Song from a Country Fair

By Léonie Adams 1899–1988 Leonie Adams

When tunes jigged nimbler than the blood

And quick and high the bows would prance

And every fiddle string would burst

To catch what’s lost beyond the string,

While half afraid their children stood,

I saw the old come out to dance.

The heart is not so light at first,

But heavy like a bough in spring.

Léonie Adams, “Song from a Country Fair” from Poems: A Selection (New York: The Noonday Press, 1959). Used by permission of Judith Farr, Literary Executrix of the Estate of Léonie Adams.

Source: Poems: A Selection (1959)

Biography

An educator, consultant, editor, and poet, Leonie Adams was best known for her lyric poetry reminiscent of both the Romantic and Metaphysical periods. Her poetry won her several awards, including the Harriet Monroe Poetry Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the Bollingen Prize. She served in editorial capacities for both Wilson Publishing and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City during the 1920s and later taught . . .

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