Valentine's Day Poems About Romance and Love

Looking for Valentine's Day poems that go beyond "roses are red, violets are blue?" We've collected love poems for sweethearts, soul mates, secret crushes, and everyone you want to send a Valentine's Day card.

When discussing poems about love, we have a sweet spot—we've gathered our favorites, from funny Valentine's Day poems to tearjerkers, from love poems for her and him. We have short poems and famous love poems, cute love poems, and serious sonnets. Whether you need a light rhyme for a sweetie pie or a serious sentiment for a longtime love, we'll help you find the right words to say what's in your heart.

Love Poems for Her

How do you win a lady's affection? Find love poems for her, of course! These romantic love poems are perfect for copying into a sweet card, adding something special to a note with flowers and chocolates, or even reciting over candlelight. If you're on the hunt for Valentine's Day poems for her, these "I love you" poems are just the thing.

She Walks in Beauty By Lord Byron (George Gordon)

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;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

First Love by John Clare

I ne'er was struck before that hour
With love so sudden and so sweet,
Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete.
My face turned pale as deadly pale,
My legs refused to walk away,
And when she looked, what could I ail?
My life and all seemed turned to clay.
And then my blood rushed to my face
And took my eyesight quite away,
The trees and bushes round the place
Seemed midnight at noonday.
I could not see a single thing,
Words from my eyes did start—
They spoke as chords do from the string,
And blood burnt round my heart.
Are flowers the winter's choice?
Is love's bed always snow?
She seemed to hear my silent voice,
Not love's appeals to know.I never saw so sweet a face
As that I stood before.
My heart has left its dwelling-place
And can return no more.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] by E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Close close all night By Elizabeth Bishop

Close close all night
the lovers keep.
They turn together
in their sleep,
Close as two papers
in a book
that read each other
in the dark.
Each knows all
the other knows,
learnt by heart
from head to toes.

One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII By Pablo Neruda

I don't love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don't know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

The Privileged Lovers By Rumi

The moon has become a dancer
at this festival of love.
This dance of light,
This sacred blessing,
This divine love,
beckons us
to a world beyond
only lovers can see
with their eyes of fiery passion.
They are the chosen ones
who have surrendered.
Once they were particles of light
now they are the radiant sun.
They have left behind
the world of deceitful games.
They are the privileged lovers
who create a new world
with their eyes of fiery passion.

Love Poems for Him

The man in your life deserves a kind word. Even the toughest man has a sweet spot for his sweetheart, and a few well-chosen rhymes might help him find his more sensitive side. So whether the man of your dreams is your husband, boyfriend, or secret crush, we've found the perfect Valentine's Day poems for him.

Scaffolding By Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;
Make sure that planks won't slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.
And yet all this comes down when the job's done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.
So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me
Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

If Thou Must Love Me By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
I love her for her smile … her look … her way
Of speaking gently, … for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day'—
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee,—and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry,—
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.

A Great Need By Hafiz

Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.

Chemistry By Nayyirah Waheed

chemistry
is
you
touching my arm
and
it
setting fire to my mind.
— flood

Love By Roy Croft

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.
I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.
I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;
I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find
I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.
I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.
You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.
You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

Short Love Poems

Looking for short love poems or sweet nothings for your valentine's card or note? Sometimes it only takes a few lines to leave a big impression, so whether you're looking for intense and passionate rhymes or cute love poems to slip to a secret admirer, these romantic love poems will hit the spot.

Untitled (To His Wife, Edith) By J.R.R. Tolkien

Lo! Young we are and yet have stood
like planted hearts in the great Sun
of Love so long (as two fair trees
in woodland or in open dale
stand utterly entwined and breathe
the airs and suck the very light
together) that we have become
as one, deep rooted in the soil
of Life and tangled in the sweet growth.

Untitled By Rumi

I swear, since seeing Your face,
the whole world is fraud and fantasy
The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf
or blossom. The distracted birds
can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.
A house of love with no limits,
a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,
a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

The Price By Henry Fielding

Can there on earth, my Celia, be
A price I would not pay for thee?
Yes, one dear precious tear of thine
Should not be shed to make thee mine.

