Those Who Do Not Dance

Gabriela Mistral 1889 (Vicuña) – 1957 (Hempstead)



A crippled child
Said, “How shall I dance?”
Let your heart dance
We said.

Then the invalid said:
“How shall I sing?”
Let your heart sing
We said

Then spoke the poor dead thistle,
But I, how shall I dance?”
Let your heart fly to the wind
We said.

Then God spoke from above
“How shall I descend from the blue?”
Come dance for us here in the light
We said.

All the valley is dancing
Together under the sun,
And the heart of him who joins us not
Is turned to dust, to dust.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

30 sec read
584

Quick analysis:

Scheme xaaB bccB xaxB xxxB cxxx
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 476
Words 101
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945. more…

All Gabriela Mistral poems | Gabriela Mistral Books

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