A poem by Alexander Block – Alexandre Block – Alexandr Blok – Александр Блок
(1880-1921)
In your hidden memories
There are fatal tidings of doom…
A curse on sacred traditions,
A desecration of happiness;
And a power so alluring
That I am ready to repeat the rumour
That you have brought angels down from heaven,
Enticing them with your beauty…
And when you mock at faith,
That pale, greyish-purple halo
Which I once saw before
Suddenly begins to shine above you.
Are you evil or good? You are altogether from another world
They say strange things about you
For some you are the Muse and a miracle.
For me you are torment and hell.
I do not know why in the hour of dawn,
When no strength was left to me,
I did not perish, but caught sight of your face
And begged you to comfort me.
I wanted us to be enemies;
Why then did you make me a present
Of a flowery meadow and of the starry firmament —
The whole curse of your beauty?
Your fearful caresses were more treacherous
Than the northern night,
More intoxicating than the golden champagne of Aï,
Briefer than a gypsy woman’s love…
And there was a fatal pleasure
In trampling on cherished and holy things;
And this passion, bitter as wormwood,
Was a frenzied delight for the heart!

A few random poems:
- Ale by William Henry Davies
- Winter Violets poem – Alfred Austin
- What the Sexton Said by Vachel Lindsay
- Humankind – How Limitless In Genius by Michael Levy
- Владимир Британишский – Ностальгия
- Николай Языков – Песня (Дороже почестей и злата)
- Вероника Тушнова – Мне говорят, нету такой любви
- Fiesta Melons by Sylvia Plath
- Think No More, Lad poem – A. E. Housman
- Meditation With Feet
- Recollection of the Arabian Nights poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Sonnet 93: So shall I live, supposing thou art true by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Маяковский – Бюрократиада
- Girl’s Song by William Butler Yeats
- Why do ye torture me? by Patrick Pearse
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
- In Imitation of E. of Rochester : On Silence poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of E. of Dorset : Artemisia poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Dr. Swift : The Happy Life of a Country Parson poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Cowley : The Garden poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- In Imitation of Chaucer poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Impromptu, to Lady Winchelsea poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Imitations of Horace: The First Epistle of the Second Book poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- From an Essay on Man poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Essay on Man poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle IV, To Richard Boyle, poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle II: To A Lady (Of the Characters of Women) poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle To Mrs Teresa Blount.[On Her Leaving The Town After The Coronation] poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle To Mrs Teresa Blount.[On Her Leaving The Town After The Coronation] poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Eloisa to Abelard poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Couplets on Wit poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Chorus of Youths and Virgins poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Chorus of Athenians poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
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
Alexander Blok (1880-1921), also Block, was a Russian poet, writer, publicist, playwright, translator and literary critic. A classic of Russian literature.