What! the girl I adore by another embraced?
What! the balm of her breath shall another man taste?
read more

What! the girl I adore by another embraced?
What! the balm of her breath shall another man taste?
What! pressed in the dance by another's man's knee?
What! panting recline on another than me?
Sir, she's yours; you have pressed from the grape its fine blue,
From the rosebud you've shaken the tremulous dew;
What you've touched you may take. Pretty waltzer--adieu!

Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.

Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music.

And then he danced;--all foreigners excel
The serious Angles in the eloquence
Of pantomime;--he danced, I say read more

And then he danced;--all foreigners excel
The serious Angles in the eloquence
Of pantomime;--he danced, I say right well,
With emphasis, and also with good sense--
A thing in footing indispensable:
He danced without theatrical pretence,
Not like a ballet-master in the van
Of his drill'd nymphs, but like a gentleman.

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground
In a light fantastic round.

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground
In a light fantastic round.

You've got to dance like nobody's watching and love like it's never going to hurt.

You've got to dance like nobody's watching and love like it's never going to hurt.

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.

I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to to dance better than myself.

My dancing days are done.

My dancing days are done.

Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying dances
Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the meadows;
read more

Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying dances
Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the meadows;
Old fold and young together, and children mingled among them.

And the dancing has begun now,
And the dancers whirl round gaily
In the waltz's giddy mazes,
read more

And the dancing has begun now,
And the dancers whirl round gaily
In the waltz's giddy mazes,
And the ground beneath them trembles.