The Dancers
[Adapted from Neknus, Canto XXIV]
And so
The dancers enter to display their thrilling art.
In they come, these splendid charmers,
(Twenty males and females all
With nature’s graces unadorned),
Each more finely formed than anyone
Assembled there had ever seen,
Or ever would again!.
And their dance begins
With a miracle of whirling, twisting, leaping,
Handsome
Bodies in the candlelight
– The tremulous candlelight –
Bright eyes flashing, dark hair tossing,
Gleaming naked muscles pulsing
In an ecstasy of passion,
In a poem of smooth movements
Vibrant with the energy of life;
In the candlelight,
The flickering, trembling candlelight.
Lithe limbs flowing,
Swaying, gliding, fascinating
The silent throng as
This way and that they dance,
Singly
Or together in twos,
In threes, in groups;
Airy as spirits, delicate as deer, posing
And positioning in never-constant patterns
Beautiful to see,
With gestures combining as fluently
As human artistry can possibly achieve
In perfect unison
With the music’s
Mood and with themselves;
In the candlelight,
The fluttering, dancing candlelight.
Their talented performance
Scales new heights
At its crescendent finale and then –
Suddenly –
Their dancing done, their panting
Naked bodies shining as perspiration
Runs in glittering, shimmering rivulets
Across their pulsing skins –
They stand before their audience
Receiving the applause their art has earned
In the candlelight,
The quivering, fluctuant candlelight.