Emily Dickinson Lexicon

dance, n. [OFr.] (webplay: measure, more, motions, move, persons, tune).

1. Carol; cycle; metrical movement; performance of exercise with music; pattern of steps in a round; ring of motion around a maypole.
2. Rhythm; gesture; meter; cadence; turning; body language; graceful flight through space and time; [fig.] rhymed verse; lyric poetry; [metaphor] emotion; deep feeling; transcendent expression of life; (see Jeremiah 31:13).