Showing him you love him on Valentine’s Day can be a tough call, but one of the most romantic things you can do is send him a short Valentine’s Day poem.
It is easy to go out and buy a card, flowers, chocolate or a gift, but giving an expression of love that has obviously taken a lot of time and thought, is one of the most loving gestures you can make.
Writing a short Valentine’s Day poem is perfect for expressing your feelings, but if you don’t feel confident actually writing the poetry yourself, there are plenty of alternatives out there to suit every mood.
Try to make your handwriting as neat and beautiful as possible, draw pretty hearts and flowers on the card and add dried rose petals. You can even try writing your poem on delicate thin tissue paper and slip it into the card so your loved one can keep it forever. Though don’t be surprised if your guy isn’t this sentimental and you find it in the trash a week later.
Our advice: For added impact, hold his hand as he reads the card, so he focuses on the meaning of the words you’ve written.
Wendy Cope is a wonderful poet who captures modern love and feelings perfectly. One of her best-loved poems, Valentine’, is just lovely without being too soppy. It reads:
My heart has made its mind up
And I’m afraid it’s you
Whatever you’ve got lined up,
My heart has made its mind up
And if you can’t be signed up
This year, next year will do.
My heart has made its mind up
And I am afraid it’s you
‘Coat’ by Vicki Feaver is another beautiful love poem which is classic and simple without being too over the top.
Sometimes I have wanted
to throw you off
like a heavy coat.
Sometimes I have said
you would not let me
breathe or move.
But now that I am free
to choose light clothes
or none at all
I feel the cold
and all the time I think
how warm it used to be
For more sensual poetry a poem by Emily Dickinson called ‘a charm invests a face’ adds an air of mystery.
A charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld.
The lady dare not lift her veil
For fear it be dispelled.
But peers beyond her mesh,
And wishes, and denies,
Lest interview annul a want
That image satisfies.
‘Come slowly’ by Emily Dickinson is another very sensual poem. It reads:
Come slowly, Eden
Lips unused to thee.
Bashful, sip thy jasmines,
As the fainting bee,
Reaching late his flower,
Round her chamber hums,
Counts his nectars -alights,
And is lost in balms!
And for a classic famous love poem there is nothing more enticing than ‘If thou must love me, let it be for nought’ 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 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 cheek 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.
If you are looking for something funny and light to express your feelings then something like Roger McGough’s quirky love poem Summer with Monika could be just what you are looking for. It reads:
ten milk bottles standing in the hall
ten milk bottles up against the wall
next door neighbour thinks we’re dead
hasn’t heard a sound, he said
doesn’t know we’ve been in bed
the ten whole days since we were wed
no-one knows and no-one sees
we lovers doing as we please
but people stop and point at these
ten milk bottles a-turning into cheese
ten milk bottles standing day and night
ten different thicknesses and
different shades of white
persistent carol singers without a note to utter
silent carol singers a-turning into butter
now she’s run out of passion
and there’s not much left in me
so maybe we’ll get up and make a cup of tea
and then people can stop wondering
what they’re waiting for
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door
those ten milk bottles a queuing at our door.
The most important thing of all is to make your Valentine’s card, hand write your verse and send it with love and remember, anyone who doesn’t appreciate it, is not worthy of you.
Check out Valentines’ Day for gifts, ideas, and more.