Love, in all its timeless glory, has long been a muse for some of the most celebrated poets throughout history. These 10 iconic and evocative “famous love poems,” crafted by a diverse array of literary luminaries, offer a profound and poignant exploration of the human heart’s deepest desires and emotions.
From the lush, sensual imagery of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to the introspective musings of Rainer Maria Rilke, these verses captivate the reader with their eloquence, depth, and universal resonance. Whether you’re seeking to rekindle the flames of romance or simply immerse yourself in the beauty of timeless poetry, these “famous love poems” are sure to leave an indelible mark on your soul.
1. “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 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 love thee to the level of everyday’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, – I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! – and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.”
2. “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
3. “I Carry Your Heart with Me” by E.E. Cummings
“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the”
4. “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich
“First having read the book of myths, and loaded the camera, and checked the edge of the knife-blade, I put on the body-armor of black rubber the absurd flippers the grave and awkward mask. I am having to do this not like Cousteau with his assiduous team aboard the sun-flooded schooner but here alone.
There is a ladder. The ladder is always there hanging innocently close to the side of the schooner. We know what it is for, we who have used it. Otherwise it is a piece of maritime floss some sundry equipment.
I go down. Rung after rung and still the oxygen immerses me the blue light the clear atoms of our human air. I go down. My flippers cripple me, I crawl like an insect down the ladder and there is no one to tell me when the ocean will begin.”
5. “Love Song” by Sara Teasdale
“I said, ‘I love you, Winter,’ And my love was like a fire; But Winter only laughed at me, And mocked my heart’s desire.
I said, ‘I love you, Summer,’ And my love was like the sun; But Summer passed, and left me With the rain’s tears on my cheun.
I said, ‘I love you, Autumn,’ And my love was like a flame; But Autumn only sighed at me, And left me still the same.
I said, ‘I love you, Spring,’ And my love was like the flowers; But Spring passed swift and left me With empty, aching hours.
I said, ‘I love you, Love,’ And my love was all I had; But Love passed by and laughed at me, And left me lone and sad.”
6. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats
“Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!”
7. “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath
“You do not do, you do not do Any more, black shoe In which I have lived like a foot For thirty years, poor and white, Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.
Daddy, I have had to kill you. You died before I had time—— Marble-heavy, a bag full of God, Ghastly statue with one gray toe Big as a Frisco seal
And a head in the freakish Atlantic Where it pours bean green over blue In the waters off beautiful Nauset. I used to pray to recover you. Ach, du.
8. “Variations on the Word Love” by Margaret Atwood
“This is a word we use to plug holes with. It’s the right size for those warm blanks in speech, for those red heart- shaped vacancies on the page that look nothing like real hearts. Add lace and you can sell it. We insert it also in the one empty space on the printed form that comes with no instructions. There are whole lives, where it doesn’t fit, though, and whole barren landscapes.
Love, in our time, is a vital organ, like the appendix. It’s a little anachronism, a muscle you never use, like the dodo’s wishbone or the a-trophied gills of a marine mammal taken to living on shore.
We have no use for it, except on the tip of the tongue, or in the plush and lurid words of songs. What did you call me? You didn’t call me anything. Don’t call me that.
9. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
“It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea, But we loved with a love that was more than love— I and my Annabel Lee— With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsmen came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre In this kingdom by the sea.”
10. “Ich und Du” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“I am not yours, not lost in you, Not lost, although I long to be Lost as a candle lit at noon, Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You are not mine, not lost in me; Not mine to hold, not yours to keep. Whatever I do, however I move, I am not yours, not lost in you.
Though I may long to be lost in you, You are not mine, not lost in me; Though I may long to be lost in you, You are not mine, not lost in me.”
These 10 iconic and evocative “famous love poems,” crafted by a diverse array of literary luminaries, offer a profound and poignant exploration of the human heart’s deepest desires and emotions. From the lush, sensual imagery of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to the introspective musings of Rainer Maria Rilke, these verses captivate the reader with their eloquence, depth, and universal resonance.
Whether you’re seeking to rekindle the flames of romance or simply immerse yourself in the beauty of timeless poetry, these “famous love poems” are sure to leave an indelible mark on your soul. Each verse, with its unique perspective and lyrical mastery, invites the reader to delve deeper into the complexities of love, loss, and the enduring power of human connection.
As you navigate this collection of “famous love poems,” allow yourself to be swept away by the raw emotions, vivid imagery, and profound insights that emanate from each carefully crafted line. These verses serve as a testament to the timeless and universal nature of love, reminding us that the human experience, in all its joys and sorrows, is a tapestry woven with the threads of poetic expression.
So, let these “iconic and evocative ‘famous love poems'” transport you to realms of passion, introspection, and the boundless wonder of the human heart. Immerse yourself in the timeless beauty of these literary masterpieces and allow them to inspire, captivate, and forever shape your understanding of the enduring power of love.