Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/102

 'Twas wrong indeed, I take it,

That you should boldly dare

Address a well-born maiden

By stealth with such a prayer.

But if your looks belie not,

You good and noble are,

And so your path to fortune

I should be loth to mar."

Then by the hand she leads him

To where the window is,

She blushes and she trembles;

They interchange a kiss.

W. F. H.

It would be superfluous to say more about this poem, which I suppose is the most popular of Ploug's essays in epic narrative. How far the anecdote is historical is uncertain; but with the knowledge we have of his and her character it cannot, in any case, be regarded as improbable. Ploug may thus be right when he says:

In early French literature there is a story somewhat akin to this; it occurs in the old