this poem set to music by Natalie Merchant was just the thing tonight:
The Dancing Bear*
Albert Bigelow Paine (1861-1937)Oh, it’s fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee,
The dancing bear ran away with me;
For the organ-grinder he came to town
With a jolly old bear in a coat of brown.
And the funny old chap joined hands with me,
While I cut a caper and so did he.
Then ’twas fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee,
I looked at him, and he winked at me,
And I whispered a word in his shaggy ear,
And I said, “I will go with you, my dear.”Then the dancing bear he smiled and said,
Well, he didn’t say much, but he nodded his head,
As the organ-grinder began to play
“Over the hills and far away.”
With a fiddle-de-dum and a fiddle-de-dee;
Oh, I looked at him and he winked at me,
And my heart was light and the day was fair,
And away I went with the dancing bear.Oh, ’tis fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee,
The dancing bear came back with me;
For the sugar-plum trees were stripped and bare,
And we couldn’t find cookies anywhere.
And the solemn old fellow he sighed and said,
Well, he didn’t say much, but he shook his head,
While I looked at him and he blinked at me
Till I shed a tear and so did he;
And both of us thought of our supper that lay
Over the hills and far away.
Then the dancing bear he took my hand,
And we hurried away through the twilight land;
And ’twas fiddle-de-dum and fiddle-de-dee
When the dancing bear came back with me.
* Not to be confused with the one of my contra dancing memory or our favorite about uncle walter
