Ah, Valentine’s Day: a day of love or a day of capitalist consumerism—depending on who you ask. Whichever version you subscribe to, dear reader, I believe you cannot deny that it provides a good theme (something those who know me know I can never turn up). So, I thought it fitting to share some of my favorite love poems in honor of the holiday.

One note before we get into the poems in earnest—my preferences for poetry (even love poetry) tend to lean more dreary and somber, so this is a fair warning that the poems that I am about to discuss are not always the happiest.

With all of that said, we can look to one of my favorite love poems (and perhaps my favorite poem of them all): “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. In this poem, the narrator is lamenting the loss of his young love—the titular, beautiful Annabel Lee. He claims that their love was simply too strong and the forces of heaven and hell killed her to separate them, though the narrator professes that even death could not stop their love as he lays down next to her in her tomb. 

This is the start of a theme in my favorite love poetry: death. In this case, I find there is something so romantic and beautiful about the idea of a love so strong that even death could not overcome it. Additionally, the imagery and language of this poem are passionate and captivating. Describing the loving couple as being happier than angels and the narrator’s love for Annabel Lee being as constant as the moon paints such a beautiful picture of love and devotion.

The next poem is William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130.” Of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, the most famous love sonnet (if not the most famous of them all) is “Sonnet 18”—usually remembered for its line “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” However, “Sonnet 130” is almost the antithesis of “Sonnet 18.” In “Sonnet 130,” the narrator describes his lover—though it is not as flattering of a picture as most love poems paint. The mistress’s eyes are dull, her breath smells bad, and her voice is not fun to listen to. Yet, despite listing all of these unfavorable qualities, the narrator still proclaims his utter love for his lover.

I have received some judgment for my love for this poem, but it captures something that many love poems do not: it captures loving someone’s humanity. Many, many love poems exalt the lover to a level of divinity—the lover is a goddess, an angel, beauty or nature itself. However, this sonnet recognizes the lover as human and the narrator loves her despite and because of these human flaws. There is something I find so beautiful about loving and being loved even when woefully imperfect.

The final poem I will discuss is really only technically a poem, as it is actually a song by Hozier—the song “In a Week” from his debut album in 2014. It might not be my absolute favorite love song (though it definitely is among them), but it is one that I think fits with the poems I have already shared. “In a Week” is a duet of two lovers dying side-by-side and their bodies decaying in the wilderness as they return to the earth from which they came.

This is another poem that focuses on death with love, and it is part of the reason that I adore it so much. There is something so romantic about loving each other so much that the lovers are happy to die and decompose together. They are arguably at their most human as they rot and return to the earth, yet their love remains as strong as ever. 

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that incites many different reactions, but I hope you were able to appreciate these poems.