Wilhemine's Dance: A Sestina

Wilhelmine, a lady who was very pretty Sat on the balcony looking out at the sunset. The band played in the ballroom; their song was magical. The men were dressed nicely, pressed were their shirts For the evening, purified like bile in the liver. She wore her favorite fragrance: Integrity . There she sat, her dress the color of the sunset. She turned and watched the dancers dance magically: The girls in their dresses and the men in their suits and shirts. She was sad because there was no one in this high liver Who would dance with her! If only she could keep her integrity, This lady with eyes so pretty. Wilhelmine, whose eyes were magical, Looked down at her emerald jacket-shirt. Other girls laughed at her, calling lily-livered And that she had no integrity For she could not find a partner who was pretty. Then she saw a man come from the sunset. He had on a miraculous white shirt That looked like it had been purified in the liver. Wilhelmine told him her story with integrity. He replied that he was Ignatius and that she was pretty As they sat on the balcony, they talked as the sun set. There was something about them that was magical. Suddenly Wilhelmine no longer felt lily-livered As she felt Ignatius had integrity. Ignatius told her that her dress was pretty That it was red as a Viennese sunset. He asked her to dance and like magic Her hand was in his; she gazed at his clean white shirt. They began to dance integritvely. Others said that the two looked very pretty As Ignatius and Wilhelmine danced in the sunset. Across the floor they danced magically She in her red dress and he in his white shirt And both of them were not lily-livered. As the sun set, Ignatius told her she was pretty. Wilhelmine said that the dance was magical and admired his shirt With integrity, they ate liverwurst. This was a sestina I wrote in 2008 for an English literature and rhetoric class at university. This was my first major poem I wrote. My professor loved it so much that she read to another class of hers on Valentine's Day.