Skip to content
Linespedia

The Betrothal

Topics: classic

There was a little pause between the dances;          Without, somewhere, a tinkling fountain played.     The dusky path was lit by ardent glances          As forth they fared, a lover and a maid.     He chose a nook, from curious eyes well hidden -          All redolent with sweet midsummer charm,     And by the great primeval instinct bidden,          He drew her in the shelter of his arm.     The words that long deep in his heart had trembled     Found sudden utterance; she at first dissembled,          Refused her lips, and half withdrew her hand,     Then murmured "Yes," and yielded, woman fashion,     Her virgin mouth to young love's kiss of passion.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"There was a little pause between the dances;..."

"The Betrothal" is a quintessential example of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"Luck is the tuning of our inmost thought          To chord with God's great plan.         That done, ah! know,     Thy silent wishes to results"

"I stand in the blaze of the candle rays,          While my merry maidens three     Arrange each tress, and loop my dress,          And render m"

"I held the golden vessel of my soul     And prayed that God would fill it from on high.     Day after day the importuning cry     Grew stronger"

"How happy they are, in all seeming,          How gay, or how smilingly proud,     How brightly their faces are beaming,          These people"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"Luck is the tuning of our inmost thought          ..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.