Against Hope

HOPE, whose weak Being ruin’d is,

Alike if it succeed, and if it miss ;

Whom Good or Ill does equally confound,

And both the Horns of Fates Dilemma wound.

Vain shadow! which dost vanish quite,

Both at full Noon, and perfect Night !

The Stars have not a possibility

Of blessing Thee ;

If things then from their End we happy call,

‘Tis Hope is the most Hopeless thing of all.

Hope, thou bold Taster of Delight,

Who whilst thou shouldst but tast, devour’st it quite !

Thou bringst us an Estate, yet leav’st us Poor,

By clogging it with Legacies before !

The Joys which we entire should wed,

Come deflowr’d Virgins to our bed ;

Good fortunes without gain imported be,

Such mighty Custom’s paid to Thee.

For Joy, like Wine, kept close does better tast ;

If it take air before, its spirits wast.

Hope, Fortunes cheating Lottery !

Where for one prize an hundred blanks there be ;

Fond Archer, Hope, who tak’st thy aim so far,

That still or short, or wide thine arrows are !

Thin, empty Cloud, which th’ eye deceives

With shapes that our own Fancy gives !

A Cloud, which gilt and painted now appears,

But must drop presently in tears !

When thy false beams o’er Reasons light prevail,

By Ignes fatui for North-Stars we sail.

Brother of Fear, more gaily clad !

The merr’ier Fool o’ th’ two, yet quite as Mad :

Sire of Repentance, Child of fond Desire !

That blow’st the Chymicks, and the Lovers fire !

Leading them still insensibly’on

By the strange witchcraft of Anon !

By Thee the one does changing Nature through

Her endless Labyrinths pursue,

And th’ other chases Woman, whilst She goes

More ways and turns than hunted Nature knows.

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 

• Sorrow’s Importunity poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Songs From “Prince Lucifer” I – Grave-Digger’s Song poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Songs From “Prince Lucifer” II – Mother-Song poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Songs From “Prince Lucifer” I – Grave-Digger’s Song poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Since We Must Die poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• “`Shepherd swains that feed your flocks” poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Shelley’s Death poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Shelley’s Death poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• “Sadder than lark when lowering” poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Sacred And Profane Love poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• “`Roses crimson, roses white” poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• On Returning To England poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Resignation poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Primacy Of Mind poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Primacy Of Mind poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Polyphemus poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Poet’s Corner poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Poet’s Corner poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Pax Britannica poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin
• Outside The Village Church poem – Alfred Austin by Alfred Austin

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