The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-08-17
CONCERNING KISSING.
From Rural New Yorker

From Rural New Yorker.
Considering what slender themes have
served to fill bic books, it is remarkable
that the literature of kissing should be so
extremely meager. Three or four brief
essays in prose !; dozen short poems,
mostly in Latin and French and a
thousand epigrums (more or less),-these|
are about all that have been written on
one of the most piquant, if not the
profOundest, of topics. In Hebrew
literature the" Song ofSolomon" contains,
it is said, themost and the best to be
found on the subjects of kissing. The
Greek poets, with one or two exceptions,
make little mention of it, save as an act
ofTeyerence. Suppho, who may be sup
posed to have known something of the
matter, does not ppeGr-judging by the
fragments Of her writings which remain
to have thought the topic worthy of her
muse. The0critus clearly knew the value
ola kiss, as demonstration of affection.
Very prettily, but with singular mod
GRAFTON of feeling ana diction, he'says towa
beautiful lady friend,
ST would have been contented
With a kiss Of your sweet mouth
Plato, philosopher as he was, seems to
have been vastly more enthusiastic. In
his elegant Yersicle entitled "The Kiss"
he declares that on a certain occasion his
soul quite deserted his body, being
literally lost in a smack,-Iilze a ship
wrecked fisherman With commendable
reticence, he does not mention the lady's
name, after the manner flater pOets,Who
"kiss and tell" with shameful freedom of
speech, provided, indeed, their Lydi0s
and LalageS are not mere poeudCnyms.
or the Roman bards it is notable that
Horace makes little of kissing in his
literature, whatever he may have done in
his life. Perhaps he was warned off the
premises by the wonderful success Of
Catullus in his famous ode to LeS6ia, "a
poem altogether unrivalled in its wav,
and leaving to later poets nothing but
to vie with each other i'll attempting to
initiate or translate it. "Do you ask,
Le8bjQ" sings Catullus, chow many kiss
ings Of thine can be enough -. As
many as are the sands Of the African
desert or as many as are the stars that
behold the secret loves Of mortals when
night is still By the by,ono of the finest
Of American scholars, commenting on the
passage, calls attention to the poets
felicitous use Of the word "kissin gs"
(baSQtj0neS). which he employs instead of
''Kisses" (50sja), with a fine effect Of
multiplication. A French poet, however,
has improved on the mode of computation
which Catullus gives in his "basja m5IIe
&C., by single ingenious phrase which
extends the luxury ad int3nitum ! In a
poem by Victor Hugo it is said of two
lovers
son 'enbrasse a chaque instant
PWis encOre?'
kissing "every nom Mt and then again!n
is an expression which reminds one of
"Three cheers and tiger !" only 1t is a
good deal more multitudinous, and
suggests, indeed, what the mathematicians
call an infnitesImal series
Perhaps the finest description Of a
kissing bout is the one contained in his
poem TO Acme by Caius Valerius. Of
many English versions Of the immortal
ode to "Lesbia," above mentioned, the
best is in the form Of an imitation-it is
much TO- free to be call translation by
Sir Hamburg Williams We quote the
better part of it:
Come Chloe land give me sweet kisses
For sweeter. sHre, girl never gave);
But why, in the midst Of our blisses,
Do you ask me h0tO nadny crave?
I'm not to be Rtinted in pleasure,
So, prithee, my charHler be kind:
For since loYe thee beyond measure
To numbers I'll neer be confined
Count the herds that DER Tempe are straying,
The flowers that enamelits fields
Count the bees that DER Hybla are PLAYING:
The grain that rich Sicily yields /; -.
Go, number the stars in the heaven,
20, count al! the sands on the shore;
When so many kisses you've given, fA
L still shall be craving for more - .t@c1
Among British bards, Burns and Moore
like all the amatory poets, made frequent
a4Euslon to kissing but neither they, nor
any of the modern lights of Literature
with two notable exceptions), have de-
voted spel ial poems to the subject.
Browning has given us a remarkably
dainty bit Of verse, telling in how many
ways he would choose to be kissed; and his
more gifted wife in her charming sonnet,
commenced, First Time he Kissed Me-"
has shown how capable theme it Is, for
beauty and tenderness, in the hands Of
genius.
or American poems about kissing,
Saxe's ode to Lesbia" is the only one
we remember, with the exception of an
epigram entitled Lip Service" with a
copy Of which we will conclude this
article: affaf anga.E-
Julia once and once again, a" .1a1
In coquettsh fashion.
Needless OF her lovers pain, i1I" .|t.
Mocked his burning passion -
Words of worship lightly fall
From a courtier, surely: s I
Mere "lip-service"-that Ia all y
Said the maid dsmurely.
Then his kisses fell like dew, a
Just where Love would choose 'em,
On her month-and through and through,
Thrilled hsr glowing bosom.
I'LL she felt-nor uttered she .
Whisper OF negation--
81 Mere lip.servicss' still may be -..aysl
-7yi-a.t1 Perfect alteration ~ ....g 50
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