ON A DEGAS BRONZE OF A DANCER - John Berger

You say the leg supports the body
But have you never seen
The seed in the ankle
Whence the body grows?

You say (if you are the builder of bridges
I think you are) each pose
Must have its natural equilibrium
But have you never seen
Recalcitrant muscles of dancers
Hold their unnatural own?

You say (if as rational
As I hope you are) the biped’s evolution
Was accomplished long ago
But have you never seen
The still miraculous sign
A little in from the hip
Predicting nine inches below
Bodies fork in two?

Then let us look together
(We who both know
Light’s the go-between
Of space and time)
Let us look at this figure
To verify
I my goddess
And you the stress.

Think in terms of bridges.
See, the road of the leg and back
Hingeing at hip and shoulder
Holds firm from palm to heel
Single leg as pier"
Thigh above the knee
Cantilevering member.

Think in terms of bridges
Over what men once called Lethe.
See, the ordinary body we cross through
Vulnerable, inhabited, warm
Stands the strain too.
Dead Load, Live Load
And Longitudinal Drag.

So let the bridge this dancer arches for us
Stand the strain of all old prejudice
So let’s verify again,
You my goddess
And I the stress.

Edgar Degas - Little Dancer