The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar :

Apple blossoms falling o'er thee,
And the month is May,
Laden bows bend low before thee,
With their gentle sway;
Look you where the thrush is swinging
How his melody is ringing,
As he sings my heart is singing:—
Come and kiss me sweet and twenty,
Love blooms out with flowers a-plenty,
Love me, love me without reason,
Kiss me, now's the kissing season,
White your cheek is as the blooms are,
Sweet your breath as perfumes are,
In this dolce far niente,
Come and kiss me sweet and twenty.

Love is at thy window suing,
All the live-long day,
Stay and listen to my wooing,
Life shall all be May.
Love like mine can falter never,
Naught from thee my heart can sever,
And my song shall be forever:—
Come and kiss me sweet and twenty,
Love blooms out with flowers a-plenty,
Love me, love me without reason,
Kiss me, now's the kissing season,

305

White your cheek is as the blooms are,
Sweet your breath is as perfumes are,
In this dolce far niente,
Come and kiss me sweet and twenty.

[_]

Circa 1892. Paul Laurence Dunbar Collection, series 4, box 10, OHS. Quoted by permission. (This poem also appears in Martin and Hudson's Paul Laurence Dunbar Reader.)

University of Virginia Library

Come and Kiss Me Sweet and Twenty