Kissing-Time
'Tis when the lark goes soaring,And the bee is at the bud,When lightly dancing zephyrsSing over field and flood;When all sweet things in NatureSeem joyfully a-chime--'Tis then I wake my darling,For it is kissing-time!
Go, pretty lark, a-soaring,And suck your sweets, O bee;Sing, O ye winds of summer,Your songs to mine and me.For with your song and raptureCometh the moment whenIt is half-past kissing-timeAnd time to kiss again!
So--so the days go fleetingLike golden fancies free,And every day that comethIs full of sweets for me;And sweetest are those momentsMy darling comes to climbInto my lap to mind meThat it is kissing-time.
Sometimes, may be, he wandersA heedless, aimless way--Sometimes, may be, he loitersIn pretty, prattling play;But presently bethinks himAnd hastens to me then,For it's half-past kissing timeAnd time to kiss again!
Words in this poem
- aimless a.
- Without aim or purpose; as, an aimless life.
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Kissing-Time is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Kissing-Time, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/kissing-time.html, id L11622.
Form and metre
Kissing-Time is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A-B-B soaring · budA · zephyrs · floodA · nature · chimeB · darling · timeB
- 2 -A-A-B-B soaring · beeA · summer · meA · rapture · whenB · time · againB
- 3 -A-A-BAB fleeting · freeA · cometh · meA · moments · climbB · meA · timeB
- 4 -A-A-B-B wanders · wayA · loiters · playA · him · thenB · time · againB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis when the lark goes soaring, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And the bee is at the bud, | 7 | ······· |
| When lightly dancing zephyrs | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Sing over field and flood; | 6 | ······ |
| When all sweet things in Nature | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Seem joyfully a-chime-- | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| 'Tis then I wake my darling, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For it is kissing-time! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Go, pretty lark, a-soaring, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And suck your sweets, O bee; | 6 | ······ |
| Sing, O ye winds of summer, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Your songs to mine and me. | 6 | ······ |
| For with your song and rapture | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Cometh the moment when | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| It is half-past kissing-time | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And time to kiss again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So--so the days go fleeting | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Like golden fancies free, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And every day that cometh | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| Is full of sweets for me; | 6 | ······ |
| And sweetest are those moments | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| My darling comes to climb | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Into my lap to mind me | 7 | ······· |
| That it is kissing-time. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sometimes, may be, he wanders | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| A heedless, aimless way-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Sometimes, may be, he loiters | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| In pretty, prattling play; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But presently bethinks him | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And hastens to me then, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For it's half-past kissing time | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And time to kiss again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.