Karen is a child condemned to dance through a storm, and the poem lets us hear her voice between the repeated refrains. The little white feet and wine-red shoes feel like two sides of her: innocence and something unnatural that forces her on. She calls out to other children, hoping someone will open a door, but the whole town is dark and shuttered; no one answers. There is no comfort or rest, only the relentless rhythm of the lines, which keeps returning to those same images. The mood is lonely, eerie, and exhausted. The rain and wind almost drown her voice, and the final “Nevermore” makes the dancing feel endless, as if she will keep moving over hills and valleys forever. It reads like a fairy tale turned into a nightmare, with the red shoes as both a vivid image and a kind of curse.
Song of Karen, the Dancing Child — Summary
(O little white feet of mine) Out in the storm and the rain you fly; (Red, red shoes the colour of wine) Can the children hear my cry?
(O little white feet of mine) Never a child in the whole great town; (Red, red shoes the colour of wine) Lights out and the blinds pulled down.
(O little white feet of mine) Never a light on a window pane, (Red, red shoes the colour of wine) And the wild wet cry of the rain.
(O little white feet of mine) Shall I never again be still? (Red, red shoes the colour of wine) And away over valley and hill.
(O little white feet of mine) Children, children, open the door! (Red, red shoes the colour of wine) And the wind shrieks Nevermore.