| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| From “Dorothy: a Country Story.” II. Country Kisses |
| | | Arthur Joseph Munby (b. 1828) |
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| CURIOUS, the ways of these folk of humble and hardly condition: | |
| Kisses, amongst ourselves, bless me, how much they imply! | |
| Ere you can come to a kiss, you must scale the whole gamut of courtship— | |
| Introduction first; pretty attentions and words; | |
| Tentative looks; and at length, perhaps the touch of a finger; | 5 |
| Then the confession; and then (if she allow it) the kiss. | |
| So that a kiss comes last—’t is the crown and seal of the whole thing; | |
| Passion avow’d by you, fondly accepted by her. | |
| But in our Dorothy’s class, a kiss only marks the beginning: | |
| Comes me a light-hearted swain, thinking of nothing at all; | 10 |
| Flings his fustian sleeve round the ample waist of the maiden; | |
| Kisses her cheek, and she—laughingly thrusts him away. | |
| Why, ’t is a matter of course; every good-looking damsel expects it; | |
| ’T is but the homage, she feels, paid to her beauty by men: | |
| So that, at Kiss-in-the-Ring—an innocent game and a good one— | 15 |
| Strangers in plenty may kiss: nay, she pursues, in her turn. | |
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