“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:
- Evenén in the Village by William Barnes
- On the Garden Wall by Vachel Lindsay
- Admiration of the Peach and the Light by Miles
- Robert Burns: Ballads on Mr. Heron’s Election, 1795: Ballad Third – John Bushby’s Lamentation.
- Maenad by Sylvia Plath
- Иван Мятлев – Фонарики
- Impromptu: To Frances Garnet Wolseley poem – Alfred Austin
- Spring – The First Pastoral ; or Damon poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Ольга Берггольц – Синеглазый мальчик, синеглазый
- Владимир Высоцкий – Так оно и есть
- Ode–Shell The Old City! Shell! by William Gilmore Simms
- A New Year’s Gift, Sent To Sir Simeon Steward by Robert Herrick
- The Lark by William Barnes
- The humble earthen lamp by Sunil Sharma
- Николай Карамзин – К Дмитриеву (Многие барды, лиру настроив)
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
- The Defeat of Youth poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Decameron poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- The Alien poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Summer Stillness poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Stanzas poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Song of Poplars poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Social Amenities poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- September poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Scenes Of The Mind poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Revelation poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Return From Business poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Private Property poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Points And Lines poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Poem poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Panic poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Out Of The Window poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- On The Bus poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Minoan Porcelain poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Love Song poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- L’Après-Midi D’un Faune poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
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.