A Prayer

Spirit and Breath of Life, whate’er Thy name!

Bear with Thy creature, Man,

That makes his dwelling-place a blot of shame

Upon the Ordered Plan.

Not Thy hand, O Divine Designer, hurled

Athwart the starlit skies

One blood-stained, greed-diseased, hate-eaten world,

To shock celestial eyes.

Not Thy default, O Beautiful, this crust

Of fratricidal crime,

These maggot-breeds of hunger and of lust

That Thy fair work begrime.

But ours, who mock Thee from the highest place,

And in the light of day;

Who claim to lead an upward-struggling race,

And will not seek the way.

Guards of the human birthright, at Thy call-

A city sacked and burned;

Guards of the house that is the home of all,

But whence the weak are spurned.

Brothers, to whom the outcast brothers cry

As with a voice unknown;

Stewards of Nature’s bounty, that deny

The lawful heirs their own.

Thou that hast made us men, and earth so fair,

To be so vilely used,

Give space for late repentance and repair

Of sacred trust abused.

Give time, Eternal, that we stanch these tears,

Give time to heal this sore,

That our brief speck amid the shining spheres

Disgrace its birth no more.

But sail ethereal seas, an orb of light,

To bear Thy purpose on

Until it fades into the cosmic night

Where the dead worlds have gone.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

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 Толстой – Рука Алкида тяжела by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Рондо by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Растянулся на просторе by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Пустой дом by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Пусть тот, чья честь не без укора by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Против течения by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Толстой – Прогулка с подругой жизни by Алексей Константинович Толстой
• Алексей Ржевский – Сонет, три разные системы заключающий by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Рондо (И всякий так живет) by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Рок все теперь свершил, надежды больше нет by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Прости, Москва by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Портрет by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Ода Императору Петру Феодоровичу by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Как я стал знать взор твой by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский – Долго ль прельщаться by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Ржевский стихи: читать все стихотворения, поэмы поэта Алексей Ржевский – Поэзия на Poetry Monster by Алексей Ржевский
• Алексей Плещеев – Знакомые звуки, чудесные звуки by Алексей Плещеев
• Алексей Плещеев – Ёлка в школе by Алексей Плещеев
• Алексей Плещеев – Весна (Песни жаворонков снова) by Алексей Плещеев
• Алексей Плещеев – Весна by Алексей Плещеев

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works