| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Acrostic: Emilie Marshall | | By Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806–1867) |
| | | ELEGANCE floats about thee like a dress, | |
| Melting the airy motion of thy form | |
| Into one swaying grace; and loveliness, | |
| Like a rich tint that makes a picture warm, | |
| Is lurking in the chestnut of thy tress, | 5 |
| Enriching it, as moonlight after storm | |
| Mingles dark shadows into gentleness. | |
| A beauty that bewilders like a spell | |
| Reigns in thine eye’s clear hazel; and thy brow | |
| So pure in vein’d transparency doth tell | 10 |
| How spiritually beautiful art thou— | |
| A temple where angelic love might dwell. | |
| Life in thy presence were a thing to keep, | |
| Like a gay dreamer clinging to his sleep. | | | | |
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