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:
- Earth the Healer, Earth the Keeper by William Morris
- What The Doctor Said by Raymond Carver
- Sometimes….Life’s A Beach by Stevens Cadet
- Владимир Корнилов – Повторение
- Владимир Маяковский – Реклама журнала “Огонек”
- Sleep of the Body the Soul’s Awakening by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
- The Beast by Sylvia Plath
- The Frantic by Mark Miller
- Олег Сердобольский – Корова и божья коровка
- Вероника Тушнова – Я поняла, ты не хотел мне зла
- The Turn O’ The Days by William Barnes
- Resolved To Be Loved
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я верю в нашу общую звезду
- The Everlasting Voices by William Butler Yeats
- The Garden Of Kama Kama The Indian Eros
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
- Robert Burns: The Epitaph:
- Robert Burns: Elegy On Captain Matthew Henderson: A Gentleman who held the Patent for his Honours immediately from Almighty God.
- Robert Burns: Election Ballad: At the close of the contest for representing the Dumfries Burghs, 1790. Addressed to R. Graham, Esq. of Fintry.
- Robert Burns: Gudewife, Count The Lawin:
- Robert Burns: I Murder Hate:
- Robert Burns: The Gowden Locks Of Anna:
- Robert Burns: Elegy On Willie Nicol’s Mare:
- Robert Burns: Lines To A Gentleman,: Who had sent the Poet a Newspaper, and offered to continue it free of Expense.
- Robert Burns: Scots’ Prologue For Mr. Sutherland: On his Benefit-Night, at the Theatre, Dumfries.
- Robert Burns: Sketch -New Year’s Day [1790]: To Mrs. Dunlop.
- Robert Burns: Prologue Spoken At The Theatre Of Dumfries: On New Year’s Day Evening, 1790.
- Robert Burns: Election Ballad For Westerha’:
- Robert Burns: The Five Carlins: An Election Ballad
- Robert Burns: Epistle To Dr. Blacklock: Ellisland, 21st Oct., 1789
- Robert Burns: To Mary In Heaven:
- Robert Burns: The Whistle -A Ballad:
- Robert Burns: My Heart’s In The Highlands:
- Robert Burns: The Captive Ribband:
- Robert Burns: A Waukrife Minnie:
- Robert Burns: Awa’ Whigs, Awa’:
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