Rivers to the ocean
Summer leaflets dance and quiver
To the breeze’s motion
Nothing in the world is single —
All things by a simple rule
Nods and steps and graces mingle1
As at dancing school
See the shadows on the mountain
Pirouette with one another
See the leaf upon the fountain
Dances with its leaflet brother
See the moonlight on the earth
Flecking forest gleam and glance!
What are all these dancings worth
If I may not dance?
— After Shelley
Dance? Why not? The dance is natural, it is innocent, wholesome2, enjoyable. It has the sanction of religion, philosophy, science. It is approved by the sacred writings of all ages and nations — of Judaism, Buddhism3, Christianity, Islam, of Zoroaster and Confucius. Not an altar, from Jupiter to Jesus, around which the votaries4 have not danced with religious zeal5 and indubitable profit to mind and body. Fire worshipers of Persia and Peru danced about the visible sign and manifestation6 to their deity7. Dervishes dance in frenzy8, and the Shakers jump up and come down hard through excess of the Spirit. All the gods have danced with all the goddesses — round dances, too. The lively divinities created by the Greeks in their own image danced divinely, as became them. Old Thor stormed and thundered down the icy halls of the Scandinavian mythology9 to the music of runic rhymes, and the souls of slain10 heroes in Valhalla take to their toes in celebration of their valorous deeds done in the body upon the bodies of their enemies. Angels dance before the Great White Throne to harps11 attuned12 by angel hands, and the Master of the Revels13 — who arranges the music of the spheres — looks approvingly on. Dancing is of divine institution.
The elves and fairies “dance delicate measures” in the light of the moon and stars. The troll dances his gruesome jig14 on lonely hills the gnome15 executes his little pigeon wing in the obscure subterrene by the glimmer17 of a diamond. Nature’s untaught children dance in wood and glade18, stimulated19 of leg by the sunshine with which they are soaken top full — the same quickening emanation that inspires the growing tree and upheaves the hill. And, if I err16 not, there is sound Scripture20 for the belief that these self same eminences21 have capacity to skip for joy. The peasant dances — a trifle clumsily — at harvest feast when the grain is garnered22. The stars in heaven dance visibly, the firefly dances in emulation23 of the stars. The sunshine dances on the waters. The humming bird and the bee dance about the flowers which dance to the breeze. The innocent lamb, type of the White Christ, dances on the green, and the matronly cow perpetrates an occasional stiff enormity when she fancies herself unobserved. All the sportive rollickings of all the animals, from the agile24 fawn25 to the unwieldly behemoth are dances taught them by nature.
I am not here making an argument for dancing, I only assert its goodness, confessing its abuse. We do not argue the wholesomeness26 of sunshine and cold water, we assert it, admitting that sunstroke is mischievous27 and that copious28 potations of freezing water will founder29 a superheated horse, and urge the hot blood to the head of an imprudent man similarly prepared, killing30 him, as is right. We do not build syllogisms to prove that grains and fruits of the earth are of God’s best bounty31 to man; we allow that bad whisky may — with difficulty — be distilled32 from rye to spoil the toper’s nose, and that hydrocyanic acid can be got out of the bloomy peach. It were folly33 to prove that Science and Invention are our very good friends, yet the sapper who has had the misfortune to be blown to rags by the mine he was preparing for his enemy will not deny that gunpowder34 has aptitudes35 of mischief36; and from the point of view of a nigger ordered upon the safety-valve of a racing37 steamboat, the vapor38 of water is a thing accurst. Shall we condemn39 music because the lute40 makes “lascivious pleasing?” Or poetry because some amorous41 bard42 tells in warm rhyme the story of the passions, and Swinburne has had the goodness to make vice43 offensive with his hymns44 in its praise? Or sculpture because from the guiltless marble may be wrought45 a drunken Silenus or a lechering satyr? — painting because the untamed fancies of a painter sometimes break tether and run riot on his canvas? Because the orator46 may provoke the wild passions of the mob, shall there be no more public speaking? — no further acting47 because the actor may be pleased to saw the air, or the actress display her ultimate inch of leg? Shall we upset the pulpit because poor dear Mr. Tilton had a prettier wife than poor, dear Mr. Beecher? The bench had its Jeffrey, yet it is necessary that we have the deliveries of judgment48 between ourselves and the litigious. The medical profession has nursed poisoners enough to have baned all the rats of christendom; but the resolute49 patient must still have his prescription50 — if he die for it. Shall we disband our armies because in the hand of an ambitious madman a field-marshal’s baton51 may brain a helpless State? — our navies because in ships pirates have “sailed the seas over?” Let us not commit the vulgarity of condemning52 the dance because of its possibilities of perversion53 by the vicious and the profligate54. Let us not utter us in hot bosh and baking nonsense, but cleave55 to reason and the sweet sense of things.
