Great Love Poems

by Shane Weller (Editor)

Overview

Never give all the heart, for love
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that's lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
— W. B. Yeats
Down through the millennia the emotion of love has inspired countless poets to great heights of lyrical expression. In this volume readers can sample more than 150 great love poems by English and American poets. Spanning over four centuries of literary creation in the service of amour, the works include a selection of Shakespeare's sonnets, John Donne's "The Ecstasy," William Blake's "The Garden of Love," Robert Burns's "The Banks o'Doon" and "John Anderson My Jo," Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty," Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee," Robert Browning's "Meeting at Night," as well as works by W. B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Keats, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Milton, Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling, Matthew Arnold, A. E. Housman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Robert Frost. Includes two selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "Sonnet 73" and "Song."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486111520
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	02/02/2012
Series:	Dover Thrift Editions
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	811,605
File size:	658 KB

Read an Excerpt

Great Love Poems

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By Shane Weller

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 1992 Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-11152-0

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CHAPTER 1

    SIR THOMAS WYATT


    (1503-1542)

    The Lover Showeth How He Is Forsaken of Such as He Sometime Enjoyed

    They flee from me that sometime did me seek,
    With naked foot stalking in my chamber.
    I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek,
    That now are wild, and do not once remember
    That sometime they have put themselves in danger
    To take bread at my hand; and now they range,
    Busily seeking with a continual change.

    Thanked be fortune, it hath been otherwise
    Twenty times better; but once, in special,
    In thin array, after a pleasant guise,
    When her loose gown from her shoulders did fall,
    And she me caught in her arms long and small,
    Therewith all sweetly did me kiss,
    And softly said, 'Dear heart, how like you this?'

    It was no dream; I lay broad waking:
    But all is turned, thorough my gentleness,
    Into a strange fashion of forsaking;
    And I have leave to go, of her goodness;
    And she also to use new-fangleness.
    But since that I so unkindly am served,
    I fain would know what she hath deserved.


    The Appeal

    An Earnest Suit to His Unkind Mistress, Not to Forsake Him

    And wilt thou leave me thus?
    Say nay, say nay, for shame!
    —To save thee from the blame
    Of all my grief and grame.
    And wilt thou leave me thus?

    Say nay! say nay!

    And wilt thou leave me thus,
    That hath loved thee so long
    In wealth and woe among?
    And is thy heart so strong
    As for to leave me thus?

    Say nay! say nay!

    And wilt thou leave me thus,
    That hath given thee my heart
    Never for to depart
    Neither for pain nor smart:
    And wilt thou leave me thus?

    Say nay! say nay!

    And wilt thou leave me thus,
    And have no more pity
    Of him that loveth thee?
    Alas, thy cruelty!
    And wilt thou leave me thus?

    Say nay! say nay!


    EDMUND SPENSER

(1552-1599)

'One Day I Wrote Her Name upon the Strand'

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

'Vain man,' said she, 'that dost in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I myself shall like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise.'

'Not so,' quod I, 'let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name,

Where, whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew.'

    SIR WALTER RALEIGH


    (1552?—1618)

    "'As Ye Came from the Holy Land'"

    'As ye came from the holy land
    Of Walsinghame,
    Met you not with my true love
    By the way as you came?'

    'How should I know your true love,
    That have met many a one
    As I came from the holy land,
    That have come, that have gone?'
    'She is neither white nor brown,
    But as the heavens fair;
    There is none hath her form divine
    In the earth or the air.'

    'Such a one did I meet, good sir,
    Such an angelic face,
    Who like a nymph, like a queen, did appear
    In her gait, in her grace.'

    'She hath left me here alone,
    All alone, as unknown,
    Who sometime did me lead with herself,
    And me loved as her own.'

    'What's the cause that she
    leaves you alone
    And a new way doth take,
    That sometime did love you as her own,
    And her joy did you make?'

    'I have loved her all my youth,
    But now am old, as you see:
    Love likes not the falling fruit,
    Nor the withered tree.

    'Know that Love is a careless child,
    And forgets promise past;
    He is blind, he is deaf when he list,
    And in faith never fast.

    'His desire is a dureless content,
    And a trustless joy;
    He is won with a world of despair,
    And is lost with a toy.

    'Of womenkind such indeed is the love,
    Or the word love abused,
    Under which many childish desires
    And conceits are excused.

    'But true love is a durable fire,
    In the mind ever burning,
    Never sick, never dead, never cold,
    From itself never turning.'


    Her Reply

    If all the world and love were young,
    And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
    These pretty pleasures might me move
    To live with thee and be thy Love.

    But Time drives flocks from field to fold;
    When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
    And Philomel becometh dumb;
    The rest complains of cares to come.

    The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
    To wayward Winter reckoning yields:
    A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
    Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

    Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
    Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies,
    Soon break, soon wither—soon forgotten,
    In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

    Thy belt of straw and ivy-buds,
    Thy coral clasps and amber studs,—
    All these in me no means can move
    To come to thee and be thy Love.

