A poem by Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000)
by Alec Derwent Hope
At noon thepaper tigers roar
— Miroslav Holub
The paper tigers roar at noon;
The sun is hot, the sun is high.
They roar in chorus, not in tune,
Their plaintive, savage hunting cry.
O, when you hear them, stop your ears
And clench your lids and bite your tongue.
The harmless paper tiger bears
Strong fascination for the young.
His forest is the busy street;
His dens the forum and the mart;
He drinks no blood, he tastes no meat:
He riddles and corrupts the heart.
But when the dusk begins to creep
From tree to tree, from door to door,
The jungle tiger wakes from sleep
And utters his authentic roar.
It bursts the night and shakes the stars
Till one breaks blazing from the sky;
Then listen! If to meet it soars
Your heart’s reverberating cry,
My child, then put aside your fear:
Unbar the door and walk outside!
The real tiger waits you there;
His golden eyes shall be your guide.
And, should he spare you in his wrath,
The world and all the worlds are yours;
And should he leap thejungle path
And clasp you with his bloody jaws,
Then say, as his divine embrace
Destroys the mortal parts of you:
I too am of that royal race
Who do what we are born to do.
A few random poems:
- Epitaph for Robert Aiken by Robert Burns
- When The Two Sisters Go To Fetch Water by Rabindranath Tagore
- Epistle II: To A Lady (Of the Characters of Women) poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- Hunting Song by William Somervile
- Игорь Северянин – Памяти О.Н. Чюминой
- Ruth A-Ridèn by William Barnes
- For a’ that and a’ that by Robert Burns
- Winters!!! by Aditya Kumar
- The Lame Guy by Rob Leatherman Sr.
- Mirage poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- To Lily poem – Alexander Pushkin
- Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns
- To Sleep by William Wordsworth
- Sketch—New Year’s Day, 1790 by Robert Burns
- Ольга Берггольц – Кирову
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
Alec Derwent-Hope (1907–2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.