Dancing Poems

Song Cycle by Camille Pepin (b. 1990)

1. At the still‑point  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Garlic and sapphires in the mud
 [ ... ]

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2. Slow Movement  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
All those treasures that lie in the little bolted box whose tiny space is
 [ ... ]

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3. To a child dancing in the wind  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Dance there upon the shore;
What need have you to care
For wind or water's roar?
And tumble out your hair
That the salt drops have wet;
Being young you have not known
The fool's triumph, nor yet
Love lost as soon as won,
Nor the best labourer dead
And all the sheaves to bind.
What need have you to dread
The monstrous crying of wind?

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Note: also sometimes titled "To a Child dancing upon the shore"
First published in Poetry, Chicago (December 1912), revised 1913

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

4. Those dancing days are gone  [sung text not yet checked]

Language: English 
Come, let me sing into your ear;
Those dancing days are gone,
All that silk and satin gear;
Crouch upon a stone,
Wrapping that foul body up
In as foul a rag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.

Curse as you may I sing it through;
What matter if the knave
That the most could pleasure you,
The children that he gave,
Are somewhere sleeping like a top
Under a marble flag?
I carry the sun in a golden cup.
The moon in a silver bag.

I thought it out this very day.
Noon upon the clock,
A man may put pretence away
Who leans upon a stick,
May sing, and sing until he drop,
Whether to maid or hag:
I carry the sun in a golden cup,
The moon in a silver bag.

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  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

First published in London Mercury, November 1930, revised 1932

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 682