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.
A few random poems:
- Further You Go Longer You Stay
- Orlando Furioso Canto 24 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Олег Бундур – Кто идет?
- In The Hills Of Shiloh by Shel Silverstein
- Омар Хайям – О, если б, захватив с собой стихов диван
- In Paths Untrodden. by Walt Whitman
- Acceptance by Robert Frost
- Гавриил Державин – Надежда на бога
- The Common Life by W H Auden
- Crazy Jane On The Day Of Judgment by William Butler Yeats
- Parliament Hill Fields by Sylvia Plath
- Outsong in the Jungle by Rudyard Kipling
- Николай Гумилев – Когда я был влюблен
- Ibant Obscur? by Thomas Edward Brown
- Олег Бундур – Школа живёт
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: Poem On Pastoral Poetry :
- Robert Burns: On Glenriddell’s Fox Breaking His Chain: A Fragment
- Robert Burns: The Posie :
- Robert Burns: What Can A Young Lassie Do Wi’ An Auld Man:
- Robert Burns: The Charms Of Lovely Davies:
- Robert Burns: Epigram On Miss Davies: On being asked why she had been formed so little, and Mrs. A-so big.
- Robert Burns: The Bonie Wee Thing:
- Robert Burns: Craigieburn Wood:
- Robert Burns: Lines Sent To Sir John Whiteford, Bart: With The Lament On The Death Of the Earl Of Glencairn
- Robert Burns: Lament For James, Earl Of Glencairn:
- Robert Burns: The Banks O’ Doon: Third Version
- Robert Burns: The Banks O’ Doon: Second Version
- Robert Burns: The Banks O’ Doon: First Version
- Robert Burns: Out Over The Forth:
- Robert Burns: There’ll Never Be Peace Till Jamie Comes Hame:
- Robert Burns: Lament Of Mary, Queen Of Scots, On The Approach Of Spring:
- Robert Burns: Elegy On The Late Miss Burnet Of Monboddo :
- Robert Burns: On The Birth Of A Posthumous Child: Born in peculiar circumstances of family distress.
- Robert Burns: Tam O’ Shanter: A Tale
- Robert Burns: Verses On Captain Grose: Written on an Envelope, enclosing a Letter to Him.
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
