Disappointment

Oh, come, Beloved, before my beauty fades,

Pity the sorrow of my loneliness.

I am a Rosebush that the Cypress shades,

No sunbeams find or lighten my distress.

Daily I watch the waning of my bloom.

Ah, piteous fading of a thing so fair!

While Fate, remorseless, weaving at her loom,

Twines furtive silver in my twisted hair.

This noon I watched a tremulous fading rose

Rise on the wind to court a butterfly.

“One speck of pollen, ere my petals close,

Bring me one touch of love before I die!”

But the gay butterfly, who had the power

To grant, refused, flew far across the dell,

And, as he fertilised a younger flower,

The petals of the rose, defrauded, fell.

Such was my fate, thou hast not come to me,

Thine eyes are absent, and thy voice is mute,

Though I am slim, as this Papaya tree,

With breasts out-pointing, even as its fruit.

Beauty was mine, it brought me no caress,

My lips were red, yet there were none to taste,

I saw my youth consume in loneliness,

And all the fervour of my heart run waste.

While I still hoped that Thou would’st come to me,

I and the garden waited for their Lord.

Here He will rest, beneath this Champa tree;

Hence, all ye spike-set grasses from the sward!

In this cool rillet I shall bathe His feet,

Come, rounded pebbles from a smoother shore.

This is the honey that His lips will eat,

Hasten, O bees, enhance the amber store!

Ripen, ye Custard Apples, round and fair,

Practise your songs, O Bulbuls, on the bough,

Surely some sweeter sweetness haunts the air;

Maybe His feet draw near us, even now!

Disperse, ye fireflies, clustered on the palm,

Love heeds no lamp, he welcomes moonless skies:

Soon shall ye find, O stars, serene and calm,

Your sparkling rivals in my lover’s eyes!

Closely I wove my leafy Jasmin bowers,

Hoping to hide my pleasure and my shame,

Where the Lantana’s indecisive flowers

Vary from palest rose to orange flame.

Ay, there were lovely hours, ‘neath fern and palm,

Almost my aching longing I forgot.

White nights of silence, noons of golden calm,

All past, all wasted, since Thou camest not!

Night after night the Champa trees distilled

Their cruel sweetness on the careless air.

Noon after noon I watched the Bulbuls build,

And saw with hungry eyes the Sun-birds pair.

None came, and none will come; no use to wait,–

Youth’s fragrance dies, its tender light dies down.

I will arise, before it grows too late,

And seek the noisy brilliance of the town.

These many waiting years I longed for gold,

Now must I needs console me with alloy.

Before this beauty fades, this pulse grows cold,

I may not love, I will at least enjoy!

Farewell, my Solitude of scented flowers,

Across whose glades the emerald parrots gleam,

Haunt of false hope, and home of wasted hours,

I am awake, at last,–Guard thou the dream!

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 

• Иван Крылов – Ода, выбранная из псалма 14-го by Иван Крылов
• Иван Крылов – Лиса-строитель (Басня) by Иван Крылов
• Иван Крылов – Лев состаревшийся (Басня) by Иван Крылов
• Иван Козлов – Умирающая Эрменгарда by Иван Козлов
• Иван Коневской – Воскресение by Иван Коневской
• Иван Коневской – В небывалое by Иван Коневской
• Иван Елагин – Спрашивал ответа by Иван Елагин
• Иван Дмитриев – Сверчки by Иван Дмитриев
• Иван Дмитриев – Старик и трое молодых by Иван Дмитриев
• Иван Дмитриев – Смерть и Умирающий by Иван Дмитриев
• Иван Дмитриев – Слепец, Собака его и Школьник by Иван Дмитриев
• Иван Дмитриев – Шарлатан by Иван Дмитриев
• Иван Демьянов – Парикмахер рак-омар by Иван Демьянов
• Иван Демьянов – Одежкин домик by Иван Демьянов
• Иван Бунин – Норд-ост by Иван Бунин
• Иван Бунин – Ночного неба свод далекий by Иван Бунин
• Иван Бунин – Ночлег by Иван Бунин
• Иван Бунин – Ночь идет, и темнеет by Иван Бунин
• Иван Бунин – Никогда вы не воскреснете, не встанете by Иван Бунин
• Иван Бунин – Нет солнца, но светлы пруды by Иван Бунин

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.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

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