The Shadow KissRev.JohnStedmanStedman, JohnJ. S.IllustratorHablot KnightBrowneBrowne, Hablot Knight (pseudonym Phiz)
Metadata research and editing
DVPP Project Team Peters Merridy University of Victoria Digital Victorian Periodical PoetryVictoria, BC, Canada
In the public domain
Poet attribution: Curran Index. (SK)Once a Week1125526Two deep bay windows lit the roomfont-size: 110%; word-spacing: 0.3em; letter-spacing: 0.03em; margin-bottom:
0.5em;text-align: right; margin-right: 11rem; margin-top: -2rem;text-transform: uppercase;font-style: italic;display: inline;display: block;font-size: 1rem; width: 42em;margin-left: auto; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: auto; width: 60%;width: 50%; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;display: none;Column work.Set status to 'verified'.Created pom_246_incid_poem rendition to reset font-sizes.Added useful rendition elements in anticipation of CSS reworking.Marking specific renditions as incidental.Handle base cases of incidental titles.Re-organized change elements in descending date order.Assigned dominant rhyme-scheme value to poem div using automated XSLT.Proofed catRefs and edited figure/figDesc.Set status to 'proofed'. Updated poem to follow new protocols. Tweaked CSS. Moved repetitive
CSS to the tagsDecl. Added illustration information: catRefs, figDesc, and keywords.
The Shadow Kiss.Two deep bay windows lit the roomIn which we watch’d the evening gloom ;In this myself and Lucy sat,Pater and maiden aunts in that ;The gaslights on the flags belowAnd on our ceiling cast a glow.While pater and his coterieTalk’d matters parliamentary ;Or rul’d, with solemn shake of head,How prudently the young should wed,In my committee I said, “ This,My dearest, is the time to kiss ! ’Lured by the shadowy hour and nook,The proffer’d pledge she coyly took ;When, lo ! by our unlucky fate,In silhouette, our tête-a-tête,Noses and pouted lips were allObliquely shadow’d on the wall !So, when the footman brings in tea,Sombre are they, and scarlet are we :The lamp has prematurely shownA truth we dared not to own :Small thanks to light untimely cast,—And yet this kiss was not our last !J.S.