You Dance Up There
You dance just under the highest billow
of the big top,
swathed in gauzy white
like a light inside a cloud
or a recurring dream of one.
That your spirit sags
up there I understand
but you must, I pray
you, keep your body taut...
The downfall – that’s what they come to see.
So do not fall, last
papery leaf
of my autumn:
dance instead,
or dance
along the rope from which
I’m going to hang myself tomorrow...
Font size:
Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 23 sec read
- 2 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 397 |
Words | 79 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"You Dance Up There" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/91974/you-dance-up-there>.
Discuss the poem You Dance Up There with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In