Sonnet 43

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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 candle-light.
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.

XI

By Emily Dickinson

I've got an arrow here;
Loving the hand that sent it,
I the dart revere.
Fell, they will say, in 'skirmish'!
Vanquished, my soul will know,
By but a simple arrow
Sped by an archer's bow.

Be My Valentines, For I……

Be my valentines, for I
Each day have thought of you.

My whole life couldn’t manage what
Your ready smile can do,

Vanquishing my loneliness
As though all light were new.
Let me be your valentine
Even as you’re mine,
Needing what I have to give
That each might each define
In friendship and in harmony,
Now you, now I the melody,
Each helping each to shine.

Things I Love About You

By Anthony West

Your eyes
Which first held me captivated
Where I stood.
Your smile
To dazzle the sun
And warm every corner of my soul.
Your voice
Like a sparkling mountain stream
Which flows into my heart.
Your walk
And the way your gracefulness
Takes my breath away.
Your hair
About which I dreamed
Cascading into my face
As you leaned over me.
Your hands
Whose caress I crave
To hold my face
In their tenderness.
Your arms
I longed to have around my neck
As you pull me close
To your warmth.
Most of all
Everything you are
Changed the way I feel about my life.
I Love You.