When I kneel down the dawn is only breaking;
Sleep fetters still the brown wings of the lark;
The wind blows pure and cool, for day is waking,
But stars are scattered still about the dark.
With open lattice, looking out and praying,
Ere yet the toil and trouble must be faced,
I see a silvery glimmer straying, straying,
To where the faint grey sky-line can be traced:
I see it slowly deepen, broaden, brighten,
With soft snow-fringes sweeping to the land;
The sheeny distance clear, and gleam, and whiten;
The cool cliff-shadows sharpen on the sand.
Some other sea the sunlight is adorning,
But mine is fair ‘neath waning stars and moon.
O friendly face!-O smile that comes at morning,
To shine through all the frowns that come at noon!
A beautiful wet opal-pale tints filling
A thousand shifting shallows-day at length.
The sweet, salt breeze, like richest wine, is thrilling
My drowsy heart and brain with life and strength.
I hear the voice of waters-strong waves dashing
Their white crests on the brown weed-sprinkled sod;
I hear the soft, continuous, measured plashing-
The pulse that vibrates from the heart of God,-
The long wash of the tide upon the shingle,
The rippling ebb of breakers on the shore,
Wherewith my prayers are fain to blend and mingle-
Whereto I set my dreams for evermore.
I hear the lap and swirl, I hear the thunder
In the dark grotto where the children play,-
Where walls to keep the sea and cave asunder,
And frail shell towers, were reared but yesterday.
The flood has filled my soul, and it is sweeping
My foolish stones and pebbles out to sea,
And floating in strange riches for my keeping,-
O friend! O God! I owe my best to Thee.
The best of every day, its peace and beauty,
From Thy mysterious treasure-house is drawn;
Thou teachest me the grace of life and duty,
When we two walk together in the dawn.
A few random poems:
- Вера Звягинцева – Качаешься в гробу стеклянном
- Федор Сологуб – Ландыш пленительный
- Ярослав Смеляков – Стихи, написанные в псковской гостинице
- The Portrait by Siegfried Sassoon
- Miracles by Paul Hostovsky
- Cloris, it is not thy disdaine by Sidney Godolphin
- The Rape of the Lock: Canto 1 poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Epitaph On Fop, A Dog Belonging To Lady Throckmorton by William Cowper
- Farewell To Florida by Wallace Stevens
- Стефан Малларме – Дар поэмы
- Ольга Берггольц – 27 января 1945 года
- Яков Полонский – Памяти С. Я. Надсона
- Владимир Костров – Романс
- Олег Григорьев – Драка
- English Poetry. Rupert Chawner Brooke. In Examination. Руперт Брук.
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
- Sonnet 12
- Sonnet 11
- Sonnet 10
- Sonnet 08
- Sonnet 07
- Sonnet 06
- Sonnet 05
- Sonnet 04
- Sonnet 03
- Sonnet 02
- Sonnet 01
- Resurgam
- Rendezvous
- Paris
- On The Cliffs Newport
- On A Theme In The Greek Anthology
- Maktoob
- Lyonesse
- Liebestod
- La Nue
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
Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.