National Poetry Month 2020 Day 5: “The Splendour Falls on Castle Walls” & “Lapping”

Sometimes, delightfully, my love of poetry and my love of dancing intercept. I’ll have more
examples to share in the coming days, but here’s a poem that I used as inspiration to collaborate
on a contemporary ballet dance with some of my advanced students at the Movement Center. This
poem is published in the book Poems to Learn by Heart (an exquisite compilation by Caroline Kennedy)
along with a gorgeous watercolor illustration by Jon J. Muth. The Cambridge Singers and John Rutter
sing it beautifully (Apple iTunes/Music Link)  My imagination revels in the loveliness of this poem, it has
such wonderful rhythm and evocative imagery for dance-making. 

The Splendour Falls on Castle Walls

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The splendour falls on castle walls

And snowy summits old in story:

The long light shakes across the lakes,

And the wild cataract leaps in glory.

Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,

Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O hark, O hear! How thin and clear,

And thinner, clearer, farther going!

O sweet and far from cliff and scar

The horns of Elfland faintly blowing!

Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying; 

Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying.

O love, they die in yon rich sky;

They faint on hill or field or river:

Our echoes roll from soul to soul,

And grow for ever and for ever.

Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying,

And answer, echoes, answer, dying, dying, dying.

Speaking of yummy imagery, I love warm salty seas, a hot fire, a feline companion, and a welcoming lap!

Lapping

By Blythe Stephens

Foamy wavelets lap at my toes

And flames lap at wood, devouring it

The cat laps up its water thirstily

        Your tongue gently laps…

And I snuggle warmly in your lap