Dancing never made a good girl bad, nor turned a wholesome young man to evil ways. “Opportunity!” simpers the tedious virgin56 past the wall-flower of her youth. “Opportunity!” cackles the blasé beau who has outlasted57 his legs and gone deaconing in a church.
Opportunity, indeed! There is opportunity in church and school-room, in social intercourse58. There is opportunity in libraries, art-galleries, picnics, street-cars, Bible-classes and at fairs and matinées. Opportunity — rare, delicious opportunity, not innocently to be ignored — in moonlight rambles59 by still streams. Opportunity, such as it is, behind the old gentleman’s turned back, and beneath the good mother’s spectacled nose. You shall sooner draw out leviathan with a hook, or bind60 Arcturus and his sons, than baffle the upthrust of Opportunity’s many heads. Opportunity is a veritable Hydra61, Argus and Briareus rolled into one. He has a hundred heads to plan his poachings, a hundred eyes to spy the land, a hundred hands to set his snares62 and springes. In the country where young girls are habitually63 unattended in the street; where the function of chaperon is commonly, and, it should be added, intelligently performed by some capable young male; where the young women receive evening calls from young men concerning whose presence in the parlor64 mamma in the nursery and papa at the “office”— poor, overworked papa! — give themselves precious little trouble — this prate65 of ball-room opportunity is singularly and engagingly idiotic66. The worthy67 people who hold such language may justly boast themselves superior to reason and impregnable to light. The only effective reply to these creatures would be a cuffing68, the well meant objections of another class merit the refutation of distinct characterization. It is the old talk of devotees about sin, of topers concerning water, temperance men of gin, and albeit69 it is neither wise nor witty70, it is becoming in us at whom they rail to deal mercifully with them. In some otherwise estimable souls one of these harmless brain cracks may be a right lovable trait of character.
Issues of a social import as great as a raid against dancing have been raised ere now. Will the coming man smoke? Will the coming man drink wine? These tremendous and imperative71 problems only recently agitated72 some of the “thoughtful minds” in our midst. By degrees they lost their preeminence73, they were seen to be in process of solution without social cataclysm74, they have, in a manner been referred for disposal to the coming man himself, that is to say, they have been dropped, and are to-day as dead as Julius C?sar. The present hour has, in its turn, produced its own awful problem: Will the coming woman waltz?
As a question of mere75 fact the answer is patent: She will. Dancing will be good for her; she will like it; so she is going to waltz. But the question may rather be put — to borrow phraseology current among her critics: Had she oughter? — from a moral point of view, now. From a moral point, then, let us seek from analogy some light on the question of what, from its actual, practical bearings, may be dignified76 by the name Conundrum77.
Ought a man not to smoke? — from a moral point of view. The economical view-point, the view-point of convenience, and all the rest of them, are not now in question; the simple question is: Is it immoral78 to smoke? And again — still from the moral point of view: Is it immoral to drink wine? Is it immoral to play at cards? — to visit theaters? (In Boston you go to some
harmless “Museum,”
Where folks who like plays may religiously see ’em.)
Finally, then — and always from the same elevated view-point: Is it immoral to waltz?
The suggestions here started will not be further pursued in this place. It is quite pertinent79 now to note that we do smoke because we like it; and do drink wine because we like it; and do waltz because we like it, and have the added consciousness that it is a duty. I am sorry for a fellow-creature — male — who knows not the comfort of a cigar; sorry and concerned for him who is innocent of the knowledge of good and evil that lurk80 respectively in Chambertin and cheap “claret.” Nor is my compassion81 altogether free from a sense of superiority to the object of it — superiority untainted, howbeit, by truculence82. I perceive that life has been bestowed83 upon him for purposes inscrutable to me, though dimly hinting its own justification84 as a warning or awful example. So, too, of the men and women —“beings erect85, and walking upon two [uneducated] legs”— whose unsophisticated toes have never, inspired by the rosy86, threaded the labyrinth87 of the mazy ere courting the kindly88 offices of the balmy. It is only human to grieve for them, poor things!
