The Waltz of 1830

Often, I have watched you, in the setting of the ballroom,

Quiet in the lamplight as the couples leave the wings,

You, a snowy figure in a cloud of fluffy tutu

(One among a dozen such),

Partnered with Count Metternich,

Swaying to the orchestra,

Lifting to the turbulence,

Whirling till the snowy cloud is froth in spinning rings.

Thrilling is the rhythm of the whirlers to the dance-tune,

Yet, of all the dancers there, I only notice you;

You, among the madness and the mill-race of the whirlers,

Seem the one significant of all they try to do.

John Masefield