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.

These lines are from Leigh Hunt’s short lyric “Jenny Kiss’d Me,” a poem of affectionate reminiscence written in Hunt’s characteristic light, conversational manner. Hunt (1784–1859)—essayist, editor, and poet associated with the Romantic circle—often wrote about domestic feeling and the small, vivid incidents that outlast larger disappointments. The speaker recalls a simple kiss at a meeting and addresses “Time” as a thief who steals pleasures, urging it to record this sweetness among its takings. The poem’s charm lies in its everyday setting (a chair, a sudden impulse) and in the way a fleeting gesture becomes a lasting consolation against aging, fatigue, and worldly lack.

The poem argues that a single moment of genuine affection can outweigh a catalogue of misfortunes. By personifying Time as a “thief,” Hunt acknowledges that life inevitably takes away youth, health, and prosperity; yet he insists that Time also “takes” joys—memories that remain as proof one has been loved. The repeated “Say…” sets up a litany of possible failures, but the final imperative—“but add / Jenny kissed me”—reframes the speaker’s life story: the kiss becomes a counterweight to decline and disappointment. The poem’s significance is its democratic Romanticism: not grand heroics but a small, intimate act is treated as enduring treasure.

Jenny kiss’d 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.

1) “Jenny kissed me when we met …” (modernized spelling: “kissed/missed” instead of Hunt’s “kiss’d/miss’d”).
2) Title often printed as “Jenny Kissed Me” (without the apostrophe in “Kiss’d”).