Granny

Here, in her elbow chair, she sits

A soul alert, alive,

A poor old body shrunk and bent-

The queen-bee of the hive.

But hives of bees and hives of men

Obey their several laws;

No fiercely-loving filial throng

This mother-head adores.

This bringer of world-wealth, whereof

None may compute the worth,

Is possibly of no account

To anyone on earth.

Her cap and spectacles, that mean

Dim eyes and scanty hairs,

The humble symbols of her state-

The only crown she wears.

Lacking a kingdom and a court,

A relic of the past,

Almost a cumberer of the ground-

That is our queen at last.

But still not wholly without place,

Nor quite bereft of power;

A useful stopgap-a resource

In many a troubled hour.

She darns the stockings, keeps the house,

The nurseless infant tends,

While the young matrons and the men

Pursue their various ends-

Too keen-set on their great affairs,

Or little plays and pranks,

The things and people of their world,

To give her thought or thanks-

The children on whom all her thought

And time and love were spent

Through half a century of years!

Yet is she well content.

The schooling of those fiery years,

It has not been for nought;

A large philosophy of life

Has self-less service taught.

The outlook from the heights attained

By climbings sore and slow

Discovers worlds of wisdom, hid

From clearest eyes below.

So calmly, in her elbow chair,

Forgotten and alone,

She knits and dreams, and sometimes sighs

But never makes a moan.

Still dwelling with her brood unseen-

Ghosts of a bygone day-

The precious daughter in her grave,

The dear son gone astray-

And others, to whom once she stood

As only light and law,

The near and living, and yet lost,

That need her love no more.

Watching their joyous setting forth

To mingle with their kind,

With scarce a pang, with ne’er a grudge,

At being left behind.

“Let them be young, as I was young,

And happy while they may” . . . .

A dog that waits the night in peace

Since it has had its day.

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 

• Владимир Костров – В керосиновой лампе by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Утро в Заборье by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – У них в делах анархия и жуть by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – То в ночи она вспыхнет, как спичка by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Сверстницам by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Старый сюжет by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Срок настал, московская богема by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Смуту и безверье не приемль by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Романс by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Просыпаюсь от сердечной боли by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Поток ушедших лет by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Поплачь, любимая, поплачь by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Полон взгляд тихой боли и страха by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Поэтессе by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Письмо в никуда by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Памяти Николая Анциферова by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Отшумели сады, отзвенела вода by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Новогодняя ночь by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Не трогайте жанр by Поэзия На Русском
• Владимир Костров – Не банкира, не детей Арбата by Поэзия На Русском

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