A feast of colour for the eyes
Is Carnival ‘neath Caribbean skies.
So nimble, so swift, so fleet,
They dance with bells upon their feet -
Upon the streets of old Basseterre.
And dancing there, so swift as time,
They dance and make the music mine.
In wonderment I stand to stare,
A sea of ebony humanity,
Dancing up the sunset streets,
Beside the silvery sea.
They danced for joy, they danced for me,
Before the sun went down
In Basseterre town.
I stand and stare, they dance higher in the air
And defy all gravity, they dance for me –
Jump up higher in the air
All unselfconsciously.
Face shining like the evening star
Go where no footsteps are
So nimble, so swift as time,
They dance and make the music mine –
Dance with bells upon their feet,
Hear the drums‘ hypnotic beat,
Just before the sun goes down
In Basseterre town.
I stand to stare,
The clowns jump higher in the air
And go where no footsteps are.
Or so t’would seem –
Or did I dream,
Or did I know,
That only lovers there could go,
Where no footsteps are?
And lovers of the sea,
And logic shining like a star!
And music and poetry,
And lovers of humanity;
Or did I know too much?
And lose the laughter-touch?
Tell me, Clown, tell me,
For the sun goes down.
Dance one more dance for me
Beside the shining sea
In Basseterre town.
Then so suddenly, so swiftly and so silently
The darkness fell,
Darker than the hades of hell.
I turned my feet to my hotel
I stopped to watch them dance again.
Me so like my race,
All stiff of jaw and face
And stiff of brain.
I turn to glance, their supple bodies sway
At close of day, beside the sea,
Dance, defy all gravity,
They dance for joy,
They dance for me,
In Basseterre town
Before the sun goes down.
Reluctantly, I leave
For who could grieve
On the streets of ebony
By sunset sea
Before the sun goes down, to see
In Basseterre town –
See the Clown comes dancing down the street!
The sea and sky all peach and gold,
The year is young, the year is old,
Dance! Barefoot boy, upon the street,
Dance with bells upon your feet,
Jump up higher than your joy, jump up
Bearefoot boy! Time is fleet!
Hear the drums’ hypnotic beat;
Dance upon the sunset street in Basseterre town
Before the sun goes down.
(My God! How they danced for her
On the Island of St. Christopher).
Dance, jump up! Barefoot boy,
Jump up! Higher than your joy,
Dance on the sunset street in Basseterre town.
Dance, jump up! Barefoot boy,
Jump up! Higher than your joy,
Dance before the sun goes down,
Dance for joy, Dance for me,
Dance, defy all gravity –
Dancing there so swift as time
They dance and make the music mine –
Dance beside the shining sea
In Basseterre town
Before the sun goes down.
(My God! How they danced for her
On the Island of St. Christopher).
Anywhere I wander, anywhere I go;
Through cities bare, or towns of drifing snow,
I know they’ll dance for me again
The Dancers of Basseterre.
In memory they’ll dance for me,
And banish all my care, and help me
Wear the mantle of mortality with majesty
Someday on the frost-lid corners of my eyes,
When I am feeling cold and old in city there –
Down the streets of my despair,
They’ll come dancing once again,
The Dancers of Basseterre!
I shall remember when
On streets of tropic gold
They danced for me.
And they shall dance again, before I’m old,
In Basseterre town
Beside the shining sea
Before the sun goes down.
Jump up!
Anne Marie Wyse-Murray copyright words and music
Voice and Music Anne Marie Wyse-Murray
