Dance

I have decided that I am old enough to enjoy reading A Dance to the Music of Time. The first volume was published in 1951 when Anthony Powell was forty-six. It took him twenty-five years to complete the twelve volume series, although at first he only hoped that it might stretch to three books. Nevertheless its opening paragraphs presage a magnum opus.

The men at work at the corner of the street had made a kind of camp for themselves, where, marked out by tripods hung with red hurricane lamps, an abyss in the road led down to a network of subterranean drain-pipes. Gathered round the bucket of coke that burned in front of the shelter, several figures were swinging arms against bodies and rubbing hands together with large, pantomime gestures: like comedians giving formal expression to the concept of extreme cold. One of them, a spare fellow in blue overalls, taller than the rest, with a jocular demeanour and long, pointed nose like that of a Shakespearean clown, suddenly stepped forward, and, as if performing a rite, cast some substance – apparently the remains of two kippers, loosely wrapped in newspaper – on the bright coals of the fire, causing flames to leap fiercely upward, smoke curling about in eddies of the north-east wind. As the dark fumes floated above the houses, snow began to fall gently from a dull sky, each flake giving a small hiss as it reached the bucket. The flames died down again; and the men, as if required observances were for the moment at an end, all turned away from the fire, lowering themselves laboriously into the pit, or withdrawing to the shadows of their tarpaulin shelter. The grey, undecided flakes continued to come down, though not heavily, while a harsh odour, bitter and gaseous, penetrated the air. The day was drawing in.

For some reason, the sight of snow descending on fire always makes me think of the ancient world – legionaries in sheepskin warming themselves at a brazier: mountain altars where offerings glow between wintry pillars; centaurs with torches cantering beside a frozen sea – scattered, unco-ordinated shapes from a fabulous past, infinitely removed from life; and yet bringing with them memories of things real and imagined. These classical projections, and something in the physical attitudes of the men themselves as they turned from the fire, suddenly suggested Poussin’s scene in which the Seasons, hand in hand and facing outward, tread in rhythm to the notes of the lyre that the winged and naked greybeard plays. The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outward like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognisable shape: or breaking into seemingly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance. Classical associations made me think, too, of days at school, where so many forces, hitherto unfamiliar, had become in due course uncompromisingly clear.

A Dance to the Music of Time by Poussin, Wallace Collection.

My enthusiasm for Dance has been kindled by Hilary Spurling’s biography of Anthony Powell that I have almost finished.

5 comments

  1. If you enjoy DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME you might like to consider joining the Anthony Powell Society.

  2. Once again, we find ourselves reading the same book. I finished ‘A Dance to the Music of Time’ last year after falling at the second volume thirty years ago. First time I think I was comparing it unfavourably to Waugh, second time around I enjoyed it thoroughly (a few grey hairs helps). The comic set pieces are put together with craftsmanlike care. I am now about a third the way through Hilary Spurling’s biography and the cast of characters is already overwhelming, it really needs one of those gatefolds that pull out and enable the reader to keep track of who everyone is. Anyway, only another twenty-nine years to go and I can start re-reading Powell’s opus.

  3. I’m afraid I rejected it 40 years ago but reading the opening paras makes me realise that the time may now be ripe. What beautiful & finely controlled writing.

    1. PG Wodehouse was an admirer of Powell’s novels. They both took great trouble to create exactly the effect they sought. This involved much revision and re-writing. It took Powell about two years to be satisfied. PGW was quicker but went on fewer holidays.

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