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:
- Trial by Ruth Padel
- To Mrs. M. B. On Her Birthday poem – Alexander Pope
- Schoolroom On A Wet Afternoon by Vernon Scannell
- Николай Карамзин – Рогатому человеку
- At Her Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- Владимир Маяковский – Головотяпам
- Mahomet Ali Beg; Or, the Faithful Minister of State by William Somervile
- Николай Гумилев – Любовь весной
- Far Out by Philip Larkin
- Bathing In The River
- I Don’t Know If History Repeats Itself by Yehuda Amichai
- Sonnet 117: Accuse me thus: that I have scanted all by William Shakespeare
- To a Childless Woman by Siegfried Sassoon
- Back Home by Vladimir Mayakovsky
- The Water-Spring In The Leäne by William Barnes
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
- Taita Falcon above the Zambezi by Tom Mukasa
- Steeds of Autumn by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Sorry by Tom Mukasa
- Ribbons & Pearls by Timothy Cole
- Racial Memories of a Chickadee by Todd H. C. Fischer
- My Miracle Valentine by Tirtha Raj Baral (Sanu Punatare)
- Mother’s Day, 1993 by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Mother Earth; Her Beauty And Her Destruction by TMBedell
- Manifestations by Tom Shea
- Love’s Divinest Power by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- In Token Of The Love You Gave by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Imbrium by Todd H. C. Fischer
- I Make My bed Of Roses by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Gentle Heart, Indulge Thy Dreaming by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Edgar Allan Poe by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Cenotaph, Manitoulin Island by Todd H. C. Fischer
- Beyond The Veil by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- And Still to USA they get! by Tom Mukasa
- Walls at Drogheda by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
- The Death of Knowledge by Tomás Ó Cárthaigh
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.