21 Famous Love Poems
Browse our collection of famous love poems which are classic ones. What makes a poem famous is, of course, the person who wrote it, but also it is a poem that has stood the test of time.
These famous short love poems were written many years ago and still are used today. Share these with others in Valentine's cards, in emails or just print a copy!
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Famous Love Poems
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The Gesture of Love
Poet: George Eliot
Oh the comfort,
the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but to pour them all out, just as they are,
chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and then with the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.
Short Love Poems
-
Time And Love
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Time flies. The swift hours hurry by
And speed us on to untried ways;
New seasons ripen, perish, die,
And yet love stays.
The old, old love — like sweet at first,
At last like bitter wine —
I know not if it blest or curst,
Thy life and mine.
Time flies. In vain our prayers, our tears,
We cannot tempt him to delays;
Down to the past he bears the years,
And yet love stays.
Through changing task and varying dream
We hear the same refrain,
As one can hear a plaintive theme
Run through each strain.
Time flies. He steals our pulsing youth,
He robs us of our care- free days,
He takes away our trust and truth,
And yet love stays.
O Time! take love! When love is vain,
When all its best joys die —
When only its regrets remain —
Let love, too, fly.
Short Love Quotes
- Love Me Little, Love Me Long
Poet Unknown
Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song.
Love that is too hot and strong
Burneth soon to waste.
Still, I would not have thee cold,
Not too backward, nor too bold;
Love that lasteth till tis old
Fadeth not in haste.
Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song.
Say thou lov'st me while thou live;
I to thee my love will give,
Never dreaming to deceive
Whiles that life endures.
Nay, and after death, in sooth,
I to thee will keep my truth,
As now, when in my May of youth;
This my love assures.
Love me little, love me long,
Is the burden of my song.
Constant love is moderate ever,
And it will through life persever;
Give me that, with true endeavor
I will it restore.
A suit of durance let it be,
For all weathers that for me,
For the land or for the sea,
Lasting evermore.
- I Never Knew
Poet: John Kendrick Bangs
I never knew a night so black
Light failed to follow on its track.
I never knew a storm so gray
It failed to have its clearing day.
I never knew such bleak despair
That there was not a rift, somewhere.
I never knew an hour so drear
Love could not fill it full of cheer!
-
Life in a Love
Poet: Robert Browning
Escape me?
Never—
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both,
Me the loving and you the loth,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear:
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.
But what if I fail of my purpose here?
It is but to keep the nerves at strain,
To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,
And baffled, get up to begin again,-
So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.
While, look but once from your farthest bound,
At me so deep in the dust and dark,
No sooner the old hope drops to ground
Than a new one, straight to the selfsame mark,
I shape me—
Ever
Removed!
-
What Can Love Do?
Poet: John Imrie
Love can make the eyes shine bright,
Love can brighten darkest night;
Love can make the lover gush,
Love can make the maiden blush.
Love can warm the coldest heart,
Love can kindest words impart;
Love can happiness bestow,
Love can never answer "No."
Love can sing the gayest song,
Love can make the weak feel strong;
Love can lighten every care,
Love can sweetly trials bear.
Love can sit enthron'd in state.
Love can rule a nation great;
Love can noble laws impart,
Love can win the people's heart.
Love can educate the mind,
Love can aye be true and kind;
Love can greatest pleasure give.
Love can teach us how to live -
Love can sweetest comfort bring,
Love can take from Death the sting;
Love can greatest burdens bear,
Love can all our sorrows share.
If our lives are pure and free
Love must then our teacher be;
Daily learn the heavenly plan: -
Love to God and love to man.
- Jack and Jill
Poet: Wilhelmina Stitch
Jack and Jill went up the hill—the Hill of Life—together.
And luck was good and luck was ill, and fair and foul the weather.
It happened sometimes Jack fell down; but they were parted never,
For Jill with love would mend his crown—ah, Jill was very clever!
Oh, Jack and Jill went up the hill—the Hill of Life—together;
The smooth, the rough, each dale and vale, and they were parted never.
It happened sometimes they would spill the bread and water life demands.