    But could youth last, and love still breed,
    Had joys no date, nor age no need,
    Then these delights my mind might move
    To live with thee and be thy Love.


    SIR PHILIP SIDNEY

    (1554-1586)

    'Loving in Truth, and Fain in Verse My Love to Show'

    Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,
    That the dear she might take some pleasure of my pain,
    Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,
    Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain,
    I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe:
    Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain,
    Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow
    Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sunburned brain.
    But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay;
    Invention, Nature's child, fled stepdame Study's blows;
    And others' feet still seemed but strangers in my way.
    Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,
    Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite:
    'Fool,' said my Muse to me, 'look in thy heart, and write.'


    His Lady's Cruelty

    With how sad steps, O Moon, thou climb'st the skies!
    How silently, and with how wan a face!
    What! may it be that even in heavenly place
    That busy archer his sharp arrows tries?
    Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes
    Can judge of love, thou feel'st a lover's case:
    I read it in thy looks; thy languish'd grace
    To me, that feel the like, thy state descries.
    Then, even of fellowship, O Moon, tell me,
    Is constant love deem'd there but want of wit?
    Are beauties there as proud as here they be?
    Do they above love to be loved, and yet
    Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess?
    Do they call 'virtue' there—ungratefulness?


    The Bargain

    My true love hath my heart, and I have his,
    By just exchange one for another given;
    I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
    There never was a better bargain driven:
    My true love hath my heart, and I have his.

    His heart in me keeps him and me in one,
    My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides;
    He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
    I cherish his because in me it bides:
    My true love hath my heart, and I have his.


    JOHN LYLY


    (1554?—1606)

    Cards and Kisses

    Cupid and my Campaspe play'd
    At cards for kisses—Cupid paid:
    He stakes his quiver, bow, and arrows,
    His mother's doves, and team of sparrows;
    Loses them too; then down he throws
    The coral of his lips, the rose
    Growing on's cheek (but none knows how);
    With these, the crystal of his brow,
    And then the dimple of his chin:
    All these did my Campaspe win.
    At last he set her both his eyes—
    She won, and Cupid blind did rise.

    O Love! has she done this for thee?

    What shall, alas! become of me?


    GEORGE PEELE

    (1556-1596)

    A Summer Song

    When as the rye reach to the chin,
    And chopcherry, chopcherry ripe within,
    Strawberries swimming in the cream,
    And school-boys playing in the stream;
    Then O, then O, then O my true love said,
    Till that time come again,
    She could not live a maid.


    HENRY CONSTABLE


    (1562—1613)

    Diaphenia

    Diaphenia like the daffadowndilly,
    White as the sun, fair as the lily,
    Heigh ho, how I do love thee!
    I do love thee as my lambs
    Are beloved of their dams;
    How blest were I if thou wouldst prove me.

    Diaphenia like the spreading roses,
    That in thy sweets all sweets encloses,
    Fair sweet, how I do love thee!
    I do love thee as each flower
    Loves the sun's life-giving power;
    For dead, thy breath to life might move me.

    Diaphenia like to all things blessed
    When all thy praises are expressed,
    Dear joy, how I do love thee!
    As the birds do love the spring,
    Or the bees their careful king:
    Then in requite, sweet virgin, love me!


    SAMUEL DANIEL


    (1562?—1619)

    'If This Be Love, to Draw a Weary Breath'
    If this be love, to draw a weary breath,
    To paint on floods till the shore cry to th'air,
    With downward looks, still reading on the earth
    The sad memorials of my loves despair;
    If this be love, to war against my soul,
    Lie down to wail, rise up to sigh and grieve,
    The never-resting stone of care to roll,
    Still to complain my griefs whilst none relieve;
    If this be love, to clothe me with dark thoughts,
    Haunting untrodden paths to wail apart;
    My pleasures horror, music tragic notes,
    Tears in mine eyes and sorrow at my heart.
    If this be love, to live a living death,
    Then do I love and draw this weary breath.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Great Love Poems by Shane Weller. Copyright © 1992 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

