“Friend,” quoth Lord Nevil, “thou art young
To face the world, and thou art blind
To subtle ways of womankind;
The meshes thou wilt fall among.
“Take an old married man’s advice;
Use the experience I have earned;
Watch well where women are concerned,-
They’re not all birds of paradise!
“Be circumspect, or thou mayst fall;
Abjure a blind faith-nay, trust none-
Till thou hast chosen, proven one;
Then trust her truly-trust in all.
“Keep a calm brain and quiet eye,
And watch. The doll of powder and paint,
The flirt, the artificial saint,
The loud man-woman pass them by.
“The innocent one, who craves thy cares
To shield her from life’s fret and fray;
Lad, watch her-maybe she’ll betray
Some doubtful knowledge, unawares.
“The pensive one, who droops and sighs-
Wait till her dreaming comes to test;
Be gentle, yet be wary, lest
‘Tis but a graceful grey disguise.
“The world-wise husband-hunter-she
Who knows no love but love of gold,
And lands and titles-empty, cold,-
Pity her, lad, and let her be.
“And the rich heiress-let her pass.
Belike she’s stupid, drugged with wealth,
And just enjoys her life and health
As some fat cow in clover grass.
“Or insolent with prosperity,
Unsharpened, shallow, unrefined;-
And thou art poor, and thou wilt mind
That proud blood cometh down to thee.
“The gushing gossip-she who rains
Incessant chatter in thine ears;-
She may be worth thy keenest fears,
She may be simply lacking brains,
“And lacking grace and modesty.
She will make mischief, at the best;
She may be wily, like the rest;
Keep thy tongue still when she is by.
“They that would master thee, if they could,
In brain and muscle-flaring lights-
The clamorous for false woman’s rights;-
Snub them, my friend-it does them good-
“And do not think of them for wives.
Fit mates for such seem somewhat rare;
But when two odd ones make a pair,
They spoil at least four precious lives.
“But shouldst thou chance to meet a girl
With brave, bright eyes, that front thee straight,
A kindly tongue that does not prate,
And quiet lips that cannot curl;
“With fine sense, quick to understand,
With dignity that is not cold,
Sweet, sunny mirth that is not bold,
A ready ear, a willing hand;
“One skilled in household arts, and skilled
In little courteous, graceful ways,
That make no show and win no praise-
Wherewith discordant jars are stilled:
“One who will never touch a sore;
One who sheds sunshine round about,
And draws life’s hidden comfort out;
One whom the boys and babes adore:
“One with an intellect to reach
The highest range that thou canst rise;
Who will aye help thee, woman-wise,
And yet not set herself to teach:
“One of whom women love to speak,
In honest kindness, and whose name
Men let alone; whose chiefest fame
Lies hidden where men may not seek;-
“Friend, woo her, as a good knight can,
And win her. Lay thou at her feet
Faith, love, and honour, true and sweet;
And count thyself a happy man.”
A few random poems:
- The Sirens’ Song by William Browne
- Tom May’s Death poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- A Girl Sang a Song poem – Aleksandr Blok poems | Poetry Monster
- Олег Бундур – В саду
- Men Improve With The Years by William Butler Yeats
- A Death-Day Recalled by Thomas Hardy
- Impromptu on Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday by Robert Burns
- Drying Their Wings by Vachel Lindsay
- Composed During A Storm by William Wordsworth
- The Mocking Bird by Timothy Thomas Fortune
- Николай Карамзин – Эпитафия Джону Гею
- Second Epistle to Davie by Robert Burns
- Владимир Маяковский – Счастье искусств
- In the Neolithic Age by Rudyard Kipling
- What Place is Besieged? by Walt Whitman
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
- To Sleep poem – John Keats poems
- To One Who Has Been Long In City Pent poem – John Keats poems
- To My Brothers poem – John Keats poems
- To My Brother George poem – John Keats poems
- To Mrs Reynolds’ Cat poem – John Keats poems
- To John Hamilton Reynolds poem – John Keats poems
- To Hope poem – John Keats poems
- To Homer poem – John Keats poems
- To Haydon poem – John Keats poems
- To G.A.W. poem – John Keats poems
- To Fanny poem – John Keats poems
- To Byron poem – John Keats poems
- To Autumn poem – John Keats poems
- To Ailsa Rock poem – John Keats poems
- To A Young Lady Who Sent Me A Laurel Crown poem – John Keats poems
- To A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses poem – John Keats poems
- To poem – John Keats poems
- This Living Hand poem – John Keats poems
- Think Of It Not, Sweet One poem – John Keats poems
- The Human Seasons poem – John Keats poems
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
Ada Cambridge (1844 – 1926), also known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian author and poetess. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two autobiographical works.