The Dancer of Caer Witrin

By: Kiash Posted on: October 28, 2010

Author's note: This poem is a pantoum -- a series of four-line verses in which the second and fourth lines of one verse are the first and third lines of the next, and the second and fourth lines of the final verse are the third and first lines of the first verse. I chose this type of poem mainly because the circular format seemed appropriate for writing about someone who spends so much of her time whirling in lively dance.

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The Dancer of Caer Witrin:

High up in Caer Witrin, amid the ice and snow,

Christiane twines flowers in her hair, and twirls and spins

As she goes on dancing to a tune that no one knows,

And a sweet snow-blossom scent goes swirling on the frozen wind.

Christiane twines flowers in her hair, and twirls and spins;

Her slippered feet seem not to mind the cold of mountain storms.

And a sweet snow-blossom scent goes swirling on the frozen wind,

As her wild, merry dancing 'gainst the weather keeps her warm.

Her slippered feet seem not to mind the cold of mountain storms;

Her eyes are dark with mysteries that only she can see,

As her wild, merry dancing 'gainst the weather keeps her warm--

Somewhere among the blossoms, seems she's met Terpsichore.

Her eyes are dark with mysteries that only she can see;

She laughs, a giddy, dizzy sound, and reaches out her hands.

Somewhere among the blossoms, seems she's met Terpsichore--

If you'd only try the blossoms, then she's sure you'd understand.

She laughs, a giddy dizzy sound, and reaches out her hands;

She knows that she knows everything; she knows she sees it all.

If you'd only try the blossoms, then she's sure you'd understand--

And she'll dance until the day her soul departs for Maya's halls.

She knows that she knows everything; she knows she sees it all,

As she goes on dancing to a tune that no one knows.

And she'll dance until the day her soul departs for Maya's halls...

High up in Caer Witrin, amid the ice and snow.