A lover tries to describe how sweet it is to kiss the beloved, and how wistful it is to miss them. The opening comparisons are deliberately grand: honey from Hybla isn’t as sweet as kissing, and autumn wind in dying trees isn’t as wistful as missing. Then the poem takes a more complicated turn. When the beloved is absent, every thought becomes a kind of haunting. But when the beloved is present and the speaker finally gets the kiss, he misses the wistfulness of wanting. It’s a bittersweet, slightly playful confession: desire depends on absence, and getting what you want can feel a little emptier than longing for it. The mood is tender and amused rather than heavy—an elegant love song about the strange appeal of wanting what you don’t yet have.
Love-songs, at Once Tender and Informative XV — Summary
The honey of the Hybla bees Is not so sweet as kissing you; Nor autumn wind in dying trees So wistful is as missing you.
And when you are not mine to kiss, My every thought is haunting you ; And when your mouth is mine, I miss The wistfulness of wanting you.