Explore "Over the Banisters" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Over the banisters bends a face, / Daringly sweet and beguiling. / Somebody stands in careless grace / And watching the picture, smiling.
The light burns dim in the hall below, / Nobody sees her standing, / Saying good-night again, soft and low, / Halfway up to the landing.
Nobody only the eyes of brown, / Tender and full of meaning, / That smile on the fairest face in town, / Over the banisters leaning.
Tired and sleepy, with drooping head, / I wonder why she lingers; / Now, when the good-nights all are said, / Why, somebody holds her fingers.
He holds her fingers and draws her down, / Suddenly growing bolder, / Till the loose hair drops its masses brown / Like a mantle over his shoulder.
Over the banisters soft hands, fair, / Brush his cheeks like a feather, / And bright brown tresses and dusky hair / Meet and mingle together.
There's a question asked, there's a swift caress, / She has flown like a bird from the hallway, / But over the banisters drops a "Yes," / That shall brighten the world for him alway.