He dances alone.
Pugnacious men drawn on canvas
Do not see;
Enticing women sculpted of stone
Here at the Louvre,
He undoes the cages of paper and wood,
And Horatii spurned.
He breaks the cages of metal and stone,
And Venus was taciturn.
So he opens the plastic silver box,
And the lady in red
The music starts
Sanguine children surround the two,
Yet they do not celebrate.
And nothing seems to ameliorate
The frozen people neighboring the two.
His body moves so rhythmically;
Her dress flows so gracefully;
Their feet step in perfect synchrony.
He walks closer: she turns her back to him.
He leans in: she spun to face him again.
And when they near for the kiss
The music stopped and so did his reprise;
The music box closed and so did his eyes;
When he woke, his soul became stone:
Sitting in a cage of paper and wood.
Music starts and he does not look.
Here at the Louvre,
The people do not move.
damn you did well.
this poem was incredible... i absolutely adore the way you used the music box and tied in the Louvre. i'm still trying to break it down into my own meaning of it. time to disect! i apologize in advance if i butcher the meaning behind the poem. but like you said, everyone has a different interp and i believe that that's the beauty of poetry.
here we go.
so we have the first few lines and stanzas. no one sees, no one looks, no one moves - and yet theres this man who moves - he dances alone. hm. i see this as breaking away from tradition, standing up for something you believe in, even if you are the only one dancing.
"He undoes the cages of paper and wood,
And Horatii spurned.
He breaks the cages of metal and stone,
And Venus was taciturn."
i see this as him now doing what some people might call the "impossbile" - it seems like since everyone in the louvre is immobile except him, and now he does what no one has dared to before: undoing the cages of paper and wood and breaking the cages of metal and stone. hm. don't quite know what those represent, but my general interp was that they represent "the impossible" or "the unthinkable".
oo and then he sees the music box and inside there's a lovely lady waiting for him! they do their little tango. the children stare, mesmerized so it seems, but they are still immobile. and this is where i see it as people watching you achieve your goals and dreams in life but they sit back and don't do anything because they are scared to take risks - scared to take that dance with the lady in red. hmm. i like how you described her. i see her in a simple red dress - but i like that you chose that color b/c red makes me think of "daring" and this man is daring as he takes the risk of dancing with her. but it wasn't just a dance... he fell for her. so now the red brings out the love he had for her. and his heart is broken *tear tear* poor guy.
so now this makes me think the poem is about love. he took a shot in the devilish game of love, he waltzed with a lovely lady, fell in head over heels for her, but then he was hurt when she "shattered" -- and now i'm wondering... stepping out of the metaphor, did she die in reality?
btw i also love that stanza with the shattering b/c i see two lovers in each others embrace, their faces nearly touching, desire stronger than ever, but then suddenly her eyes flicker, she takes a step back and breaks into millions of pieces, flying left and right - and he's left alone and broken on the inside. for a simple 2 line stanza - it painted that much imagery for me. i thought it was breathtaking.
The music stopped and so did his reprise;
The music box closed and so did his eyes;
When he woke, his soul became stone:
Sitting in a cage of paper wood.
Music starts and he does not look.
the music stopped. his motivation to press on and take risks when falling in love ends. the box closes and so does his eyes - nooooo! he's become like the others now! *cries* and then he wakes up... and his soul is now stone. he's immobile just as everyone else. he fell into the endless sea of those with broken hearts who have given up on love and life and trying and hoping.
the music begins again - perhaps the music itself symbolizes love? - but he doesn't look. he's done dancing. he lived in the moment once - he embraced it - but he got hurt tragically and nothing can be done for his heart to be mended. *wipes away tear*
he joins the wallowing masses :(
hm. sorry if i jumped all over the place in this poem. sometimes i get rambling and get so many different ideas. looking over it again, i see it more so as a love poem - taking the shots in love and sacrificing and getting hurt.
now i'm extrememly curious what the correct meaning behind the poem is lol
overall this was done wonderfully! you took on the challenge bravely and you wrote a strong, sorrow filled, but beautiful poem.
a job well done :)
Posted: Jun 20, 2008
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