A poem by Alan Seeger (1888-1916)
I who, conceived beneath another star,
Had been a prince and played with life, instead
Have been its slave, an outcast exiled far
From the fair things my faith has merited.
My ways have been the ways that wanderers tread
And those that make romance of poverty —
Soldier, I shared the soldier’s board and bed,
And Joy has been a thing more oft to me
Whispered by summer wind and summer sea
Than known incarnate in the hours it lies
All warm against our hearts and laughs into our eyes.
I know not if in risking my best days
I shall leave utterly behind me here
This dream that lightened me through lonesome ways
And that no disappointment made less dear;
Sometimes I think that, where the hilltops rear
Their white entrenchments back of tangled wire,
Behind the mist Death only can make clear,
There, like Brunhilde ringed with flaming fire,
Lies what shall ease my heart’s immense desire:
There, where beyond the horror and the pain
Only the brave shall pass, only the strong attain.
Truth or delusion, be it as it may,
Yet think it true, dear friends, for, thinking so,
That thought shall nerve our sinews on the day
When to the last assault our bugles blow:
Reckless of pain and peril we shall go,
Heads high and hearts aflame and bayonets bare,
And we shall brave eternity as though
Eyes looked on us in which we would seem fair —
One waited in whose presence we would wear,
Even as a lover who would be well-seen,
Our manhood faultless and our honor clean.
A few random poems:
- Sonnet CXXXVII by William Shakespeare
- Robert Burns: The Poet’s Reply To The Threat Of A Censorious Critic: My imprudent lines were answered, very petulantly, by somebody, I believe, a Rev. Mr. Hamilton. In a MS., where I met the answer, I wrote below:-
- Владимир Высоцкий – Космонавту Ю. Гагарину
- Яков Полонский – Диссонанс
- An Abandoned Factory, Detroit by Philip Levine
- On The Civil War On The East Coast Of The United States Of North America 1860 64
- On A Spaniel, Called Beau, Killing A Young Bird by William Cowper
- Николай Заболоцкий – Пекарня
- O Living Always—Always Dying. by Walt Whitman
- The Battle Of Harlaw–Evergreen Version poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Николай Заболоцкий – Битва с предками
- Crapulous Impression poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Stir in Stillness by Shruti Talnikar
- My Soviet Passport by Vladimir Mayakovsky
- Зинаида Александрова – Прятки
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
- Омар Хайям – Чистый дух, заключенный в нечистый сосуд
- Омар Хайям – Чем пустыми мечтами себя донимать
- Омар Хайям – Чем ниже человек душой, тем выше задирает нос
- Омар Хайям – Чье сердце не горит любовью страстной к милой
- Омар Хайям – Часть людей обольщается жизнью земной
- Омар Хайям – Бытует мнение, что счастье это дар
- Омар Хайям – Был бы я благочестьем прославиться рад
- Омар Хайям – Будут гурии, мед и вино
- Омар Хайям – Будь хмельным и влюбленным всегда
- Омар Хайям – Будь все добро мое кирпич один, в кружало
- Омар Хайям – Будь мягче к людям
- Омар Хайям – Будь камнем твердым я
- Омар Хайям – Бросать не стоит в будущее взгляд
- Омар Хайям – Бокала полного веселый вид мне люб
- Омар Хайям – Бог есть, и всё есть Бог
- Омар Хайям – Благородство страданием, друг, рождено
- Омар Хайям – Благородные люди, друг друга любя
- Омар Хайям – Безгрешными приходим и грешим
- Омар Хайям – Без меня собираясь в застолье хмельном
- Омар Хайям – Ад и рай
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
Alan Seeger (1888-1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist and musicologist and the uncle of folk musician, Pete Seeger.