Gymnopédie No. 1

19th century French author J.P. Contamine de Latour once penned a poem entitled “Les Antiques” (i.e. “The Ancients”), which included the following lines:

Oblique et coupant l’ombre un torrent éclatant
Ruisselait en flots d’or sur la dalle polie
Où les atomes d’ambre au feu se miroitant
Mêlaient leur sarabande à la gymnopédie

Translation:

Cutting sidelong through the shadows, a brilliant torrent,
Flowing in waves of gold over the polished flagstone,
Where the atoms of amber shimmering in the fire
Mixed their sarabande with the gymnopaedia.