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"Danse Russe" by William Carlos Williams

Danse Russe

If I when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,--
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,--

Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
This recording is being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. © 2012 by the estates of William Eric Williams and Paul H. Williams. Used by permission of the heirs of William Carlos Williams and New Directions Publishing Corp., agent for the heirs. Distributed by PennSound.