(Back to Easter Egg Poems)

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 missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
   Jenny kissed me.

Leigh Hunt

CST approved

A rondeau (also called by the title "Rondeau" instead of "Jenny Kissed Me" at times), the most famous poem by Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) was penned after he was stricken during an influenza epidemic. Hunt unexpectedly recovered and visited the home of writer Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). When he came through the door, Carlyle’s wife, Jane Welsh Carlyle (1801-1866), surprised to see him alive and well, jumped up and kissed him.
