Bathing River

The fish around her crowded, as they do

To the false light that treacherous fisher shew,

And all with as much ease might taken be,

As she at first took me;

For ne’er did light so clear

Among the waves appear,

Though every night the sun himself set there.

Why to mute fish shouldst thou thyself discover

And not to me, thy no less silent lover?

As some from men their buried gold commit

To ghosts, that have no use of it;

Half their rich treasures so

Maids bury; and for aught we know,

(Poor ignorants!) They’re mermaids all below.

The amorous waves would fain about her stay,

But still new amorous waves drive them away,

And with swift current to those joys they haste

That do as swiftly waste:

I laugh’d the wanton play to view;

But ‘t is, alas! at land so too,

And still old lovers yield the place to new.

Kiss her, and as you part, you amorous waves

(My happier rivals, and my fellow-slaves)

Point to your flowery banks, and to her shew

The good your bounties do;

Then tell her what your pride doth cost,

And how your use and beauty’s lost,

When rigorous winter binds you up with frost.

Tell her, her beauties and her youth, like thee,

Haste without stop to a devouring sea;

Where they will mix’d and undistinguish’d lie

With all the meanest things that die;

As in the ocean thou

No privilege dost know

Above th’ impurest streams that thither flow.

Tell her, kind flood! When this has made her sad,

Tell her there’s yet one remedy to be had;

Show her how thou, though long since past, dost find

Thyself yet still behind:

Marriage (say to her) will bring

About the self-same thing.

But she, fond maid, shuts and seals-up the spring.

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 

• The Licorice Fields at Pontefract poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• The Last Laugh poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• The Irish Unionist’s farewell to Greta Hellastrom in 1922 poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• The Hon. Sec. poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• The Cottage Hospital poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Sun and Fun poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• South London Sketch poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Slough poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Senex poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Seaside Golf poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• On a Portrait of a Deaf Man poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Myfanwy poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Mortality poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Middlesex poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Meditation on the A30 poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Loneliness poem – John Betjeman poems by John Betjeman
• Ireland With Emily poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry by John Betjeman
• Inexpensive Progress poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry by John Betjeman
• In Westminster Abbey poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry by John Betjeman
• How To Get On In Society poem – John Betjeman poems | Poems and Poetry by John Betjeman

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.

 

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