A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
Gliding through the still air, he made no sound;
Wing-shod and deft, dropped almost at her feet,
And searched the ghostly regiments and found
The living eyes, the tremor of breath, the beat
Of blood in all that bodiless underground.
She left her majesty; she loosed the zone
Of darkness and put by the rod of dread.
Standing, she turned her back upon the throne
Where, well she knew, the Ruler of the Dead,
Lord of her body and being, sat like stone;
Stared with his ravenous eyes to see her shake
The midnight drifting from her loosened hair,
The girl once more in all her actions wake,
The blush of colour in her cheeks appear
Lost with her flowers that day beside the lake.
The summer flowers scattering, the shout,
The black manes plunging down to the black pit —
Memory or dream? She stood awhile in doubt,
Then touched the Traveller God’s brown arm and met
His cool, bright glance and heard his words ring out:
“Queen of the Dead and Mistress of the Year!”
— His voice was the ripe ripple of the corn;
The touch of dew, the rush of morning air —
“Remember now the world where you were born;
The month of your return at last is here.”
And still she did not speak, but turned again
Looking for answer, for anger, for command:
The eyes of Dis were shut upon their pain;
Calm as his marble brow, the marble hand
Slept on his knee. Insuperable disdain
Foreknowing all bounds of passion, of power, of art,
Mastered but could not mask his deep despair.
Even as she turned with Hermes to depart,
Looking her last on her grim ravisher
For the first time she loved him from her heart.
A few random poems:
- Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Жрец искусства
- Robert Burns: Apology For Declining An Invitation To Dine:
- Владимир Британишский – Картина
- Владимир Британишский – Быт
- Proclamation Without Pretension by Tristan Tzara
- Robert Burns: A Dedication : To Gavin Hamilton, Esq.
- The Ships Are Made Ready In Silence by W. S. Merwin
- Thoughts Mahomed Akram
- Вероника Тушнова – Ты любил, и я тебя любила
- Sonnet Viii
- A Little Memory poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Rural Reflections
- Eclogue:–John, Jealous At Shroton Feäir by William Barnes
- pissed-off cow by Raj Arumugam
- The Wreck Of The Deutschland poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
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 Маяковский – Вот какое обещание молодой солдат дает… (Главполитпросвет №376)
- Владимир Маяковский – Вот для чего мужику самолет
- Владимир Маяковский – Вот что говорил Ленин на съезде политпросветов (Главполитпросвет №385)
- Владимир Маяковский – Вот что для голодающих прислали из-за границы, ассоциации и частные лица (Главполитпросвет №363)
- Владимир Маяковский – Вопль кустаря
- Владимир Маяковский – Вон самогон
- Владимир Маяковский – Война окончена… (РОСТА №898)
- Владимир Маяковский – Военно-морская любовь
- Владимир Маяковский – Во весь голос
- Владимир Маяковский – Внимательное отношение к взяточникам
- Владимир Маяковский – Вместо 2 280 товарных вагонов… (РОСТА №920)
- Владимир Маяковский – Власть канцелярии – вот слова “бюрократия” перевод… (РОСТА №655)
- Владимир Маяковский – Весна (Город зимнее снял)
- Владимир Маяковский – Весенняя ночь
- Владимир Маяковский – Весь провел советский план… (Главполитпросвет №41)
- Владимир Маяковский – Версаль
- Владимир Маяковский – Венера Милосская и Вячеслав Полонский
- Владимир Маяковский – Вегетарианцы
- Владимир Маяковский – Важнейший совет домашней хозяйке
- Владимир Маяковский – Вам нравится есть?.. (РОСТА №528)
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.