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Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief! who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad;
Say that health and wealth have miss'd me;
Say I'm growing old, but add-
Jenny kiss'd me.
For some reason I have always liked this poem (always in this case being around 20 years). It managed to put a smile on my face as I imagined the lady's kiss being such a source of joy it got a poem like this written. It bursts with optimism, with a sort of laughing in the face of fate.
So I went digging... During an influenza epidemic, Hunt was seriously ill. When he was finally well enough to go out, he went first to see the Carlyles, Thomas and Jane. Jane Carlyle was so relieved to see him, she impulsively jumped up and gave him a kiss. This unexpected, but delightful breach of propiety, inspired Hunt to write one of his most famous poems.
Note: >Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle< - fascinating read. They were said to have a marriage made in heaven: by marrying each other only 2 people were made to live in misery - instead of 4. There was violence, there was hatred, there was wit - all of this with the British literary world of the time surrounding them.
Jane Welsh Carlyle
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief! who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in.
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad;
Say that health and wealth have miss'd me;
Say I'm growing old, but add-
Jenny kiss'd me.
- Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)
For some reason I have always liked this poem (always in this case being around 20 years). It managed to put a smile on my face as I imagined the lady's kiss being such a source of joy it got a poem like this written. It bursts with optimism, with a sort of laughing in the face of fate.
So I went digging... During an influenza epidemic, Hunt was seriously ill. When he was finally well enough to go out, he went first to see the Carlyles, Thomas and Jane. Jane Carlyle was so relieved to see him, she impulsively jumped up and gave him a kiss. This unexpected, but delightful breach of propiety, inspired Hunt to write one of his most famous poems.
Note: >Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle< - fascinating read. They were said to have a marriage made in heaven: by marrying each other only 2 people were made to live in misery - instead of 4. There was violence, there was hatred, there was wit - all of this with the British literary world of the time surrounding them.
Jane Welsh Carlyle
