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:
- Apprehensions by Sylvia Plath
- A Cross-Road Epitaph poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Lyfe by Stevens Cadet
- Олег Бундур – 1 сентября
- Innocent Steps by Vaishnavi Prakash
- To My Brother by Siegfried Sassoon
- София Парнок – Сегодня с неба день поспешней
- Out of Your Love by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- Matrimony by Mike Yuan
- Lamhe by Priyanka Tungana
- Burnt in contemplation by Nishant Deherkar
- Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns
- Sonnet 52: So am I as the rich whose blessèd key by William Shakespeare
- The Pact by Sharon Olds
- Upon Julia’s Breast by Marie Starr
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
- Nature’s Law: A Poem by Robert Burns
- My Highland Lassie, O by Robert Burns
- My Heart’s In The Highlands by Robert Burns
- My Girl she’s Airy: A Fragment by Robert Burns
- My Father was a Farmer: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Mr. William Smellie: A Sketch by Robert Burns
- Motto prefixed to the Author’s first Publication by Robert Burns
- Monody on a Lady, famed for her Caprice by Robert Burns
- Masonic Song—Ye Sons of Old Killie by Robert Burns
- Mary Morison by Robert Burns
- Man was made to Mourn: A Dirge by Robert Burns
- Lord Gregory: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- Lines Written under the Picture of Miss Burns by Robert Burns
- Lines written on a Bank-note by Robert Burns
- Lines to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart by Robert Burns
- Lines to Mr. John Kennedy by Robert Burns
- Lines to John Syme, Esq., with a dozen of Porter by Robert Burns
- Lines to John M’Murdo of Drumlanrig by Robert Burns
- Lines to an Old Sweetheart by Robert Burns
- Lines to a Gentleman who sent a Newspaper by Robert Burns
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.