About the Book
Timeless verses of passion and romance, from old favorites to modern classics...
WORDS OF LOVE
...and seduction, heartbreak, adoration, and passion. Here in this portable treasury are the 100 most moving and memorable love poems of all time, each accompanied by an illuminating introduction.
Revisit the classics:
"He is More than a Hero" by Sappho
Sonnet 18 ("Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds") by William Shakespeare
"She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron
Enjoy old favorites:
"To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet
"The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear
"When I Was One and Twenty" by A. E. Housman
Make surprising discoveries:
"Your Catfish Friend" by Richard Brautigan
"To Alice B. Toklas" by Gertrude Stein
"Valentine" by Donald Hall
"True Love" by Judith Viorst
Carry this book wherever you go. It's a perfect companion to read alone or to share with that special person in your life.
IN THE 100 BEST LOVE POEMS OF ALL TIME,
YOU'LL FIND....
Seductive pleas...
Wild nights-wild nights!
Were I with thee
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
-from "Wild Nights" by Emily Dickinson
Heart-wrenching tributes...
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone.
-from "Funeral Blues" by W. H. Auden
Poignant vignettes...
While my hair was cut straight across my forehead
I played about the front gate, pulling flowers.
You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,
You walked about my seat, playing with blue plums.
-from "The River Merchant's Wife" by Li Po
Passion's hidden face...
How shall I hold on to my soul, so that
it does not touch yours? How shall I lift
it gently up over you on to other things?
-from "Love Song" by Rainer Maria Rilke
A lover's delirium...
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
-from "I Do Not Love You" by Pablo Neruda
Ardent devotion...
And the beauty of Susanna Jones in red
Burns in my heart a love-fire sharp like pain.
-from "When Sue Wears Red" by Langston Hughes
The Review
Normally I prefer fun and light-hearted poetry. Reading through the writings of the masters of words brings to mind stuffy highschool classrooms. Or so I thought. Reading through the poetry allowed me to finally enjoy many of the poems I was once required to read. I was also able to discover poets I hadn't known before. If I were more of a romantic I could see myself reading this to my husband on a summer's day during a picnic. But seeing as I'm not that romantic I think I will give it to some dear friends that are getting married soon.
A beautiful collection that only proves that love has been the inspiration to many through the centuries.
~Trixie, February 2003
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