But if their throbbing89 bunions, encased in clumsy high-lows, be obtruded90 to trip us in our dance, shall we not stamp on them? Yea, verily, while we have a heel to crunch91 with and a leg to grind it home.
点击收听单词发音
1 mingle | |
vt.使混合,使相混;vi.混合起来;相交往 | |
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2 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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3 Buddhism | |
n.佛教(教义) | |
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4 votaries | |
n.信徒( votary的名词复数 );追随者;(天主教)修士;修女 | |
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5 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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6 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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7 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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8 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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9 mythology | |
n.神话,神话学,神话集 | |
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10 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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11 harps | |
abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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12 attuned | |
v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 );调音 | |
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13 revels | |
n.作乐( revel的名词复数 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉v.作乐( revel的第三人称单数 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉 | |
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14 jig | |
n.快步舞(曲);v.上下晃动;用夹具辅助加工;蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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15 gnome | |
n.土地神;侏儒,地精 | |
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16 err | |
vi.犯错误,出差错 | |
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17 glimmer | |
v.发出闪烁的微光;n.微光,微弱的闪光 | |
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18 glade | |
n.林间空地,一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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19 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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20 scripture | |
n.经文,圣书,手稿;Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》,《圣经》中的一段 | |
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21 eminences | |
卓越( eminence的名词复数 ); 著名; 高地; 山丘 | |
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22 garnered | |
v.收集并(通常)贮藏(某物),取得,获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 emulation | |
n.竞争;仿效 | |
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24 agile | |
adj.敏捷的,灵活的 | |
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25 fawn | |
n.未满周岁的小鹿;v.巴结,奉承 | |
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26 wholesomeness | |
卫生性 | |
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27 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
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28 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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29 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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30 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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31 bounty | |
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与 | |
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32 distilled | |
adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 );从…提取精华 | |
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33 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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34 gunpowder | |
n.火药 | |
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35 aptitudes | |
(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资( aptitude的名词复数 ) | |
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36 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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37 racing | |
n.竞赛,赛马;adj.竞赛用的,赛马用的 | |
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38 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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39 condemn | |
vt.谴责,指责;宣判(罪犯),判刑 | |
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40 lute | |
n.琵琶,鲁特琴 | |
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41 amorous | |
adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
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42 bard | |
n.吟游诗人 | |
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43 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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44 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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45 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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46 orator | |
n.演说者,演讲者,雄辩家 | |
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47 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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48 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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49 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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50 prescription | |
n.处方,开药;指示,规定 | |
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51 baton | |
n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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52 condemning | |
v.(通常因道义上的原因而)谴责( condemn的现在分词 );宣判;宣布…不能使用;迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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53 perversion | |
n.曲解;堕落;反常 | |
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54 profligate | |
adj.行为不检的;n.放荡的人,浪子,肆意挥霍者 | |
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55 cleave | |
v.(clave;cleaved)粘着,粘住;坚持;依恋 | |
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56 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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57 outlasted | |
v.比…长久,比…活得长( outlast的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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59 rambles | |
(无目的地)漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 ); (喻)漫谈; 扯淡; 长篇大论 | |
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60 bind | |
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬 | |
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61 hydra | |
n.水螅;难于根除的祸患 | |
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62 snares | |
n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 );圈套;诱人遭受失败(丢脸、损失等)的东西;诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉,诱陷,陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63 habitually | |
ad.习惯地,通常地 | |
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64 parlor | |
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
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65 prate | |
v.瞎扯,胡说 | |
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66 idiotic | |
adj.白痴的 | |
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67 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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68 cuffing | |
v.掌打,拳打( cuff的现在分词 );袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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69 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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70 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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71 imperative | |
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的 | |
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72 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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73 preeminence | |
n.卓越,杰出 | |
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74 cataclysm | |
n.洪水,剧变,大灾难 | |
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75 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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76 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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77 conundrum | |
n.谜语;难题 | |
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78 immoral | |
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的 | |
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79 pertinent | |
adj.恰当的;贴切的;中肯的;有关的;相干的 | |
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80 lurk | |
n.潜伏,潜行;v.潜藏,潜伏,埋伏 | |
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81 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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82 truculence | |
n.凶猛,粗暴 | |
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83 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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84 justification | |
n.正当的理由;辩解的理由 | |
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85 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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86 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
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87 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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88 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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89 throbbing | |
a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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90 obtruded | |
v.强行向前,强行,强迫( obtrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91 crunch | |
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声 | |
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