3-053-628 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Last Galop - drawn by F. Barnard, 1873. Illustration to a poem by John Latey. '...But soon the spirit of the hour Exerts o'er all its magic power...First that impetuous madcap Bella Is bitten by the tarantella; And straight the whole come following after, With quips and cranks and ringing laughter. St. Vitus has them in his grip, And makes them, willy-nilly, skip. Now all are frantically setting, Chassez-ing, turning, pirouetting; Advancing now, and now retreating; Their steps such merry music beating, That scarce the twanging violin Is heard amid the boisterous din. And when the last - the very last - Mad galop comes they trip it fast, To quickening tune increase their pace, For Finis stares them in the face. So round and round, and to and fro, Like dancing dervishes they go...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.