Valentine By Donald Hall

Chipmunks jump, and
Greensnakes slither.
Rather burst than
Not be with her.
Bluebirds fight, but
Bears are stronger.
We've got fifty
Years or longer.
Hoptoads hop,
but Hogs are fatter.
Nothing else but
Us can matter

It's all I have to bring today (26) By Emily Dickinson

It's all I have to bring today—
This, and my heart beside—
This, and my heart, and all the fields—
And all the meadows wide—
Be sure you count—should I forget
Some one the sum could tell—
This, and my heart, and all the Bees
Which in the Clover dwell.

Sad Love Poems

Being heartbroken on Valentine's Day is a special kind of agony—but knowing you're not alone can lessen the sting. These sad love poems prove that love isn't all candy and flowers. Whether melancholy or cynical, sad love poems can give unique comfort when the world is red-and-pink, but you've got the blues.

The Parting Kiss By Robert Dodsley

One kind kiss before we part,
Drop a tear, and bid adieu;
Thought we sever, my fond heart
Till we meet shall pant for you.
Yet, yet weep not so, my love,
Let me kiss that falling tear;
Though my body must remove,
All my soul will still be here.
All my soul and all my heart,
And every wish shall pant for you;
One kind kiss then e'er we part,
Drop a tear, and bid adieu.

Love By George Granville, Lord Lansdowne

Love is begot by fancy, bred
By ignorance, by expectation fed,
Destroyed by knowledge, and, at best,
Lost in the moment 'tis possessed.

In Former Days We'd Both Agree By Bhartṛhari

In former days we'd both agree
That you were me and I was you.
What has now happened to us two,
That you are you, and I am me?

Talking In Bed By Philip Larkin

Talking in bed ought to be easiest,
Lying together there goes back so far,
An emblem of two people being honest.
Yet more and more time passes silently.
Outside, the wind's incomplete unrest
Builds and disperses clouds in the sky,
And dark towns heap up on the horizon.
None of this cares for us. Nothing shows why
At this unique distance from isolation
It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.

Relationship By János Pilinszky

What a silence, when you are here. What
a hellish silence.
You sit and I sit.
You lose and I lose.

Trifle By Georgia Douglas Johnson

Against the day of sorrow
Lay some trifling thing
A smile, a kiss, a flower
For sweet remembering
Then when the day is darkest
Without one rift of blue
Take out your little trifle
And dream your dream anew.

Funny Love Poems

Keeping things lighthearted this Valentine's Day? Funny love poems can help you strike the right balance between silly and sweet—because love can be wonderful, passionate, and romantic, but it can also be laugh-out-loud funny. These funny love poems are ideal for having a few laughs at Cupid's expense.

Another Valentine By Wendy Cope

Today we are obliged to be romantic
And think of yet another valentine.
We know the rules and we are both pedantic:
Today's the day we have to be romantic.
Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic.
You know I'm yours and I know you are mine.
And saying that has made me feel romantic,
My dearest love, my darling valentine.

Unfortunate Coincidence By Dorothy Parker

By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying -
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.

Epigram III By Robert Nugent, Earl Nugent

My heart still hovering round about you,
I thought I could not live without you;
Now we have lived three months asunder,
How I lived with you is the wonder.

Marriage By Dan Gerber

When you are angry it's your gentle self
I love until that's who you are.
In any case, I can't love this anger any more
than I can warm my heart with ice.
I go on loving your smile
till it finds its way back to your face.
Let me put it this way by Simon Armitage
Let me put it this way:
if you came to lay
your sleeping head
against my arm or sleeve,
and if my arm went dead,
or if I had to take my leave
at midnight, I should rather
cleave it from the joint or seam
than make a scene
or bring you round.
There,
how does that sound?

I Wanna Be Yours By John Cooper Clarke

I wanna be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
I wanna be your Ford Cortina
I will never rust
If you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
You call the shots
I wanna be yours
I wanna be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
I wanna be your dreamboat
when you want to sail away
Let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
I don't care
I wanna be yours
I wanna be your electric meter
I will not run out
I wanna be the electric heater
you'll get cold without
I wanna be your setting lotion
hold your hair in deep devotion
Deep as the deep Atlantic ocean
that's how deep is my devotion