Valentine's Day
has almost arrived and love has filled the air with happiness and smiles. And when love fills the air, poems add to the magic of that love.
Poems are words that paint pictures of love in all its forms. They are not merely words but feelings that came straight from the heart and were then written down with ink. From the excitement of new romance to the comfort of lasting affection, these words cover it all.
In fact, its not always love that words cover, at times, they also talk about deceit and betrayal.
But, Valentines is all about love, so love we spread. And the best form of love and words combined come in the form of poems. Whether written on paper or shared online, poems are like little love notes that touch our hearts. A few ways one can share poems is by writing them on love letters, reading them out loud, sending them to the other person through social media, or getting them calligraphed on a beautiful sheet of paper.
So, this Valentine's Day, celebrate your love by sharing and enjoying the beauty of poems, and let love bloom in every word and every verse.
1. ‘Love Sonnet XI’ by Pablo Neruda
“I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day”
2. ‘How Do I Love Thee’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.”
3. ‘Come, And Be My Baby’ by Maya Angelou
“Some prophets say the world is gonna end tomorrow
But others say we’ve got a week or two
The paper is full of every kind of blooming horror
And you sit wondering
What you’re gonna do.
I got it.
Come. And be my baby.”
4. ‘A Red, Red Rose’ by Robert Burns
“O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.”
5. ‘Variations on the Word Love’ by Margaret Atwood
“This is a word we use to plug holes with. It's the right size for those warm
blanks in speech, for those red heart-shaped vacancies on the page that look nothing like real hearts.”
6. ‘Love Song’ by Dorothy Parker
“My own dear love, he is strong and bold, And he cares not what comes after.
His words ring sweet as a chime of gold, And his eyes are lit with laughter.”
7. ‘Love and Friendship’ by Emily Bronte
“Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?”
8. ‘She Walks in Beauty’ by Lord Byron
“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in
her
aspect and her eyes”
9. ‘Rondel of Merciless Beauty’ by Geoffrey Chaucer
“Upon my word, I tell you faithfully, Through life and after death you are my queen; For with my death the whole truth shall be seen.
Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly; Their beauty shakes me who was once serene; Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen.”
10. ‘Heart, we will forget him!’ by Emily Dickinson
“Heart, we will forget him! You and I, to-night! You may forget the warmth he gave, I will forget the light.”
11. ‘Flirtation’ by Rita Dove
“Outside the sun has rolled up her rugs; and night strewn salt across the sky. My heart is humming a tune I haven’t heard in years!”
12. ‘Love’ by Carol Ann Duffy
“When morning comes, the sun, ardent, covers the trees in gold, you walk towards me,
out of the season, out of the light love reasons.”
13. ‘Sonnet 18’ by William Shakespeare
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date”
14. ‘Yours’ by Daniel Hoffman
“I am yours as the summer air at evening is; Possessed by the scent of linden blossoms,
As the snowcap gleams with light, Lent it by the brimming moon.”
15. ‘for him’ by Rupi Kaur
“no, it won’t be love at first sight when we meet it’ll be love at first remembrance ‘cause i’ve recognized you in my mother’s eyes when she tells me, marry the type of man you’d want to raise your son to be like.”
16. ‘My Lover Is a Woman’ by Pat Parker
“my lover is a woman & when i hold her, feel her warmth, i feel good, feel safe”
17. ‘Defeated by Love’ by Rumi
“The sky was lit
by the splendor of the moon
So powerful
I fell to the ground”
18. ‘Love’s Philosophy’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley
“The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix forever
With a sweet emotion”
19. ‘I Loved You’ by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin
“I loved you, and I probably still do,
And for a while the feeling may remain…
But let my love no longer trouble you,
I do not wish to cause you any pain.”
20. ‘Echo’ by Carol Ann Duffy
“I think I was searching for treasures or stones, in the clearest of pools
when your face…
when your face, like the moon in a well
where I might wish…
might well wish, for the iced fire of your kiss”
