A poem by Alan Dugan
by Al Mutanabbi
Resolutions are measured against those who make them; generosity in accordance with the giver.
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Littleness is magnified by small men, while grandeur is deprecated by the great.
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Sayf al-Dawla imposes upon the army his will, yet seasoned armies cannot achieve it.
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He asks from men all that he has in himself, though even lions would not claim to match that.
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Dose al-Hadath know of its red color? Or which of the two pourers was a cloud?
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White-streaked clouds had watered al-Hadath before his arrival; when he approached, it was inundated with skulls.
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The enemy came at you, hauling their weapons as if they traveled on legless horses.
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When their ranks caught the light, their swords remained unseen, since their shirts and turbans were also made from steel.
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You stayed where you were, when doing so meant certain death: as if perdition itself slept while you stood in its eyelid.
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Wounded and fleeting, heroes passed you by, while your face remained bright and your lips, smiling.
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You surpassed the bounds of courage and understanding, until people claimed that you knew the unseen.
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To you belongs the praise for these pearls I pronounce; you are the giver, I the arranger.
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Oh, Sword never sheathed, whom none can doubt and from whom there is no refuge.
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Blessed are warfare, glory and eminence; blessed are your subjects and all of Islam, for you are safe!
Copyright ©:
Translated by Nancy Coffin

A few random poems:
- Олег Бундур – Сон
- Dedication by Rudyard Kipling
- Address to the Toothache by Robert Burns
- Николай Заболоцкий – Кулак, владыка батраков
- Robert Burns: Lines To Mr. John Kennedy:
- Robert Burns: I do Confess Thou Art Sae Fair: Alteration of an Old Poem.
- Jerusalem Delivered – Book 02 – part 07 by Torquato Tasso
- Ольга Берггольц – Ласточки над обрывом
- Владимир Высоцкий – Свадебная
- Sonnet 07
- Story by Stephen Dunn
- Кондратий Рылеев – Гусь и змия
- First Light
- Ольга Седакова – Московские картинки
- Владимир Маяковский – Старый мотив (РОСТА №137)
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 Fascination Of What’s Difficult by William Butler Yeats
- The Falling Of The Leaves by William Butler Yeats
- The Everlasting Voices by William Butler Yeats
- The Double Vision Of Michael Robartes by William Butler Yeats
- The Dolls by William Butler Yeats
- The Delphic Oracle Upon Plotinus by William Butler Yeats
- The Dawn by William Butler Yeats
- The Dancer At Cruachan And Cro-Patrick by William Butler Yeats
- The Curse Of Cromwell by William Butler Yeats
- The Crazed Moon by William Butler Yeats
- The Countess Cathleen In Paradise by William Butler Yeats
- The Coming Of Wisdom With Time by William Butler Yeats
- The Cold Heaven by William Butler Yeats
- The Cloak, The Boat And The Shoes by William Butler Yeats
- The Circus Animals’ Desertion by William Butler Yeats
- The Choice by William Butler Yeats
- The Chambermaid’s First Song by William Butler Yeats
- The Chambermaid’s Second Song by William Butler Yeats
- The Peacock by William Butler Yeats
- The O’Rahilly by William Butler Yeats
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
Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.