Then Jack would smile, and so would Jill, and clasp in love each other's hands.
When both were old and both were grey, they reached the summit of Life's hill.
Said they, “Life's been both work and play; and must be so for Jack and Jill."
And thus I read the dear old rhyme of Jack and Jill and water pail:
The hurt is healed, yes, every time, if love betwixt them never fail.
-
Live to Love
Poet: Ebmund Spenser
Love is life's end; an end but never ending;
All joys, all sweets, all happiness awarding;
Love is life's wealth (ne'er spent but ever spending).
Love's life's reward, rewarded in rewarding:
Then from thy wretched heart fond care remove.
Ah! shouldst thou live but once love's sweets to prove,
Thou wilt not love to live, unless thou live to love.
-
The Price Of Love
Poet: David V. Bush
I sought the world over, my darling,
To find you, the joy of my heart;
I could not rest now or forever,
If aught were to drive us apart.
There's nothing in earth or in heaven.
There's nothing beyond the dark tomb,
Can change the fond love that I bear you,
Or cover its brightness with gloom.
My soul to your soul is united
By love-ties which nothing can break;
I'd give up the world and its treasures,
Or heaven itself, for your sake.
-
Loved
Poet: Paul Laurence Dunbar
Because I had loved so deeply,
Because I had loved so long,
God in His great compassion
Gave me the gift of song.
-
Fairer Than Lilies
Poet: Mary C. Ryan
Fairer than lilies in bloom,
Fraught with the sparkling dew,
Brighter than dancing sunbeams
On the waters blue,
Sweeter than nightingale songs
In the stilly night,
Is the idol of my heart,
Its joy and delight. . . .
-
Impatience
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
How can I wait until you come to me?
The once fleet mornings linger by the way;
Their sunny smiles touched with malicious glee
At my unrest, they seem to pause, and play
Like truant children, while I sigh and say,
How can I wait. . . .
-
What Love Is
Poet: Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Love is the centre and circumference;
The cause and aim of all things — 'tis the key
To joy and sorrow, and the recompense
For all the ills that have been, or may be. . . .
-
The Golden Wedding
Poet: Caleb Davis Bradlee
Just fifty years ago this day
Two hearts were joined in one!
They asked their God to guide their way,
Through Jesus Christ, the Son. . . .
-
Send Her a Valentine
Poet: Edgar A. Guest
Send her a valentine to say
You love her in the same old way.
Just drop the long familiar ways
And live again the old-time days
When love was new and youth was bright
And all was laughter and delight,
And treat her as you would if she
Were still the girl that used to be. . . .
-
A Bride To Her Husband
Poet: Lillian E. Curtis
Now, confidingly I place my hand in thine,
(May it be a helping hand,)
And pledge myself by thee to stand.
Whether clouds are dark or the sun does shine;
So thou art e'er unfaltering true to me.
Fidelity's hand shall ne'er be withdrawn from thee. . . .
-
Heart Questioning
Poet: John Imrie
What stirs an emotion
As deep as' the ocean,
And strong as the hills that tower above?
'Tis the sound of a sigh,
As the zephyrs go by,
That tells in a breath the presence of Love. . . .
-
True Love
Poet: John Imrie
'Tis a magic spell,
Which lovers know well,
In sunshine and shower the same;
Ever old, yet new,
Both constant and true,
And seeks neither self nor fame. . . .
-
Love Is
Poet: J.J. Thorne
A life without the bonds of love.
Its pleasure would be none;
'Tis that warm and tender spirit,
That joins two hearts as one. . . .
-
Let Me But Love
Poet: Henry VanDyke
Let me but love my love without disguise,
Nor wear a mask of fashion old or new,
Nor wait to speak till I can hear a clue,
Nor play a part to shine in others' eyes,
Nor bow my knees to what my heart denies;
But what I am, to that let me be true,
And let me worship where my love is due,
And so through love and worship let me rise. . . .
-
Broken Romance
Poet: Patience Strong
You told me your story -
A picture in words -
A garden with roses and sweet-singing birds -
And two lovers dreaming the moments away -
Bewitched by the spell of the blue Summer's day. . . .
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