“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 Return of Persephone
- A woman’s desire by Oriada Dajko
- The Fountain by William Wordsworth
- Identification In Belfast by Robert Lowell
- A Mathematical Problem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- A Cooking Egg by T. S. Eliot
- Владимир Корнилов – Платформа 126-го км
- Water by Robert Lowell
- Олег Григорьев – Зашли мы к Сизову с приятелем
- Impromptu: To Frances Garnet Wolseley poem – Alfred Austin
- Жан де Лафонтен – Осел и Собака
- Валерий Брюсов – Грядущие гунны
- Анатолий Жигулин – Коломенское
- The Lament Of Yasmini The Dancing Girl
- The Sea And the Hills by Rudyard Kipling
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
- Grass is a taut crew; poem – Amy Michelle Mosier poems | Poems and Poetry
- Goddess poem – Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi poems | Poems and Poetry
- Freedom poem – Aminu Ola Rasaq poems | Poems and Poetry
- Dyer Died In Silence poem – Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson poems | Poems and Poetry
- Compassion poem – Amey Deshpande poems | Poems and Poetry
- Beachy Blues poem – Andrew Neil Maternick poems | Poems and Poetry
- Among hills Apache red poem – Amy Michelle Mosier poems | Poems and Poetry
- A song of living poem – Amelia Burr poems | Poems and Poetry
- A dream is a butterfly poem – Amy Michelle Mosier poems | Poems and Poetry
- Ode to Wine
- On The Wedding Of The Aeronaut poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- To E.S. Salomon poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Valley Of Dry Bones poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Passing Show poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The New Decalogue poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Mad Philosopher poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Legatee poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Key Note poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Hesitating Veteran poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Death Of Grant poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
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.