Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/28

14 on the woman's mouth, let us, therefore, investigate how a woman's mouth ought to be fashioned in order to fulfil its purpose from a philematological point of view. When the mediæval French poets describe a beautiful and desirable woman they say of her mouth that it must be "well-formed and sweet to kiss" (bien faite et douce pour baiser). The troubadours likewise in their love poems praise the mouth that is ben faita ad obs de baisar.

If more detailed explanations are wanted they can easily be given. The lips must, in the first place, be bewitchingly soft; next, they must be as red as coral:

or else red as roses:

This last simile is one of the most frequently employed. The beloved one's mouth is likened to a rose; it has the scent and colour of a rose: