T is for Tarantella
It’s been set to music,
And I like the story
That goes
That if one dances
Fast enough with zest
And spirit and need,
The poison will
Withdraw from out
The spider’s bite
Perspiration, perhaps
Perhaps reward of
Tribute to Arachne
Who knows, maybe
To the mischief of
Ananzi, too
Now let’s make our
Own tale of such
Movement and lost
Consciousness in
Dance to take us
To a place where
Divinity gives
Healing
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Blogging from A to Z Challenge
clcouch123 
April 28, 2016 at 4:04 am
Ooooh! Interesting. I believe this is based on fact right? That dancing can cure spider’s venom? I tend to think your poems are always factual, Christopher. That’s a good thing I guess? 😀
April 28, 2016 at 8:01 pm
Well, I remember many stories. And I look up things, too. Yes, the tarantella movements were developed as a means to sweat out the spider poison causing tarantism, a disease (from spider bites) that had become something of a plague in certain parts especially in Italy. Did the frenzied motion cure the disease? I hope so. Accounts vary. But some medical folk today tend to think that, at the least, there was no great harm in trying that for those who were already so sick. As the time with the disease became folklore, an interest arose in developing music and dance that was frenzied. The tarantella thus became a form of folk music and dance. Still popular.
I can get things wrong, though I do try to get them right. Thanks for such close and spirited reading, Rosema!