THE CIRCUS

I sought a theme and sought for it in vain,

I sought it daily for six weeks or so.

Maybe at last being but a broken man

I must be satisfied with my heart, although

Winter and summer till old age began

         My circus animals were all on show,         

Those stilted boys, that burnished chariot,

Lion and woman and the Lord knows what. 

Scene no 60: Cardboard reconstruction of the Humberto’s Circus (Artia Prag edition of Vojtech Kubasta, folding panorama, pop-up display) and two real, roaring lions (Elastolin composition animals) among the paper artists.

The text: The first verses from the poem The Circus Animals’ Desertion, by William Butler Yeats.