SIR THOMAS WYATT
The Lover Showeth How He is Forsaken of Such as He Sometime Enjoyed
The Appeal
EDMUND SPENSER
One Day I Wrote Her Name upon the Strand'
SIR WALTER RALEIGH
"'As Ye came from the Holy Land'"
Her Reply
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
"Loving in Truth, and Fain in Verse My Love to Show'"
His Lady's Cruelty
The Bargain
JOHN LYLY
Cards and Kisses
GEORGE PEELE
A Summer Song
HENRY CONSTABLE
Diaphenia
SAMUEL DANIEl
"If This Be Love, to Draw a Weary Breath'"
MICHAEL DRAYTON
The Parting
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?'
That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold'
From You Have I Been Absent in the Spring'
When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time'
Let Me Not to the Marriage fo True Minds'
My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun'
THOMAS CAMPION
Cherry-Ripe
"Thou Art Not Fair, for all Thy Red and White'"
Vobiscum est Iope
SIR HENRY WOTTON
Elizabeth of Bohemia
JOHN DONNE
The Sun Rising
The Canonization
Song
The Apparition
The Ectasy
The Funeral
Elegy: On His Mistress Going to Bed
BEN JONSON
To Celia
The Hour Glass
THOMAS HEYWOOD
Matin Song
GEORGE WITHER
"I Loved a Lass, a Fair One'"
ROBERT HERRICK
"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"
Upon Julia's Clothes
Chop-Cherry
FRANCIS QUARLES
A Divine Rapture
HENRY KING
Sonnet
Exequy on His Wife
THOMAS CAREW
Song
To His Inconstant Mistress
EDMUND WALLER
On a Girdle
Song
JOHN MILTON
On His Deceased Wife
SIR JOHN SUCKLING
"Why So Pale and Wan, Fond Lover?'"
The Constant Lover
RICHARD LOVELACE
"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"
"To Althea, from Prison"
The Scrutiny
ANDREW MARVELL
To His Coy Mistress
The Definition of Love
The Mower to the Glo-Worms
JOHN DRYDEN
"Farewell, Ungrateful Traitor!'"
"JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER"
Return
A Song of a Young Lady to Her Ancient Lover
MATTHEW PRIOR
An Ode
WILLIAM CONGREVE
Pious Selinda Goes to Prayers'
False through She Be to Me and Love'
JOHN GAY
Sweet William's Farewell to Black-Eyed Susan
HENRY CAREY
Sally in Our Alley
WILLIAM COWPER
To Mary
WILLIAM BLAKE
How Sweet I Roam'd from Field to Field'
Love's Secret
The Clod and the Pebble
The Garden of Love
ROBERT BURNS
Of A' the Airts the Wind Can Blaw'
John Anderson My Jo
The Banks o' Doon
"A Red, Red Rose"
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known'
She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways'
Surprised by Joy?Impatient as the Wind'
SIR WALTER SCOTT
An Hour with Thee
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
Past Ruin'd Ilion Heln Lives'
"Proud Word You Never Spoke, but You Will Speak'"
Rose Aylmer
"You Smiled, You Spoke, and I Believed'"
The Torch of Love Dispels the Gloom'
"If I Am Proud, You Surely Know'"
THOMAS CAMPBELL
Freedom and Love
THOMAS MOORE
Did not
An Argument
At the Mid Hour of Night
"GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON"
When We Two Parted'
"She Walks in Beauty, Like the Night'"
"So, We'll Go No More A-Roving'"
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
Love's Philosophy
To ?
JOHN CLARE
First Love
To Mary: 'It Is the Evening Hour'
"To Mary: 'I Sleep with Thee, and Wake with Thee'"
The Secret
I Hid My Love
JOHN KEATS
"Bright Star, Would I Were Stedfast as Thou Art?'"
THOMAS HOOD
Ruth
WILLIAM BARNES
The Wife A-Lost
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Give All to Love
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
I Thought Once How Theocritus Had sung'
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways'
EDGAR ALLAN POE
To Helen
To One in Paradise
Annabel Lee
"ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON"
"Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, Now the White'"
"Come Not, When I am Dead'"
ROBERT BROWNING
The Last Ride Together
Meeting at Night
Bad Dreams
Love
EMILY BRONTË
Remembrance
If Grief for Grief Can Touch Thee'
WALT WHITMAN
Once I Pass'd through a Populous City
When I heard at the Close of the Day
Sometimes with One I Love
As if a Phantom Caress'd Me
From Pent-Up Aching Rivers
MATTHEW ARNOLD
Longing
Absence
COVENTRY PATMORE
The Revelation
A Farewell
The Azalea
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI
Sudden Light
Silent Noon
Severed Selves
Without Her
The Orchard-Pit
GEORGE MEREDITH
By This He Knew She Wept with Waking Eyes'
In Our Old Shipwrecked Days There Was an Hour'
EMILY DICKINSON
We Outgrow Love Like Other Things'
My Life Closed Twice before Its Close'
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
A Birthday
Echo
May
The First Day
WILLIAM MORRIS
Love Is Enough
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE
Love and Sleep
WILFRID BLUNT
St. Valentine's Day
THOMAS HARDY
A Broken Appointment
In a Cathedral City
A Thunderstorm in Town
ALICE MEYNELL
Renouncement
A. E. HOUSMAN
"Oh, When I Was in Love with You'"
Along the Field as We Came By'
White in the Moon the Long Road Lies'
W. B. YEATS
Down by the Salley Gardens
Brown Penny
A Drinking Song
Never Give All the Heart
When You Are Old
ARTHUR SYMONS
White Heliotrope
ERNEST DOWSON
Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae
EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON
Eros Turannos
HILAIRE BELLOC
Juliet
ROBERT FROST
Meeting and Passing
D.H. LAWRENCE
Gloire de Dijon
EZRA POUND
The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter
EDWARD THOMAS
Like the Touch of Rain
JOHN CROWE RANSOM
Piazza Piece
EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY
"I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed'"
HART CRANE
Carrier letter
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TITLES AND FIRST LINES