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:
- Of the Visage of Things. by Walt Whitman
- Sonnet 57: Being your slave, what should I do but tend by William Shakespeare
- Tonight she remembers by Rita Odessa Villaruel
- Eloisa to Abelard poem – Alexander Pope
- The Sea-Wife by Rudyard Kipling
- Edom O’ Gordon poem – Andrew Lang poems
- At Sea poem – Aleister Crowley poems | Poetry Monster
- Жан де Лафонтен – Фортуна и Дитя
- Владислав Ходасевич – Ни розового сада
- The Example by William Henry Davies
- A Song of Travel by Rudyard Kipling
- The Child’s Greäve by William Barnes
- Hail, Twilight, Sovereign Of One Peaceful Hour by William Wordsworth
- The Flash Reverses Time poem – A. Van Jordan poems
- Shema by Primo Levi
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
- Николай Огарев – Отцу
- Николай Огарев – Осеннее чувство
- Николай Огарев – Она никогда его не любила
- Николай Некрасов – Я посягну на неприличность
- Николай Некрасов – Я не люблю иронии твоей
- Николай Некрасов – Не рыдай так безумно над ним
- Николай Некрасов – Взирает он на жизнь сурово, строго
- Николай Некрасов – Вступление к песням 1876-77 годов
- Николай Некрасов – Встреча душ
- Николай Некрасов – Возвращение
- Николай Некрасов – Вор
- Николай Некрасов – Во вражде неостывающей
- Николай Некрасов – Внимая ужасам войны
- Николай Некрасов – Влас
- Николай Некрасов – Весна
- Николай Некрасов – Великодушный поступок
- Николай Некрасов – Вчера, сегодня
- Николай Некрасов – В тоске по юности моей
- Николай Некрасов – В полном разгаре страда деревенская
- Николай Некрасов – Дни идут… всё так же воздух душен
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.