Sara Teasdale (8 August 1884 – 29 January 1933 / Missouri)

I think the boys represent different time periods in her life, ie think of the boys as a representation of the different ages by season where spring is her childhood, fall her adolescence, and lastly her adulthood. Stephon was in the spring, one could think of this as a childhood crush when its all in jest, a superfluous kiss. Time passes to the fall of her childhood when she is a teenager and Robin gave her a kiss of adolescence: still innocent yet putting into play what will come in the future. By the time Colin is mentioned, time is not as important and his lack of kissing intensifies the minute actions he does convey. This is a sweet yet intense poem, excellent for all the romantics out there.

I adore this poem. I can't believe no one commented on it yet. Anyway, the narrator is saying that there were three boys that she was either friends with or romantically involved with and that two out of the three kissed her and the third only looked at her. The two kisses meant nothing and were eventually lost over time. But the way the third boy looked at her, with a kiss in his eyes, haunts her because he loved in a way that also involved respect. The shortness and the simplicity of this poem is beautiful.