(Skip to my Lou, my darling)
This poem
is a skipping quadrille.
is a skipping quadrille.
Slow and stately couples
in mellow light
dance with downcast eyes.
But in the hearts of those women
little girls live, who skip
with fancy footwork,
their dancing feet remembering
fast hops and jumps ...
though the men forget.
The first Quadrille at Almack's.
Image in the public domain.
'The Quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies' – Wikipedia. Some versions were apparently quite lively, but it was also described as 'stately'. Recently the term 'quadrille' is also used for a 44-word poem. For Quadrille–8 at dVerse this week we are asked to include the word 'skip'. The phrase 'Skip to my Lou' (from a children's dance) is mentioned. So that got me thinking about these two different dance movements. This is also a late response to the first quadrille prompt, which asked us to use the word 'dance'.
In composing the poem, I used Elizabeth Crawford's instructions in her chat with Sherry at Poets United this week: Step by Step: How to W rite a Poem When You're Blocked. Not that I was blocked, but I thought it would be a good method anyway, and it was.
though the men forget.
The first Quadrille at Almack's. Image in the public domain.
'The Quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies' – Wikipedia. Some versions were apparently quite lively, but it was also described as 'stately'. Recently the term 'quadrille' is also used for a 44-word poem. For Quadrille–8 at dVerse this week we are asked to include the word 'skip'. The phrase 'Skip to my Lou' (from a children's dance) is mentioned. So that got me thinking about these two different dance movements. This is also a late response to the first quadrille prompt, which asked us to use the word 'dance'.
In composing the poem, I used Elizabeth Crawford's instructions in her chat with Sherry at Poets United this week: Step by Step: How to W rite a Poem When You're Blocked. Not that I was blocked, but I thought it would be a good method anyway, and it was.
Rosemary, I love it! Love the little girls inside the women's hearts. Reminds me of my Grandma, once, in her 90's, doing a sweet sashay across the floor in the nursing home. I saw, in her face, the young girl she had once been who loved to dance.
ReplyDeleteI saw that same little girl in my mother's face a few times. And have been adamant about keeping her alive within my own person. So glad to see you used the process. It really brings up some gems, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
It won't be the last time!
DeleteI'm so sad that there is no bounce in the men... (I think that there is a bounce or a skip, but men are afraid to show it)... I love to dance actually.
ReplyDeleteI meant they have forgotten the childish skipping, or are suppressing it. The ones in the picture look as if they have a bit of bounce, but more self-conscious and dignified than the women, whose toes look more relaxed. :-)
DeleteLove this, Rosemary! I can remember junior high dances, all of us girls on the floor together, rockin' out...and the boys lined up along the wall, looking bored. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy friend.. iN thE eYes
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Makes the little girl in me want to dance, want to skip. Delightful.
ReplyDeleteNothing wilder or happier than the girl-child who dances within. Yum!
ReplyDeletefast hops and jumps ...
ReplyDeletethough the men forget
Leave it to the young girls! They'll make good use of it to great effect. As usual the boys have something else on their minds!
Hank