---
title: "The Parting Kiss"
author: "Robert Burns"
form: "Poem"
year: "1788"
location: "Mossgiel"
source: "Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns"
source_url: "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt"
canonical_url: "https://robert-burns.com/poems/the-parting-kiss/"
---

# The Parting Kiss

## Poem
Humid seal of soft affections,  
Tenderest pledge of future bliss,  
Dearest tie of young connections,  
Love’s first snowdrop, virgin kiss!

Speaking silence, dumb confession,  
Passion’s birth, and infant’s play,  
Dove-like fondness, chaste concession,  
Glowing dawn of future day!

Sorrowing joy, Adieu’s last action,  
(Lingering lips must now disjoin),  
What words can ever speak affection  
So thrilling and sincere as thine!

---

Source: [Project Gutenberg #1279 — Poems and Songs of Robert Burns](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1279/pg1279.txt)  
Canonical HTML: https://robert-burns.com/poems/the-parting-kiss/