A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
What pleasures have great princes? These: to know
Themselves reputed mad with pride or power;
To speak few words — few words and short bring low
This ancient house, that city with flame devour;
To make old men, their father’s enemies,
Drunk on the vintage of the former age;
To have great painters show their mistresses
Naked to the succeeding time; engage
The cunning of able, treacherous ministers
To serve, despite themselves, the cause they hate,
And leave a prosperous kingdom to their heirs
Nursed by the caterpillars of the state;
To keep their spies in good men’s hearts; to read
The malice of the wise, and act betimes;
To hear the Grand Remonstrances of greed
Led by the pure; cheat justice of her crimes;
To beget worthless sons and, being old,
By starlight climb the battlements, and while
The pacing sentry hugs himself for cold,
Keep vigil like a lover, muse and smile,
And think, to see from the grim castle steep
The midnight city below rejoice and shine:
“There my great demon grumbles in his sleep
And dreams of his destruction, and of mine.”
A few random poems:
- Алишер Навои – Пустословя на минбаре
- Silences still voice by Rohini Bhatia Singj
- The Fascination Of What’s Difficult by William Butler Yeats
- While Summer Suns O’er the Gay Prospect Play’d by Thomas Warton
- In Effigiem Oliveri Cromwell poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Tale of the Pope and of His Workman Balda
- Владимир Маяковский – Прощанье
- On a certain Lady at Court poem – Alexander Pope
- The Actor by Preeth Nambiar
- O mother, O Merry by Nikunj Sharma
- Владимир Корнилов – В Македонии
- Владимир Высоцкий – Королевский крокей
- Sonnet LX by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Маяковский – Версаль
- His Holiness the Abbot by Yosa Buson
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
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я всё чаще думаю о судьях
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я верю в нашу общую звезду
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я уверен, как ни разу в жизни
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я стою, стою спиною к строю
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я сказал врачу: “Я за все плачу!”
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я любил и женщин и проказы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Я был слесарь шестого разряда
- Владимир Высоцкий – Хрущёву
- Владимир Высоцкий – Холодно, метёт кругом
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вы в огне да и в море вовеки не сыщете брода
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вы были у Беллы
- Владимир Высоцкий – Всё с себя снимаю, слишком душно
- Владимир Высоцкий – Всё меньше вас, участники войны
- Владимир Высоцкий – Всё было не так, как хотелось вначале
- Владимир Высоцкий – Все ушли на фронт
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вратарь (Льву Яшину)
- Владимир Высоцкий – Возле города Пекина
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вова испугался
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вот Вы докатились до сороковых
- Владимир Высоцкий – Вот раньше жизнь
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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.