by John Fletcher Hear, ye ladies that despiseWhat the mighty Love has done;Fear examples and be wise:Fair Callisto was a nun;Leda, sailing on the streamTo deceive the hopes of man,Love accounting but a dream,Doted on a silver swan;Danae, in a brazen tower,Where no love was, loved a shower.Hear, ye ladies that are coy,What the mightyContinue reading “Hear, ye Ladies”
Category Archives: poetry
The Knife
by Keith Douglas 1920-1944 Can I explain this to you? Your eyesare entrances the mouths of cavesI issue from wonderful interiorsupon a blessed sea and a fine day,from inside these caves I look and dream.Your hair as explicable as a waterfallin some black liquid cooled by legendfell across my thought in a momentbecame a garmentContinue reading “The Knife”
On The Disadvantages Of Central Heating
by Amy Clampitt cold nights on the farm, a sock-shodstove-warmed flatiron slid underthe covers, mornings a damascene-sealed bizzarrerie of fernworkdecades ago nowwalking in northwest london, teabrought up steaming, a Peek Freanbiscuit alongside to be nibbledas blue gas leaps up singingdecades ago nowdamp sheets in Dorset, fog-hunghabitat of bronchitis, of longhot soaks in the bathtub, ofContinue reading “On The Disadvantages Of Central Heating”
O Love! Thou Makest All Things Even
by Sarah-Flower Adams O Love! thou makest all things evenIn earth or heaven;Finding thy way through prison-barsUp to the stars;Or, true to the Almighty plan,That out of dust created man,Thou lookest in a grave 0 to seeThine immortality!
The British
by Benjamin Zephaniah Take some Picts, Celts and SiluresAnd let them settle,Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.Remove the Romans after approximately 400 yearsAdd lots of Norman French to someAngles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,Trinidadians, and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,Vietnamese and Sudanese.Then take a blend of Somalians,Continue reading “The British”
Memento
by Yevgeny Yevtushenko Like a reminder of this lifeof trams, sun, sparrows,and the flighty uncontrollednessof streams leaping like thermometers.and because ducks are quacking somewhereabove the crackling of the last, paper-thin ice,and because children are crying bitterly(remember children’s lives are so sweet!)and because in the drunken, shimmering starlightthe moon whoops it up,and a stocking crackles atContinue reading “Memento”
Gazing at Spring
by Xu Tao Flowers bloom:no oneto enjoy them with.Flowers fall:no onewith whom to grieve.I wonder when love’slongingsstir us most -when flowers bloom,or when flowers fall?
Verses on a Butterfly
Fair Child of Sun and Summer! we beholdWith eager eyes thy wings bedropp’d with gold;The purple spots that o’er thy mantle spread,The sapphire’s lively blue, the ruby’s red,Ten thousand various blended tints surprise,Beyond the rainbow’s hues or peacock’s eyes:Not Judah’s king in eastern pomp array’d,Whose charms allur’d from far the Sheban maid,High on his glitt’ringContinue reading “Verses on a Butterfly”
For a row of laurel shrubs
They don’t want to be your hedge,Your barrier, your living wall, the no-goGo-between between your propertyAnd the prying of dogs and strangers. They don’tWant to settle any of your old squabblesInside or out of bounds. Their new growthIn eight-foot shoots goes thrusting straightUp in the air each April or goes offHalf-cocked sideways to recconoiterWilder dimensions:Continue reading “For a row of laurel shrubs”
Cantata on the Day of Lenin’s Death
(21 Jan 1924) by Bertolt Brecht The road to hell is paved with good intentions and for the past two years I have saved this cantata so that I could post it on the centenary of Lenin’s death. That was yesterday – I missed it. Never mind, better late than never.1.The day Lenin passed awayAContinue reading “Cantata on the Day of Lenin’s Death”
Robin's Nest 