Lalla Rookh and other Spectacles
Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance was written in 1817 by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. Spectacles were often drawn from literary or historical themes, and Lalla Rookh was popular enough that it appeared in many circuses over the course of decades. Such spectacles played up exotic characters, animals, settings, and costumes, but did so with obvious dramatic flair and theatrical production. This contrasts with the authenticity claims of later ethnological shows, but early spectacles helped to popularize “the idea that the circus was bringing the wonders of the world to small towns across America...”
“Yet go—on peril’s brink we meet;— Those frightful rocks—that treach’rous sea— No, never come again—though sweet, Though heav’n, it may be death to thee. Farewell—and blessings on thy way, Where’er thou goest, beloved stranger! Better to sit and watch that ray, And think thee safe, though far away, Than have thee near me, and in danger!”
—Thomas Moore, from The Fire-worshippers, in the poem Lalla Rookh
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