Skip to content
Linespedia

Dearth

By James Whitcomb Riley

Topics: classic

I hold your trembling hand to-night - and yet     I may not know what wealth of bliss is mine,     My heart is such a curious design     Of trust and jealousy! Your eyes are wet -     So must I think they jewel some regret,     And lo, the loving arms that round me twine     Cling only as the tendrils of a vine     Whose fruit has long been gathered: I forget,     While crimson clusters of your kisses press     Their wine out on my lips, my royal fair     Of rapture, since blind fancy needs must guess     They once poured out their sweetness otherwhere,     With fuller flavoring of happiness     Than e'en your broken sobs may now declare.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"I hold your trembling hand to-night - and yet..."

This evocative piece by James Whitcomb Riley, titled "Dearth", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:James Whitcomb Riley

"I hold your trembling hand to-night - and yet..." by James Whitcomb Riley

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"Writ in between the lines of his life-deed         We trace the sacred service of a heart         Answering the Divine command, in every par"

"Crowd about me, little children -         Come and cluster 'round my knee     While I tell a little story         That happened once with me."

"O the night was dark and the night was late,         And the robbers came to rob him;      And they picked the locks of his palace-gate,"

"O her beautiful eyes! they are as blue as the dew         On the violet's bloom when the morning is new,         And the light of their love"

"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"

James Whitcomb Riley

About James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley (1849–1916) was an American poet known as the "Hoosier Poet." His dialect poems—including "Little Orphant Annie" and "When the Frost Is on the Punkin"—celebrate rural Indiana life and childhood nostalgia.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"Writ in between the lines of his life-deed        ..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

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