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Quotes & Poems

Classic love poems by famous poets

Updated

Some of the best love poems in English are also the oldest - and because they are in the public domain, you can read them at a wedding or copy them into a card. Here are the classics people ask for most, each with its source and a plain-English note, plus a few short love poems of our own.

Short love poems that rhyme

"A Red, Red Rose" - Robert Burns

1794

O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
O my Luve's like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!
And fare-thee-weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' 'twere ten thousand mile!

What it's about: A song in Scots with a simple promise: I will love you until the seas run dry ("gang dry") and the rocks melt in the sun. "Bonie" means pretty; "a'" means all. Under a minute to read aloud.

Shakespeare's love sonnets

Shakespeare's 154 sonnets were first published together in 1609. These two are the ones most often read at weddings.

Sonnet 18 - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

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 dimm'd,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st 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.

What it's about: You are better than a summer's day - and this poem will keep you alive as long as people read it.

Sonnet 116 - "Let me not to the marriage of true minds"

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov'd,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

What it's about: Real love does not change when looks fade with age. It is like the star sailors steer by ("bark" means ship). A natural wedding reading - it opens with the word "marriage". New to sonnets? See our guide to types of poems.

Love poems for him and for her

  • For her: Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" (below) or Burns's "A Red, Red Rose".
  • For him: Sonnet 116 or Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43 (below) - neither describes a woman's looks.

"She Walks in Beauty" - Lord Byron

Hebrew Melodies, 1815

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 mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

What it's about: A woman's beauty is compared to a clear, starry night, and the poem ends by praising her kindness and calm mind, not just her face.

Love poems for a wedding reading

Sonnet 43 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnets from the Portuguese, 1850

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 candlelight.
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.

What it's about: The poet lists the ways she loves, from the biggest to the smallest everyday needs. Despite the book's title, the sonnets are her own, not translations.

Emily Dickinson's love poems

From the "Love" section of her first book (we use only the 1890s texts). More on our Emily Dickinson page.

Poems, 1890

Alter? When the hills do.
Falter? When the sun
Question if his glory
Be the perfect one.

Surfeit? When the daffodil
Doth of the dew:
Even as herself, O friend!
I will of you!

What it's about: Will my love change? Only when the hills move. Will I tire of you? Only when the daffodil tires of dew. Eight lines - lovely for a card.

Famous lines from love poems

  • "Love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds" - Shakespeare, Sonnet 116 (1609)
  • "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnet 43 (1850)
  • "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam (1850)

Our own short love poems

The Small Vow

Not only the grand vow - the small one, kept:
the light left on, the tea made while you slept.

Original - Quotes and Poems

Nobody Writes Sonnets About This

You warm my side of the bed
and leave me the last biscuit.
Nobody writes sonnets about that.
Someone should.

Original - Quotes and Poems

Thirty Winters

Thirty winters, and I still
listen for your key in the door
the way I listened
that first winter.

Original - Quotes and Poems

Looking for something for a friend rather than a partner? Try our friendship poems.

FAQ

What is the most famous love poem?

There is no single answer. Two of the most quoted are Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", 1609) and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43 ("How do I love thee?", 1850).

Which classic love poems are good for a wedding?

Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 (1609), Burns's "A Red, Red Rose" (1794), Barrett Browning's Sonnet 43 (1850) and Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" (Hebrew Melodies, 1815). Each takes about a minute to read aloud.

Can I print these poems in a wedding order of service?

Yes. The classic poems are in the public domain - just credit the poet. Our own original poems are free for personal use, such as an order of service or a card. See our terms of use.

Sources

Not the former quotesandpoems.com - an independent collection of public-domain poems and original writing.