Two lovers find a warm, south-facing hollow and lie close, mouth to mouth. Their privacy is interrupted, gently, by a pair of birds: a white gull and a black jackdaw, which settle nearby and make a noisy fuss. The speaker points to the birds and jokes that they are like the two of them. The comparison is partly visual—one pale, one dark—but it turns playful when the speaker adds that the other person has kissed them “black and blue.” That phrase usually means bruised, so there is a mock complaint: these kisses are so eager or fierce that they leave marks. The mood is light, intimate, and humorous. There’s real tenderness in the scene, but also a folk-song plainness and a teasing edge. The May setting and the watching birds give the moment a bright, outdoor freshness, even as the lovers stay wrapped up in each other.
In May — Summary
In a nook That opened south, You and I Lay mouth to mouth. A snowy gull And sooty daw Came and looked With many a caw; “Such,” I said, “Are I and you, When you’ve kissed me Black and blue!”