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Hilaire Belloc (27 July 1870 – 16 July 1953 / La Celle-Saint-Cloud)
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Tarantella
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
And the tedding and the spreading
Of the straw for a bedding,
And the fleas that tease in the High Pyrenees,
And the wine that tasted of tar?
And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteers
(Under the vine of the dark veranda)?
Do you remember an Inn, Miranda,
Do you remember an Inn?
And the cheers and the jeers of the young muleteers
Who hadn't got a penny,
And who weren't paying any,
And the hammer at the doors and the din?
And the hip! hop! hap!
Of the clap
Of the hands to the swirl and the twirl
Of the girl gone chancing,
Glancing,
Dancing,
Backing and advancing,
Snapping of the clapper to the spin
Out and in--
And the ting, tong, tang of the guitar!
Do you remember an Inn,
Miranda?
Do you remember an Inn?
Never more;
Miranda,
Never more.
Only the high peaks hoar;
And Aragon a torrent at the door.
No sound
In the walls of the halls where falls
The tread
Of the feet of the dead to the ground,
No sound:
But the boom
Of the far waterfall like doom.
Read poems about / on: remember, guitar, girl, dark, dance
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And the hip! hop! hap!
Of the clap
Of the hands to the swirl and the twirl
Of the girl gone chancing,
Glancing,
Dancing,
Backing and advancing,
Snapping of the clapper to the spin
Out and in-
beautifully made! 10++
How wonderfully, ironically prescient that the words hip! hop! are in this poem-for it has a true funky rhythm.
I learned this by rote aged 12. I loved it then and love it now. It is so evocative of the flamenco beat and mourns the loss of a friend/dancer. i used to think that it was linked to the Spanish Civil war in some way-but that was only a child's imagination
A light weight poem made joyful to read by the play of words is an art only Hilaire Belloc can do better ever!
Well penned.History.
I have always believed that this poem was about a girl who was bitten by a tarantula.(Tarentella dance-it was thought that by dancing the spiders venom would wear off) .It has always been a favourite of mine and I won an eisteddfod with it at the precocious age of 10!
The poem is full of the the adventuresome joie de vivre of young men on their travels.
This is a magnificent poem: it has mystery, rhythm, atmosphere and pace and is the work of a poet who has mastery of the language. The speculation is stimulates - who was or is Miranda? when and why is he recollecting the scene and asking her about it? - are all part of the enjoyment.
I had always understood that Miranda was the DONKEY that accompanied Belloc on his Pilgrimage to Rome - tghough why a donkey should remember the taste of the wine escapes me. One of my favourite poems but one I can never commit to memory [- always missing out lines or getting them in tghe wrong order when I try to declaim them to myself
Miranda, was Captain Miranda, one of Belloc's fellow officers not a women.