by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945)
Twitched strings, the clang of metal,...
Language: English
Twitched strings, the clang of metal, beaten drums, Dull, shrill, continuous, disquieting; And now the stealthy dancer comes Undulantly with cat-like steps that cling; Smiling between her painted lids a smile Motionless, unintelligible, she twines Her fingers into mazy lines, Twining her scarves them all the while. One, two, three, four step forth, and, to and fro, Delicately and imperceptibly, Now swaying gently in a row, Now interthreading slow and rhythmically, Still with fixed eyes, monotonously still, Mysteriously, with smiles inanimate, With lingering feet that undulate, With sinuous fingers, spectral hands that thrill, The little amber-colored dancers move, Like little painted figures on a screen, Or phantom-dancers haply seen Among the shadows of a magic grove.
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Authorship:
- by Arthur Symons (1865 - 1945), "Javanese Dancers", appears in Silhouettes, first published 1892 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Bohuslav Martinů (1890 - 1959), "Dancers from Java", 1913 [viola, harp and piano], lyrical melodrama [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-07
Line count: 20
Word count: 116