Fancy Dress

by Siegfried Sassoon (1920) — a poem card from Justes Mots

A person in costume becomes possessed by ancestral spirits and primal forces, reconnecting with indigenous heritage and ancient lineages. Sassoon explores how clothing and appearance can awaken dormant identities and the numinous power of cultural memory. The poem celebrates the breaking of civilized constraints and connection to wild, untamed ancestry.

Some Brave, awake in you to-night,
Knocked at your heart: an eagle's flight
Stirred in the feather on your head.
Your wide-set Indian eyes, alight
Above high cheek-bones smeared with red,
Unveiled cragg'd centuries, and led
You, the snared wraith of bygone things—
Wild ancestries of trackless Kings—…

Themes: gratitude · friendship · admiration · reflection