3-000-283 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"Caught!", 1860. 'Stolen kisses! stolen kisses! O what precious spoil they are! Whether cheek of sleeping miss is Walnut-brown or lily-fair. But, though dear the sweet possession, They are but a tasteless sham (Dare I make the bold confession ?) To a pot of stolen jam. Stolen meetings! stolen meetings! When our joy's half made of fear, Worth an age of formal greetings - Thou, the loved one, only near. Yet time was, my Eleanora, When we met by stealth, and made Happiness from plumcake, or a Pot of orange marmalade. Stolen kisses when rejected Ofttimes lead to wordy strife! Stolen meetings when detected Ofttimes chill a maiden's life! So, when housekeeping duenna "Caught" us foraging for "cram," Eleanora, salts and senna Were our substitutes for jam!' Illustration to a poem or song, published in "Illustrated London News", 1860.