Featured Poem: The Little Dancers by Laurence Binyon

This week's Featured Poem is The Little Dancers by Laurence Binyon. I love the final line of this poem, 'their eyes shining, grave with a perfect pleasure' which sums up the children's enjoyment at their simple pleasure in the dreary setting.

Children's Literature is certainly in our minds at The Reader this month, our next Short Course 'A Whizz-tour through the wonderful world of Children's Literature' is happening in less than 3 weeks, and preparations are well under way for The Secret Garden of Stories, our first ever children's literature festival happening in the last weekend of August.

I hope you enjoy this week's Featured Poem.

The Little Dancers

Lonely, save for a few faint stars, the sky

Dreams; and lonely, below, the little street

Into its gloom retires, secluded and shy.

Scarcely the dumb roar enters this soft retreat;

And all is dark, save where come flooding rays

From a tavern--window; there, to the brisk measure

Of an organ that down in an alley merrily plays,

Two children, all alone and no one by,

Holding their tattered frocks, thro' an airy maze

Of motion lightly threaded with nimble feet

Dance sedately; face to face they gaze,

Their eyes shining, grave with a perfect pleasure.

Laurence Binyon