A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
What did I study in your School of Night?
When your mouth’s first unfathomable yes
Opened your body to be my book, I read
My answers there and learned the spell aright,
Yet, though I searched and searched, could never guess
What spirits it raised nor where their questions led.
Those others, familiar tenants of your sleep,
The whisperers, the grave somnambulists
Whose eyes turn in to scrutinize their woe,
The giant who broods above the nightmare steep,
That sleeping girl, shuddering, with clenched fists,
A vampire baby suckling at her toe,
They taught me most. The scholar held his pen
And watched his blood drip thickly on the page
To form a text in unknown characters
Which, as I scanned them, changed and changed again:
The lines grew bars, the bars a Delphic cage
And I the captive of his magic verse.
A few random poems:
- Константин Бальмонт – Что достойно, что бесчестно
- The Autopsy by Russell Edson
- Abd el-Hadi Fights a Superpower by Taha Muhammad Ali
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Чёрный цвет
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Кудри
- The Husband’s Black Hands by Mallika Sengupta
- Юнна Мориц – Лето
- The Time Around Scars by Michael Ondaatje
- Алексей Толстой – Темнота и туман застилают мне путь
- Poetry And Politics
- Know, Celia, Since Thou Art So Proud by Thomas Carew
- Bridesmaid From Rio by Vaishnavi Prakash
- Такахама Кёси – Мацумуси пищит
- Василий Курочкин – Как не вскрикнуть тут с поэтом
- Do You Remember 1914 Grandad? by Steve Sant
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
- Robert Burns: The Flowery Banks Of Cree:
- Robert Burns: Young Jamie, Pride Of A’ The Plain:
- Robert Burns: A Red, Red Rose: [Hear Red, Red Rose]
- Robert Burns: A Vision:
- Robert Burns: The Minstrel At Lincluden:
- Robert Burns: A Fiddler In The North:
- Robert Burns: Wilt Thou Be My Dearie?:
- Robert Burns: Remorseful Apology:
- Robert Burns: Complimentary Epigram On Maria Riddell:
- Robert Burns: Address Spoken by Miss Fontenelle on her Benefit Night, December 4th, 1793, at the Theatre, Dumfries.:
- Robert Burns: My Spouse Nancy:
- Robert Burns: On Mrs. Riddell’s Birthday:
- Robert Burns: Thine Am I, My Faithful Fair:
- Robert Burns: Deluded Swain, The Pleasure:
- Robert Burns: Where Are The Joys I have Met?:
- Robert Burns: Thou Hast Left Me Ever, Jamie:
- Robert Burns: Down The Burn, Davie:
- Robert Burns: Behold The Hour, The Boat Arrive:
- Robert Burns: Robert Bruce’s March To Bannockburn:
- Robert Burns: Dainty Davie:
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.