A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
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:
- The Captive by Rudyard Kipling
- I Hear America Singing. by Walt Whitman
- Владимир Маяковский – Частушки
- Аля Кудряшева – Осень в городе
- So Small, So Vital
- Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast As Thou Art poem – John Keats poems
- Passion Of My Heart by Stevens Cadet
- Омар Хайям – Где вы, друзья! Где вольный ваш припев?
- Perfections. by Walt Whitman
- Алексей Плещеев – Ее мне жаль
- Ольга Берггольц – Романс стойкого оловянного солдатика
- Delilah by Rudyard Kipling
- Николай Заболоцкий – Движение
- Greek Light
- New Hampshire by Robert Frost
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
- Владимир Корнилов – Чистый лист
- Владимир Корнилов – Черный день
- Владимир Корнилов – Боль
- Владимир Корнилов – Белые слоны
- Владимир Корнилов – Беатриче
- Владимир Корнилов – АЯМ
- Владимир Корнилов – Арена
- Владимир Корнилов – Анафемский сон
- Владимир Корнилов – 26 апреля
- Владимир Лифшиц – Вступление
- Владимир Лифшиц – Сверчок
- Владимир Лифшиц – Грустная шутка
- Владимир Лифшиц – Баллада о черством куске
- Владимир Ладыженский – Христос Воскрес, скворцы поют
- Владимир Костров – Закат приморский умирает
- Владимир Костров – Я стою, как дерево в лесу
- Владимир Костров – Выходец из волости лесистой
- Владимир Костров – Вот женщина с седыми волосами
- Владимир Костров – Вот избушка
- Владимир Костров – Видение на озере
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
