Top 3 Love Poems That Give Me Hope for Romance
Written By: Emilija Baniulyte
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, each of us finds ourselves either unabashedly excited, or miserably down in the dumps about being single. And for good reason–in this day and age, courting others with giant gestures of love is nearly dead, which for some is beyond depressing. However, sometimes we engage in media that brings back that spark of hope buried away. You’ll watch a romantic comedy or read a short story about star-crossed lovers and might catch yourself thinking: “Hey, if people are enjoying this now, surely romance isn’t dead”. So, to celebrate that notion, here’s a list of 3 love poems that make us feel giddy again.
3. A Chunk of Charcoal – Ahn Do-hyun
Image Credit: Andrey Andreyev via Unsplash
“There are many ways to say it,
but the meaning of life
is to become a chunk of charcoal,
willingly, for someone else.”
Even today, people in Korea use charcoal to warm themselves up during cold winter nights. What must it feel like to be that piece of coal then, warming someone else up? In this poem, Ahn Do-hyun masterfully writes about selfishness and selflessness. The poem explores how life is all about breaking yourself into chunks for other people and the fear of doing so, but then having to embrace that fear, as to see how beautiful life truly is.
2. Every Day You Play – Pablo Neruda
Image Credit: Nils Rasmusson via Unsplash
“I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells, dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
Pablo Neruda made us all swoon with the last line of this poem. It’s all about how the speaker’s love for the subject of this piece has elevated their life. Not everything has been perfect between the two of them, that is clear, however that’s what makes this poem even more heartwarming–the speaker doesn’t stop loving the subject for a moment, instead they want to take care of them even more. In the last line, the speaker claims that they want to nurture their lover and once they finally fully understand the speaker’s love, they will bloom like the cherry trees.
1. I Live in Your Eyes – Farouk Goweedah
Image Credit: Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash
“And if I were to choose a home,
I would say; my home is your Love.
And if I were to forget you,
My heart would forget me.
If I lost my way,
I would live in your eyes.”
Goweedah’s poem is a conversation between two lovers. The woman, afraid to be forgotten, and the man, who reassures her that she never will be. As the man comforts his lover, he tells her all the ways he loves her (which I am sure made us all giggle and kick our feet). If he were to forget her, he wouldn’t be the same. His heart would punish him. Maybe this kind of love is still plausible–the fact that people are engaging with it proves that there are still hopeless romantics left to profess their love like this.
Now that we’ve gone through these poems, why not try to write your own love poem, just in time for that special someone this Valentine’s Day!
Edited By: Elle Luxford and Amelia de Florinier