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:
- Lines written on a Bank-note by Robert Burns
- Quest for Thee by Vanessa Perkins
- Владимир Высоцкий – Штормит весь вечер, и, пока
- Epigram on an Innkeeper (“The Marquis”) by Robert Burns
- Childhood by Margaret Walker
- An Extempore poem – John Keats poems
- Robert Burns: Second Epistle to Davie: A Brother Poet
- Владимир Луговской – Мертвый хватает живого
- The Ordination by Robert Burns
- Olney Hymn 63: Not Of Works by William Cowper
- View From The Top Of Black Comb by William Wordsworth
- Игорь Северянин – Щит-солнце
- To a Young Child poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Sonnet 73: That time of year thou mayst in me behold by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Маяковский – Собственную революцию удушив… (РОСТА №443)
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
- Алексей Жемчужников – Верста на старой дороге
- Алексей Жемчужников – В Европе
- Алексей Жемчужников – Уже давно иду я, утомленный
- Алексей Жемчужников – Умные политики
- Алексей Жемчужников – Ты прав
- Алексей Жемчужников – Так прочен в сердце и в мозгу
- Алексей Жемчужников – Столковались
- Алексей Жемчужников – Старик
- Алексей Жемчужников – Современному гражданину
- Алексей Жемчужников – Сословные речи
- Алексей Жемчужников – Сняла с меня судьба
- Алексей Жемчужников – Сказка о живых мертвецах
- Алексей Жемчужников – Себе
- Алексей Жемчужников – Раскаяние
- Алексей Жемчужников – Радостные куплеты
- Алексей Жемчужников – Привет весны
- Алексей Жемчужников – Примирение
- Алексей Жемчужников – Причина разногласия
- Алексей Жемчужников – Прелюдия к прощальным песням
- Алексей Жемчужников – Полевые цветы
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.