Love Poems

Every culture has its own love poems for romantic poetry is hardly anything new. Love is all to all cultures and through all time. Let us listen to whispers from past lovers.

Romantic Poetry of Hawaii

The Lament of a Lover - Hawaiian Love Poems

There where its shores the marsh surround,
Rushes and lotus plants abound.
Their loveliness brings to my mind
The lovelier one that I would find.
In vain I try to ease the smart

Of wounded love that wrings my heart.
In waking thought and nightly dreams,
From every pore the water streams.

Walking hand-in-hand at the seashore, wavelets lapping your toes, a picnic lunch spread upon a blanket. Ah, yes, this is how life was meant to be!

The Hawaiian Romance of Laieikawai

“And my heart is cold for your love,
And my body is under bonds to her.
Come back to me, a wandering bird of Koolau,
My love, come back.
Come back and let us warm each other with love,
Beloved one in a friendless land.”

Martha Warren Beckwith

The Poet, Ibn Jemin - Exotic Love Poems

Two things thou shalt not long for,
if thou love a life serene:
A woman for thy wife,
though she were a crowned queen;
And, the second, borrowed money,
though the smiling lender say
That he will not demand the debt
until the Judgment Day.

Atlantic Monthly

The chemist of love
Will this perishing mould,
Were it made out of mire,
Transmute into gold.

Atlantic Monthly

Love Poem from a Farm Wife

Though rich you a'n't in money,

Nor rich in goods to sell,
An honest heart is more than gold,
And hands you've got for field and fold,
For house and fold,
And--Jack--I love you well!

Atlantic Monthly

*Note: Japanese poetry contains a wealth of tender love sentiments, this one from a courtesan whose iminent death weighs heavily on her lover.

Since my departure for this dark journey,
Makes you so sad and lonely,
Fain would I stay though weak and weary,
And live for your sake only!

And his plaintive reply:

Oh, could I find some wizard sprite,
To bear my words to her I love,

Beyond the shades of envious night,
To where she dwells in realms above!

Too like the Hahaki-gi tree,
Lonely and humble, I must dwell,
Nor dare to give a thought to thee,
But only sigh a long farewell.

Another feature of Japanese poetry lies in its fascination with the natural world

Where the cicada casts her shell
In the shadows of the tree,
There is one whom I love well,
Though her heart is cold to me.

This particular affair of the heart may not be going well?

The heart that roams from flower to flower,
Would fain its wanderings not betray,

Yet 'Asagao,' in morning's hour,
Impels my tender wish to stray.

You stay not till the mist be o'er,
But hurry to depart,
Say can the flower you leave, no more
Detain your changeful heart?

At least, he seems to be looking for a long-term relationship.

Let us together, bind our soul
With vows that Woobasok[56] has given,
That when this world from sight shall roll
Unparted we shall wake in heaven.

Even though, he may have some "baggage" from the past.

When in my present lonely lot, I feel my past has not been free From sins which I remember not, I dread more, what to come, may be.

Oh! were the ancients, tell me pray,
Thus led away, by love's keen smart,
I ne'er such morning's misty ray
Have felt before with beating heart.

The lady shyly averted her face and answered:

I, like the wandering moon, may roam,
Who knows not if her mountain love
Be true or false, without a home,
The mist below, the clouds above.

Sweet Brier

Tender of words should singer be,
Sweet-Brier, who would tell of thee;
One who has drunk with eager lip
And treasured thy companionship;

One who has sought thee far and wide,
In early dew, with morning pride;
To whom thou art no new-made friend,
Whose memories on thy breath attend.

For such thou art a lemon-grove,
Where wandering orient odors rove,

Yet loyal ever to thy home,
The valley where the north winds roam.

Sometimes I would call thee mine;
But sweeter far than mine or thine
To listen unto Nature's song,
Saying, To lovers all belong.

I love thee for my greenest days
Rescued from Time at thy sweet gaze,
For pictures brilliant as the Spring
Brought back upon thy breathing wing.

I love thee for thy influence,
Heart-honey, without impotence;
He who would reach thy virgin blush,
Like warrior bold, must dangers crush.

Chiefly I love thee for thyself,

Wealth-giver, ignorant of pelf;
Fain would I learn thy upright ways
And heart thus redolent of praise.

As Long as your Eyes are Blue

Wilt thou love me, sweet, when my hair is grey
And my cheeks shall have lost their hue?
When the charms of youth shall have passed away,
Will your love as of old prove true?

For the looks may change, and the heart may range,
And the love be no longer fond;
Wilt thou love with truth in the years of youth
And away to the years beyond?

Oh, I love you, sweet, for your locks of brown
And the blush on your cheek that lies,
But I love you most for the kindly heart
That I see in your sweet blue eyes.

For the eyes are signs of the soul within,
Of the heart that is leal and true,

And mine own sweetheart, I shall love you still,
Just as long as your eyes are blue.

For the locks may bleach, and the cheeks of peach
May be reft of their golden hue;
But mine own sweetheart, I shall love you still,
Just as long as your eyes are blue.

The Blessings of Life

Of mortal blessing here the first is health,
And next those charms by which the eye we move;
The third is wealth, unwounding guiltless wealth,
And then, sweet intercourse with those we love!

Those blessings grow only better. This husband read love poems regularly to his spouse and the stanza expresses the sweetness of mature sentiment.

So sweet, so dear is the silvery tone,
Of her in whose features I sometimes look,

As I sit at eve by her side alone,
And we read by turns, from the self-same book,
Some tale perhaps of the olden time,
Some lover's romance or quaint old rhyme.

These love poems are found by an extensive literature search and more are being added regularly. Please check back.

Leave love poems and return to the Home Page

Short Love Poems

Love is all, and if you agree, read on...

More romantic poems on this page.