In Imitation of E. of Rochester : On Silence poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster

A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

I.

Silence! coeval with Eternity;

Thou wert, ere Nature’s-self began to be,

‘Twas one vast Nothing, all, and all slept fast in thee.

II.

Thine was the sway, ere heav’n was form’d, or earth,

Ere fruitful Thought conceiv’d creation’s birth,

Or midwife Word gave aid, and spoke the infant forth.

III.

Then various elements, against thee join’d,

In one more various animal combin’d,

And fam’d the clam’rous race of busy Human-kind.

IV.

The tongue mov’d gently first, and speech was low,

‘Till wrangling Science taught it noise and show,

And wicked Wit arose, thy most abusive foe.

V.

But rebel Wit deserts thee oft’ in vain;

Lost in the maze of words he turns again,

And seeks a surer state, and courts thy gentle reign.

VI.

Afflicted Sense thou kindly dost set free,

Oppress’d with argumental tyranny,

And routed Reason finds a safe retreat in thee.

VII.

With thee in private modest Dulness lies,

And in thy bosom lurks in Thought’s disguise;

Thou varnisher of Fools, and cheat of all the Wise!

VIII.

Yet thy indulgence is by both confest;

Folly by thee lies sleeping in the breast,

And ’tis in thee at last that Wisdom seeks for rest.

IX.

Silence the knave’s repute, the whore’s good name,

The only honour of the wishing dame;

Thy very want of tongue makes thee a kind of Fame.

X.

But could’st thou seize some tongues that now are free,

How Church and State should be oblig’d to thee!

At Senate, and at Bar, how welcome would’st thou be!

XI.

Yet speech ev’n there, submissively withdraws,

From rights of subjects, and the poor man’s cause:

Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy Laws.

XII.

Past services of friends, good deeds of foes,

What Fav’rites gain, and what the Nation owes,

Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repose.

XIII.

The country wit, religion of the town,

The courtier’s learning, policy o’ th’ gown,

Are best by thee express’d; and shine in thee alone.

XIV.

The parson’s cant, the lawyer’s sophistry,

Lord’s quibble, critic’s jest; all end in thee,

All rest in peace at last, and sleep eternally.

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 

• Robert Burns: The Farewell: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Stanzas On Naething: Extempore Epistle to Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Lines Written On A Banknote: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Lines To Mr. John Kennedy: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Motto Prefixed To The Author’s First Publication: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Lines To An Old Sweetheart: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: The Lass O’ Ballochmyle: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Epitaph On “Wee Johnie”: Hic Jacet wee Johnie. by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Epitaph For Gavin Hamilton, Esq.: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Epitaph For Robert Aiken, Esq.: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: A Bard’s Epitaph: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Farewell To Eliza: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: On A Scotch Bard, Gone To The West Indies: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: The Farewell To the Brethren of St. James’ Lodge, Tarbolton: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Versified Note To Dr. Mackenzie, Mauchline: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: A Dedication : To Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: A Dream: Thoughts, words, and deeds, the Statute blames with reason; But surely Dreams were ne’er indicted Treason. On reading, in the public papers, the Laureate’s Ode, with the other parade of June 4th, 1786, the Author was no sooner dropt asleep, than he imagined himself transported to the Birth-day Levee: and, in his dreaming fancy, made the following Address: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Address Of Beelzebub: To the Right Honourable the Earl of Breadalbane, President of the Right Honourable and Honourable the Highland Society, which met on the 23rd of May last at the Shakespeare, Covent Garden, to concert ways and means to frustrate the designs of five hundred Highlanders, who, as the Society were informed by Mr. M’Kenzie of Applecross, were so audacious as to attempt an escape from their lawful lords and masters whose property they were, by emigrating from the lands of Mr. Macdonald of Glengary to the wilds of Canada, in search of that fantastic thing-Liberty. by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: Epistle To A Young Friend: by Robert Burns
• Robert Burns: My Highland Lassie, O: by Robert Burns

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