Written In Juice Of Lemon

Whilst what I write I do not see,

I dare thus, ev’n to you, write poetry.

Ah, foolish Muse! which dost so high aspire,

And know’st her judgment well,

How much it does thy power excel,

Yet dar’st be read by, thy just doom, the fire.

Alas! thou think’st thyself secure,

Because thy form is innocent and pure:

Like hypocrites, which seem unspotted here;

But, when they sadly come to die,

And the last fire their truth must try,

Scrawled o’er like thee, and blotted, they appear.

Go then, but reverently go,

And, since thou needs must sin, confess it too:

Confess ‘t, and with humility clothe thy shame;

For thou, who else must burned be

An heretick, if she pardon thee,

Mayst like a martyr then enjoy the flame.

But, if her wisdom grow severe,

And suffer not her goodness to be there;

If her large mercies cruelly it restrain;

Be not discourag’d, but require

A more gentle ordeal fire,

And bid her by love’s flames read it again.

Strange power of heat! thou yet dost show

Like winter-earth, naked, or cloth’d with snow:

But as, the quickening sun approaching near,

The plants arise up by degrees;

A sudden paint adorns the trees,

And all kind Nature’s characters appear.

So, nothing yet in thee is seen;

But, when a genial heat warms thee within,

A new-born wood of various lines there grows;

Here buds an A, and there a B,

Here sprouts a V, and there a T,

And all the flourishing letters stand in rows.

Still, silly paper! thou wilt think

That all this might as well be writ with ink:

Oh, no; there’s sense in this, and mystery-

Thou now mayst change thy author’s name,

And to her hand lay noble claim;

For, as she reads, she makes, the words in thee.

Yet – if thine own unworthiness

Will still that thou art mine, not hers confess-

Consume thy self with fire before her eyes,

And so her grace or pity move:

The gods, though beasts they do not love,

Yet like them when they ‘re burnt in sacrifice.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random 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 

• Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Спортивный марш by Василий Лебедев-Кумач
• Василий Лебедев-Кумач – Солнце садится by Василий Лебедев-Кумач
• Василий Тредиаковский – Видеть все женские лица by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – В сем озере бедные любовники by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – В белости ее румяной by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Песенка любовна by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Описание грозы, бывшей в Гааге by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – О коль мне тамо сладка веселия было by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Ну, так уже я не стал быть вашим отныне by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Невозможно быть довольным by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Мое сердце все было в страсти by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Леший и мужик by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – К почтению, льзя объявить любовь by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Дворы там весьма суть уединенны by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Тредиаковский – Будь жестока, будь упорна by Василий Тредиаковский
• Василий Жуковский – Деревенский сторож в полночь by Василий Жуковский
• Василий Жуковский – Цветок by Василий Жуковский
• Василий Жуковский – Человек by Василий Жуковский
• Василий Жуковский – Был у меня товарищ by Василий Жуковский
• Василий Жуковский – Бородинская годовщина by Василий Жуковский

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works