USA Today: Ringling Bros Circus Closing after 146 years
My grandparents went to the circus, my parents took me and I took my children to the circus. My grandson is only a year old, but I won’t take him. The Big Top is no more. One of my favorite memories as a child was reading the Little Golden Book, Circus Time, which begins:
It is early in the morning.
The sky is pale pink and pale yellow and pale gray.
But Molly cannot sleep. It is CIRCUS TIME.
Sometimes, when the sky is pale pink and yellow and gray, I think of that book and memories of the circus. But now I wonder, if the Big Top is really a thing of the past, except for acrobatic extravaganzas on stage like Cirque de Soleil or small venue shows without the lions, tigers, bears or elephants, how soon will the understanding of circus related phrases and metaphors also disappear? Consider this exchange between boy detective Artemis Fowl and his friend Julius:
“What's this?" he inquired, none too pleasantly. "A circus?"
"No, Julius. It's the end of the circus."
"I see. And these are the clowns?"
Foaly's head poked through the doorway.
"Pardon me for interrupting your extended circus metaphor, but what the hell is that?”
Soon, the meaning of “a three-ring circus” will have no reference at all except a vaguely historical one. Associated examples are “ring-master” and “crack-the-whip.” Even simpler, “life’s a circus” implies knowledge of the frenetic activities of the circus with so many things going on simultaneously. And the ultimate escapism appears in our language as “run away and join the circus.” So too may disappear understanding of: “dog and pony show,” “walking a tight-rope,” or “without a safety net.” How about “under the big top,” or “under the big tent,” or “the tent poles” of a party or organization, or other phrases of political jargon? Here are two more: “jump through a hoop” and “dressed-up like a clown.” And when the knowledge of the reference evanesces then soon, so too, will use of the phrase itself.
While these phrases might persist for a while, understanding their reference will be a mystery to future generations, those who have never heard the opening cry, “Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages” to the tune of “Entrance of the Gladiators.” They never will have seen the elephant girl riding into the tent on top of a grey behemoth twenty times her size, or the bare-back riders jumping through hoops (another metaphor) while circling around the center ring (another) at a dizzying pace on a mighty steed, or seen a tiger jump through a ring of fire (yet another.)
(On a personal note, I remember once treating the girl who rode the elephant who had herpes encephalitis. To paraphrase Groucho, “How she got herpes from the elephant, I’ll never know.” But that is best left to those with a more prurient interest.)
Although the words and phrases of and about the circus will slowly fade from our speech and current literature, perhaps their reduction to a historical footnote will be more prolonged because of preservation in musical lyrics. Many of us still listen to the “oldies” stations, whether on our car radio or now through Pandora, Siriusxm radio or other computer driven methods. Many of these songs go back to the golden oldies of the late 50’s and 60’s. Some may remember songs such as “The Tears of a Clown” or “Goodbye Cruel World” or “Cathy’s Clown” or “Send in the Clowns,” any of which may still be playing as an earworm in our auditory cortex. But these songs are now losing their reference and soon their understanding. Another example with an even more ancient tie to carnival and clowns is “The Carnival is Over” by the Seekers. Here, the girl sings:
Like a drum my heart was beating
And your kiss was sweet as wine
But the joys of love are fleeting
For Pierrot and Columbine
Now the harbor light is calling
This will be our last goodbye
Though the carnival is over
I will love you till I die.
Who knows the reference to Pierrot and Columbine? These characters date back to the Commedia dell’arte which began in 16th century Italy, and the commedia is known as the first form of professional theater. The reference is to Pierrot, the sad clown in love with beautiful Columbine who breaks his heart by leaving him for Harlequin. Many still sing this song, though more commonly it is sung in Australia at weddings and other special events, without knowing the meaning of the reference. The archetypical Pierrot is that of Canio in Pagliacci, Leoncavallo’s tragic opera. Canio sings “Vesti la guibba”, or “put on the costume” and also sings the final line “La commedia è finita!”
Even further removed temporally, a once popular song is “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze”, often used as a musical interlude in days of live bands and variety shows but now sunk into oblivion. Remember the verse?
He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring young man on the flying trapeze.
His movements were graceful, all girls he could please
And my love he purloined away.
The trapeze, the high wire, the death-defying rings are all but things of the past. Soon it will become a mystery as to why “all the girls he could please” except to those with a prurient interest. But we might also dig a little further into the lyrics. In our hyper-critical world, while The Daring Young Man might appear as a simple tale of love stolen by a trapeze artist. More careful deconstruction of its lengthy lyrics reveals there is more here than purloined affection. These days the lyrics suggest micro-aggression, alcohol induced seduction, implied lesbianism and cross-dressing—all those things that your mother told you might happen if you ran away to the circus. Well, maybe not in those exact words. So now that the Big Top is a thing of the past, your mother can rest easy in the knowledge that you will not get herpes, at least not from the elephant.