A poem by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) , the greatest English poet of “Augustan” or Georgian period
I.
In ev’ry Town, where Thamis rolls his Tyde,
A narrow pass there is, with Houses low;
Where ever and anon, the Stream is ey’d,
And many a Boat soft sliding to and fro.
There oft are heard the notes of Infant Woe,
The short thick Sob, loud Scream, and shriller Squall:
How can ye, Mothers, vex your Children so?
Some play, some eat, some cack against the wall,
And as they crouchen low, for bread and butter call.
II.
And on the broken pavement, here and there,
Doth many a stinking sprat and herring lie;
A brandy and tobacco shop is near,
And hens, and dogs, and hogs are feeding by;
And here a sailor’s jacket hangs to dry.
At ev’ry door are sun-burnt matrons seen,
Mending old nets to catch the scaly fry;
Now singing shrill, and scolding eft between;
Scolds answer foul-mouth’d scolds; bad neighbourhood I ween.
III.
The snappish cur, (the passengers’ annoy)
Close at my heel with yelping treble flies;
The whimp’ring girl, and hoarser-screaming boy,
Join to the yelping treble shrilling cries;
The scolding Quean to louder notes doth rise,
And her full pipes those shrilling cries confound;
To her full pipes the grunting hog replies;
The grunting hogs alarm the neighbours round,
And curs, girls, boys, and scolds, in the deep bass are drown’d.
IV.
Hard by a Sty, beneath a roof of thatch,
Dwelt Obloquy, who in her early days
Baskets of fish at Billingsgate did watch,
Cod, whiting, oyster, mackrel, sprat, or plaice:
There learn’d she speech from tongues that never cease.
Slander beside her, like a Mag-pie, chatters,
With Envy, (spitting Cat) dread foe to peace;
Like a curs’d Cur, Malice before her clatters,
And vexing ev’ry wight, tears clothes and all to tatters.
V.
Her dugs were mark’d by ev’ry Collier’s hand,
Her mouth was black as bull-dogs at the stall:
She scratch’d, bit, and spar’d ne lace ne band,
And bitch and rogue her answer was to all;
Nay, e’en the parts of shame by name would call:
Yea, when she passed by or lane or nook,
Would greet the man who turn’d him to the Wall,
And by his hand obscene the porter took,
Nor ever did askance like modest Virgin look.
VI.
Such place hath Deptford, navy-building town,
Woolwich and Wapping smelling strong of pitch;
Such Lambeth, envy of each band and gown,
And Twick’nam such, which fairer scenes enrich,
Grots, statues, urns, and Johnston’s Dog and Bitch,
Ne village is without, on either side,
All up the silver Thames, or all adown;
Ne Richmond’s self, from whose tall front are ey’d
Vales, spires, meandring streams, and Windsor’s tow’ry pride.
A few random poems:
- Felix Randal poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- How cruel are the parents by Robert Burns
- Яков Полонский – По горам две хмурых тучи
- Thoughts in a Garden poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- To Sir William Davenant
- In Imitation of E. of Dorset : Artemisia poem – Alexander Pope
- Five Songs – II by W H Auden
- A Friend’s Illness by William Butler Yeats
- Book Seventh [Residence in London] by William Wordsworth
- Гавриил Державин – Похвала комару
- Николай Языков – Песни (Душа героев и певцов)
- Point Shirley by Sylvia Plath
- Кондратий Рылеев – Как солнце ни блестит и как оно ни светит
- Victory
- Ale by William Henry Davies
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 Высоцкий – Сколько павших бойцов полегло вдоль дорог
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сколько чудес за туманами кроется
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сказка о несчастных сказочных персонажах
- Владимир Высоцкий – Сивка-Бурка
- Владимир Высоцкий – Штормит весь вечер, и, пока
- Владимир Высоцкий – Звезды
- Владимир Высоцкий – Знать бы все до конца бы и сразу б
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жизни после смерти нет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Живёт на свете человек
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жил-был человек, который очень много видел
- Владимир Высоцкий – Жан, Жак, Гийом, Густав нормальные французы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Здравствуй, “Юность”
- Владимир Высоцкий – Здесь сидел ты, Валет
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заживайте, раны мои
- Владимир Высоцкий – Зарисовка о Ленинграде
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заповедник
- Владимир Высоцкий – Запись в книге почётных гостей ВНИИФТРИ
- Владимир Высоцкий – Запись в книге почётных гостей Киевского завода шампанских вин
- Владимир Высоцкий – Заказал я два коктейля
- Владимир Высоцкий – За окном только вьюга, смотри
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
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Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) was a a post-Restoration English poet and satirist. He is a poet of the (British) Augustan period and one of its greatest artistic exponents.