Come, knit hands, and beat the ground,
In
a light fantastic round.
Milton
was referring to dancing: To dance, especially in an imaginative or ‘fantastic’
manner. “He must have liked the imagery, as he used it again in the poem
L'Allegro, 1645:”
Haste
thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,
Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks and wreathed smiles
Such as hang on Hebe’s cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
Come, and trip it, as you go,
On the light fantastic toe;
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty;
And, if I give thee honour due,
Mirth, admit me of thy crew,
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreproved pleasures free ...
This poem reminds me of every summer session’s night
filled with such frivolity and fancy-free fun --- We would polka, dance a jig,
as games were played we laughed and our hearts were filled with the exuberance
of DRS!
But it is in the writings of James W. Blake (1894) that reminds
me most of DRS:
‘East
Side, West Side,, all around the town,
The
tots sang “Ring-a-rosie,” “London Bridge is falling down”;
Boys
and girls together, me and Mamie O’Rorke,
Tripped
the lights fantastic on the sidewalks of New York.’
To my teacher, to my mentor, to my guide, to my friend, I
will always ‘trip it, and go, on the light fantastic toe... You have inspired many, shared everything you had, and gave us not only your love but you have set an example with your passion, integrity, and joy.
Thank you, DRS your energy will never expire and just
like the sidewalks of New York, they will never be silent because you have left
your mark ‘on the sunny side of the street.’
In loving memory of Dorothy Rainer Sellars
