Love Poems For Valentines Day
St valentines day is an annual event held on the 14th of February for celebrating the love and affection shown by intimate companions. Traditionally st valentines day is day where lovers express their love to each other and usually exchange vows and gifts such as flowers, confectionary or send each other greeting cards which were, not-surprisingly, named Valentines. Usually love poems for valentines day were included in these greeting cards.
The creation of these love poems for valentines day has an intriguing and heartwarming story behind it. The naming of st valentines day happened due to a martyred Roman priest known as Valentine. During the reign of Claudius II back in the 3rd century AD, Valentine was imprisoned and later executed for marrying Christians. Before his execution, Valentine wrote a letter to his beloved and signed the farewell as “From your Valentine”. This was supposed to be the birth of the Valentine day greeting card or “Valentine” as we know today. Incorporating of love poems for valentines day cards happened much later.
The first inclusion of love poems for valentines day cards and rituals started during the Chaucerian era of English literature and was written by Geoffrey Chaucer himself. This was also taken as the first recorded association of Valentine’s day with romantic love. He wrote “For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make”, which meant “For this was saint Valentine’s day when every bird comes to choose his mate”. This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia.
From that start, writing love poems for valentines day flourished during the English Renaissance. The oldest surviving valentine is a 15th century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife during his imprisonment in the tower of London. The comparison of this incident, to that of priest valentine, is startling. Since then love poems for valentines day cards have been a definite inclusion. In those early days most of the poems were self written and given to lovers as hand-written notes. There are some classic examples for such love poems. Many of them follow a clichéd format that had verses that express the beauty of the lover the poem is given to, as well as the professing of the deliverer’s undying love.
From the 19th century onwards the writing of such love poems for valentines day gave way to the mass-produced greeting cards. In current days, with the invention of the internet, these love poems are exchanged in bulk as e-cards, love coupons and emails. It is recorded that as much as 15 million different e-valentines with poems are sent during valentines day. It can be said that no matter how times change, love poems for valentines day will never die out.
