Forestalled
Whoever it was that did it,
Be it Adam and Eve, or who
(The eons of time have hid it),
We know it was done by two—
But whatever two evolved it—
God grant them eternal bliss!
‘Twas a wonderful thing to the world to bring
The rapture that’s in a kiss.
They are hid in the misty ages,
The names of the lucky twain,
No musty, thumb-worn pages
Give back to the world again
The name of the tender maiden,
Nor how it was brought about;
But ‘tis safe to say ‘twas behind the day
With the lights turned down or out.
But I know she was a maiden
With tangly, sun-kissed hair,
With blue eyes, mischief-laden,
With lips pursed in a dare;
And I know had that twain not found it,
It is writ, come joy or rue,
I’d have sipped the bliss of the world’s first kiss
From the red, red lips of you.