A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
Semichorus.
Oh Tyrant Love! hast thou possest
The prudent, learn’d, and virtuous breast?
Wisdom and wit in vain reclaim,
And Arts but soften us to feel thy flame.
Love, soft intruder, enters here,
But ent’ring learns to be sincere.
Marcus with blushes owns he loves,
And Brutus tenderly reproves.
Why, Virtue, dost thou blame desire,
Which Nature has imprest?
Why, Nature, dost thou soonest fire
The mild and gen’rous breast?
Chorus.
Love’s purer flames the Gods approve;
The Gods and Brutus bent to love:
Brutus for absent Portia sighs,
And sterner Cassius melts at Junia’s eyes.
What is loose love? a transient gust,
Spent in a sudden storm of lust,
A vapour fed from wild desire,
A wand’ring, self-consuming fire,
But Hymen’s kinder flames unite;
And burn for ever one;
Chaste as cold Cynthia’s virgin light,
Productive as the Sun.
Semichorus.
Oh source of ev’ry social tie,
United wish, and mutual joy!
What various joys on one attend,
As son, as father, brother husband, friend?
Whether his hoary sire he spies,
While thousand grateful thoughts arise;
Or meets his spouse’s fonder eye;
Or views his smiling progeny;
What tender passions take their turns,
What home-felt raptures move?
His heart now melts, now leaps, now burns,
With rev’rence, hope, and love.
Chorus.
Hence guilty joys, distastes, surmises,
Hence false tears, deceits, disguises,
Dangers, doubts, delays, surprises;
Fires that scorch, yet dare not shine
Purest love’s unwasting treasure,
Constant faith, fair hope, long leisure,
Days of ease, and nights of pleasure;
Sacred Hymen! these are thine.
A few random poems:
- Of Him I Love Day and Night. by Walt Whitman
- Ballad of the Army Carts by Tu Fu
- Алишер Навои – Чудесные свершения середины жизни
- Василий Жуковский – Библия
- Passer-By, These Are Words by Yves Bonnefoy
- Is Hiring a Resume Writer Really Worth It?
- Gin by Philip Levine
- Владимир Высоцкий – Охота на кабанов
- Epitaph on John Rankine by Robert Burns
- Aunt Jennifer039s Tigers
- Николай Некрасов – Я посягну на неприличность
- Владимир Высоцкий – Грустная песня о Ванечке
- Низами Гянджеви – Ну, как живешь
- Answer Copy Verses Sent Me Jersey
- Геннадий Айги – Два эпилога
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
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Evasion. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
- 10 Valentine’s Day Scrapbooking Ideas With or Without Photos
- The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram With Translation and Notes – Part II
- Learn Numbers With Fun Counting Rhymes For Kids
- African Artists’ Painting Inspiration
- Self-Care for Creative Artists: 10 Reasons To Care About It
- Creativity Tool – The Five Senses
- Love, Romance, Relationship: Some Poetic Scenes!
- Whisper of the Star
- Comments: How to Write a Critical Appreciation of a Poem
- One Great Christmas Verse, Three Incomparable Gifts
- Reviewing When We Were Slugs!
- Breathing Stars, Inspiration and the Labyrinth of Correspondence
- Grow Up: Time to Give Up Your YA Books
- Writing Science Poetry
- In These Present Times How Worried Should We Be?
- 5 Top Sources of Inspiration That Will Help You Become a Successful Entrepreneur
- How to Write Creative Non-fiction
- Creative Writing For Stress Relief
- Publishing Poetry – How To Locate The Best Markets Where You Can See Your Poems In Print
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 Pope (1688 – 1744) was a a post-Restoration English poet and satirist. He is a poet of the (British) Augustan period and one of its greatest artistic exponents.