The Lovers Cried and the Poets Dreamed: The Valentine's Day Dilemma

 

It's February 7th, and love is in the air!

Whether you've got a sweetheart or are spending a year practicing self-love, Valentine's Day practically forces you to celebrate Cupid and his romantic antics. 

I can imagine some of you may be reading this and realize that, hey! Feb. 14th is just a week away! You can claim it snuck up on you, or that you were simply too busy to realize half of February has gone by, but if you try to give a loved one the heartfelt
gift of your love, even the thought won't count for much. 

They say the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, I’d argue that it's pretty hard to find anybody who wouldn’t swoon over a well-intentioned love poem. 

Whether it is a lyrical ballad or a stanza from your favorite song, the gesture of sharing words to show love and devotion is an art that should never be lost. In case you’re in a pinch and need something quick, I'm here to save the day by providing you with a list of romantic love poems, love songs, and pick up lines to ensure a charming and amorous V-Day.

Roses are red, violets are blue... my favorite love poems

Romantic Classics

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare 

"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate"

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

"So fair art thou, my bonnie lass, / So deep in luve am I; / And I will luve thee still, my dear, / Till a’ the seas gang dry."

Sonnets from the Portuguese 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"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"

I loved you first: but afterwards your love by Christina Rossetti

"With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done, / For one is both and both are one in love"

I Knew a Woman by Theodore Roethke

"These old bones live to learn her wanton ways: / (I measure time by how a body sways)."

“Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson

" "Hope" is the thing with feathers - / That perches in the soul - / And sings the tune without the words - / And never stops - at all -"

One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII by Pablo Neruda

"I love you as one loves certain obscure things, / secretly, between the shadow and the soul."

Self Love

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

"I’m a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That’s me."

Leave me, O love, which reachest but to dust by Sir Phillip Sidney

"Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me."

How to Triumph as a Girl by Ada Limón

"Don’t you want to believe it? / Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see / the huge beating genius machine / that thinks, no, it knows, / it’s going to come in first"

Family love

Mothers by Nikki Giovanni

"i’m sure i just hung there by the door / i remember thinking: what a beautiful lady"

the world is about to end and my grandparents are in love by Kara Jackson

"still, living like they orbit one another, / my grandfather, the planet, & grandma, his moon assigned / by some gravitational pull."

Baby's Got Sauce... ya Dig?  Love songs and songs about love

Romantic

Kiss me - Sixpence None the Richer

One and Only - Teitur

My Love Mine All Mine - Mitski

Must Be Love - Laufey

Look at that Woman - ROLE MODEL

Last Night on Earth - Green Day

Something so Right - Paul Simon

Crash Into Me - Dave Matthews Band

Can't Take My Eyes Off of You - Frankie Valli

The Longest Time - Billie Joel

At Last - Etta James

Flirty 

Baby's Got Sauce - G. Love and Special Sauce

Picture You - Chappell Roan

Caress Me Down - Sublime

Suck my Kiss - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Bed Chem - Sabrina Carpenter

Juno - Sabrina Carpenter

Slut Era Interlude - ROLE MODEL

Father Figure - George Micheal

Hump de Bump - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Instagram-story worthy

Real Love Baby - Father John Misty

Linger - The Cranberries

Oh! Darling - The Beatles

Oh - Dave Matthews Band

All I Want Is You - Barry Louis Polisar

Shooting the Moon - OK Go

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) - James Taylor

Strange Magic - Electric Light Orchestra

I like you, but not like-like you (for your friends)

We're Going To Be Friends - The White Stripes 

Better Together - Jack Johnson

BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish

Upside Down - Jack Johnson

Tough Love - Gracie Abrams

Friends - Band of Skulls

All Together Now - The Beatles

From your secret admirer (for those trying to use music as a subtle hint)

Good looking - Suki Waterhouse

I Want You to Want Me - Letters to Cleo

Say You Love Me - Fleetwood Mac

Pretty Boy - TV Girl

One of Your Girls - Troye Sivan

Fooled Around and Fell in Love - Elvin Bishop

Ain't Too Proud to Beg - The Temptations

I hate Valentine's Day (this year...)

Good For You - Third Eye Blind

As Long As It Matters - Gin Blossoms

Sad Songs in a Hotel Room - Joshua Bassett

Vincent - Don Mclean

Lonely People - America

Let You Break My Heart Again - Laufey

Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon

Possibility - Lykke Li

like, so over you

Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

Told You So - Barenaked Ladies

If It Wasn't for the Nights - ABBA

Miracles Happen - Myra

Thinking of You - Kesha

Real Man - beabadoobee

I'm Still Standing - Elton John

I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

RESPECT - Aretha Franklin

You're so Vain - Carly Simon

You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette

country lovin'

Why Don't We Just Dance - Josh Turner

Lovin' On You - Luke Combs

As She's Walking Away (feat. Alan Jackson) - Zac Brown Band

Just to See You Smile - Tim McGraw

Loving You Easy - Zac Brown Band

Heartache on the Dance Floor - Jon Pardi

Only Wanna Be With You - Hootie and the Blowfish

Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not? - Thompson Square

Must Be Doin' Something Right - Billy Currington

I Hate Love Songs - Kelsea Ballerini

This Kiss - Faith Hill

Feathered Indians - Tyler Childers

Big Green Tractor - Jason Aldean

Forever and Ever, Amen - Randy Travis

She's Everything - Brad Paisley

A Woman Like You - Lee Brice

All Over the Road - Easton Corbin

Say Cheese! Pick up lines that work every time*!

* not guaranteed in any way, but best of luck!

"Do you have a mirror in your heart? ‘Cause I can see myself in it" R.W, Vermont

"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" D.M, Connecticut

"Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?" S. M,  Connecticut

"I wouldn't call you a clementine, I'd call you a cutie" J. C, Connecticut

"Want to know what the Little Mermaid and I have in common? We both want to be a part of your world" S. M, Connecticut

I hope these suggestions have given you ideas on what to write in the card for your special somone, or at least reminded you of the date today. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, one and all.

"The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung" 

Walt Whitman