And must I wear a silken life,
Hemmed in by city walls?
And must I give my garden up
For theatres and balls?
Nay, though the cage be made of gold,
‘Tis better to be free;
The green of the green meadows, love,
Is quite enough for me.
I’d rather ramble through the lanes
Than drive about in town;
I’d rather muse or dream than dance,
When the stars are shining down.
I do not care for diamonds, dear,
But I care a deal for flowers;
And thousands are just creeping out
For the sunshine and the showers.
I like to hear the Household band,
But I love the bird-songs best;
And hark! how they are twittering now
Round each half-hidden nest!
The wind is whispering in the leaves,
And the downy bees begin
To hum in the blossoming sycamores,
And the brook is chiming in.
There is such melody in the woods,
Such music in the air!
The streets are full of life and sound,
And yet ’tis silent there.
I like to see the pictures-ay,
But I am hard to please!
I never saw a picture yet
As great and grand as these;
Such tones of colour as transform
The tender green and brown,
When the pink dawn is flushing up,
Or the red sun sinking down;
Such painting as the chestnut bud
Shows in its opening heart;
Such lights as shine ‘twixt earth and sky
When rain-clouds break apart;
Such soft, warm, subtle tints, as lie
In every mossy patch-
On the blue-brown trunks, now filled with life,
And the humble roof of thatch,-
In the purple hollows of the hills,
In the lichen on the wall,
In the orchard and the feathery woods,
And the sun-lit waterfall.
I like my humble country ways,
My simple, early meals;
I like to potter about the yard,
With my chickens at my heels.
I’d rather climb this brambly steep,
Where freshest sea-winds blow,
With my old straw hat hanging down my back.
Than canter along the Row.
To me (it’s vulgar, dear, I know)
No fête is half so gay
As a cricket-match on the village green,
Or a picnic in the hay.
Ah, yes! I’m happier as I am,-
I’m ignorant, you see;
And the life of fashion that you love
Would never do for me.
A few random poems:
- Юрий Галансков – Утро
- The Jacket by Rudyard Kipling
- Ghouls’ Parade poem – Brako Attafua poems | Poetry Monster
- Love Sonnet XV poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Николай Гумилев – Мореплаватель Павзаний
- Tears
- Spilt Milk by William Butler Yeats
- Independence poem – Aleister Crowley poems | Poetry Monster
- What time are we living in by T. Wignesan
- The Cold Heaven by William Butler Yeats
- When You Come by Maya Angelou
- Lorelei by Sylvia Plath
- Whenever I Go There by W. S. Merwin
- Sonnet LXIV: When I Have Seen by Time’s Fell Hand Defac’d by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Роза и дева
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 Broomfield Hill poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Bonny Hind poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Bonnie House O’ Airly poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Bonnie Earl Moray poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Battle Of Killie-Crankie poem – Andrew Lang poems
- The Battle Of Harlaw–Evergreen Version poem – Andrew Lang poems
- St. Andrew’s Bay poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Sir Hugh; Or The Jew’s Daughter poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Scythe Song poem – Andrew Lang poems
- A Scot To Jeanne D’Arc poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Rose The Red And White Lily poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Robin Hood And The Potter poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Robin Hood And The Monk poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Robin Hood And The Butcher poem – Andrew Lang poems
- A Portrait Of 1783 poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Andrew Lang – Andrew Lang Poems
- On Calais Sands poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Melville And Coghill – The Place Of The Little Hand poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Mary Ambree poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Love Gregor; Or, The Lass Of Lochroyan poem – Andrew Lang 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.