5 best love poems

Here is a selection of poetry on love, weddings and other romantic moments as compiled by Telegraph

A Glimpse

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

Whitman’s words do not shout of earth-shattering romance but of comforting, humble love. This poem is perhaps a more realistic portrait of a couple battling against the noise and crowds of everyday life. Despite the brevity of A Glimpse it exudes as much sincerity as a compilation of sonnets.

A glimpse through an interstice caught,

Of a crowd of workmen and drivers in a bar-room around the stove late of a winter night, and I unremark’d seated in a corner,

Of a youth who loves me and whom I love, silently approaching and seating himself near, that he may hold me by the hand,

A long while amid the noises of coming and going, of drinking and oath and smutty jest,

There we two, content, happy in being together, speaking little, perhaps not a word.

She Walks in Beauty

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

Arguably the most romantic poem in English literature, Byron’s words are hauntingly beautiful. The simple imagery of the woman’s charm and elegance make this poem both accessible and timeless. It’s no wonder why Byron makes it into countless proposals and wedding speeches.

The opening stanza is:

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

I Wanna Be Yours

John Cooper Clarke (1949 - )

Punk performance poet John Cooper Clarke’s humorous, energetic poem will resonate with anyone who is madly in love and desperately trying to articulate their feelings. Alex Turner, frontman of the Arctic Monkeys, has often cited Cooper Clarke as a source of inspiration. This poem has also featured on the GCSE syllabus.

The best lines in the poem:

let me be your electric meter

I will not run out

let me be the electric heater

you get cold without

Another Valentine

Wendy Cope (1945 - )

Wendy Cope’s poem, commissioned by the Daily Telegraph in 2009, explores the frequent criticisms levelled at the most romantic day of the year. Yet as the narrator muses on the obligation behind Valentine’s Day, romantic feelings are conjured.

Today we are obliged to be romantic

And think of yet another valentine.

We know the rules and we are both pedantic:

Today’s the day we have to be romantic.

Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic.

You know I’m yours and I know you are mine.

And saying that has made me feel romantic,

I loved you first: but afterwards your love

Christina Rossetti (1830 - 1894)

‘Love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine’’: Here Christina Rossetti champions mutual, adoring love between two people. Not just for the star-struck lover, this poem explores the symbiotic relationship of love with charming modesty. The canon of love poetry wouldn’t be complete without the creative influence of Rossetti, whose body of work is known for its devotional ballads.

I loved you first: but afterwards your love

Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

Which owes the other most? my love was long,

And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;

I loved and guessed at you, you construed me

And loved me for what might or might not be –

Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong.

For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’

With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,

For one is both and both are one in love:

Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’

Both have the strength and both the length thereof,

Both of us, of the love which makes us one.

My dearest love, my darling valentine.