Люси
- Альфред де Мюссе – Как лепестки весеннего цветка
- Альфред де Мюссе – Ива (Как придется мне покинуть свет)
- Альфред де Мюссе – Друзья мои! Когда умру я
- Альфред де Мюссе – Да, женщины, тут нет ошибки
- Альфред де Мюссе – Что так усиленно сердце больное
- Алексей Жемчужников – Знакомая картина
- Алексей Жемчужников – Зимнее чувство
- Алексей Жемчужников – Земля
- Алексей Жемчужников – Заметки о некоторой публицистике
- Алексей Жемчужников – Заколдованный месяц
- Алексей Жемчужников – Забудь их шумное волненье
- Алексей Жемчужников – За днями ненастными с темными тучами
- Алексей Жемчужников – Я музыкальным чувством обладаю
- Алексей Жемчужников – Всем хлеба
- Алексей Жемчужников – Возрождение
- Алексей Жемчужников – Воспоминание в деревне о Петербурге
- Алексей Жемчужников – Весна
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.