Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/30

16 idea of the reality. How accurate is Thomas Moore when, in one of his poems, he declares that roses are not so warm as his beloved's mouth, nor can the dew approach it in sweetness.

Now if we turn to the other aspect of the case and see what women expect from a man's kiss, then the question becomes somewhat more difficult to treat, inasmuch as so exceedingly few women have treated of kisses in poetry—a fact which is also in itself quite natural. Runeberg, who himself has so often sung the praises of kissing without, however, being versed in their nature:

asks his beloved:

But she fails to answer him:

Besides, it seems very evident from the last line that the situation did not admit of the