| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Javanese Dancers |
| | | Arthur Symons (1865–1945) |
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| TWITCHED strings, the clang of metal, beaten drums, | |
| Dull, shrill, continuous, disquieting; | |
| And now the stealthy dancer comes | |
| Undulantly with cat-like steps that cling; | |
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| Smiling between her painted lids a smile | 5 |
| Motionless, unintelligible, she twines | |
| Her fingers into mazy lines, | |
| Twining her scarves them all the while. | |
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| One, two, three, four step forth, and, to and fro, | |
| Delicately and imperceptibly, | 10 |
| Now swaying gently in a row, | |
| Now interthreading slow and rhythmically, | |
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| Still with fixed eyes, monotonously still, | |
| Mysteriously, with smiles inanimate, | |
| With lingering feet that undulate, | 15 |
| With sinuous fingers, spectral hands that thrill, | |
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| The little amber-colored dancers move, | |
| Like little painted figures on a screen, | |
| Or phantom-dancers haply seen | |
| Among the shadows of a magic grove. | 20 |
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