For all the romantics, poetry holds a special place in our hearts. A mix of lyricism, rawness, and truth, romantic poetry has the ability to capture the inner yearnings of the heart and verbalize feelings too intricate for most readers to articulate on their own. Immerse yourself in someone else’s heart, someone else’s love, desire, loss, and live in it as if it were your own. Romantic poetry allows us to see the all-encompassing and uniting nature of love across humankind.
The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
Shakespeare never goes out of style. Despite being more than 400 years since he lived, William Shakespeare’s writing, particularly his sonnets, never fails to capture the immersive nature of infatuation, desire, and love. Passion is passion whether it be four centuries ago or the present day — we feel it the same. The Sonnets are for lovers and die-hard-romantics and Shakespeare’s sonnets are indisputably the best recorded.
In his collection, there are 154 sonnets exploring the concepts of beauty, love, morality, and time. Perhaps you’re familiar with some of the most famous written words ever recorded in Sonnet 18: “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate”. If you’re looking to begin your romance journey, I’d advise you to start with one of the most renowned romantics throughout history.
Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
Considered one of the greatest collections of love poetry ever written and the Chilean Nobel Prize-winning poet’s best work, Pablo Neruda’s Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair will ache your heart. Published in 1924, when Neruda was just nineteen, this collection soared to international acclaim for its intense, passionate lyrical depictions of love and lust. The poems are largely inspired by Neruda’s youthful relationships and are brought to life by a visceral, unflinching eroticism. As Carol Ann Duffy, the former UK poet laureate and another featured poet on this list, observes: “The poems today remain as urgently gorgeous as freshly picked flowers”.
The Ink Dark Moon by Izumi Shikibu and Ono no Komachi
Written between the ninth and tenth centuries in Ancient Japan during a time when aristocratic women of the Heian court were unhindered in their romantic lives, whether it be for marriage or love affairs, The Ink Dark Moon is an erotic collection of poetry focused on love, lust, and longing. A free-spirited and revelatory exposé into sexual lures that are too often dismissed as taboo, Shikibu and Komachi unveil a seductive environment that erotic readers will be eager to sink their teeth into. The excitement of secrecy surrounding love affairs stalks the pages of the collection in fleeting, but stirring poems. The Irish Times describes the immersive nature of the collection succinctly:
“They are full of dreams, of autumns, of lovers known or not yet met, of desire, wonderment, loneliness.”
– The Irish Times
The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara by Frank O’Hara
Not purely a romance collection, but, as vehemently assured by my poetically inclined English Literature Master’s friends, The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara holds some of the most simplistic, yet heart-wrenching depictions of love you can read. O’Hara writes with a palpable urgency and a casual tone, and is a master of abstract expressionism, blending his own experiences with cultural references, art, music, and everyday life to convey visceral, emotional, and expressive content. His gift shines brightest in his articulation of love. Something about his directness, the immediacy of his words, and the passion that palpitates from the page leaves me in stitches. For specific love poems in the collection, find Having A Coke With You, Morning, Sleeping on the Wing, and the simplistic but visceral Steps:
“oh god it’s wonderful
– Frank O’Hara, Steps
to get out of bed
and drink too much coffee
and smoke too many cigarettes
and love you so much.”
Physical by Andrew McMillan
Winner of the 2015 Guardian First Book Award and the 2015 Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, Andrew McMillan’s collection, Physical, is an ode to the male form and male friendship and love. Raw, unflinching, and deeply moving, McMillan confronts the concept of “manhood” and puts masculinity under a microscope. Vigorous worship of the flesh and its ability to feel love, loss, desire, and desertion, McMillan sets his readers’ skin aflame with his present and poised voice that so clearly grasps the range and impact of human connection. Physical is a stunning capture of the body’s physicality and the heart’s inner workings.
Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy was the Poet Laureate of the UK from May 2009 to May 2019; she was the first female Poet Laureate, the first Scottish Poet Laureate, and the first lesbian Poet Laureate. With quite the resume, Carol Ann Duffy’s most popular and acclaimed work is her seventh collection, Rapture, a book-length ensemble of 52 poems that explores love. However, this collection doesn’t just look at the beauty of love or the thrills of sex; it is an exploration of the complexity of love and all its winding stages: longing, passion, separation, grief, and loss. The beauty of love and the pain of love. This book is for everyone: those of us in love, those of us who have recently fallen out of it, those of us searching for it, and those of us who believe we’ll never find it.
Here’s a simple and telling excerpt from Duffy’s poem Tea (one of my favorites):
“I like pouring your tea, lifting
the heavy pot, and tipping it up,
so the fragrant liquid streams in your china cup.
Or when you’re away, or at work,
– Carol Ann Duffy, Tea
I like to think of your cupped hands as you sip,
as you sip, of the faint half-smile of your lips.”
The Lady Luck by Dhruv Khanna
A new romantic poet emerges on the scene in Dhruv Khanna with his romantic suspense novel, The Lady Luck. An epic poem that has mystery, love, and dramatic twists, The Lady Luck is an immersive and addictive new read. Following Richard, an ambitious college student seeking success at all costs, and his unexpected encounter with a mysterious woman, Alia, drenched in diamonds and luxury, offering him support on his mission to greatness. As he climbs the ladder of success, he also begins to unravel from his inner demons and the unpredictable challenges that arise on his journey. Lady Luck’s motives soon reveal themselves and alter Richard’s destiny forever. Gripping and lyrical, Khanna’s new novel is a beautiful mix of poetry, suspense, and romance, and is dripping with intrigue.
Fall in love with the written word in these intoxicating collections. Flooding with romance, bubbling with longing, and stinging with loss, these collections create a visceral embodiment of love and set the heart on fire. From ancient times to modern day, these romantic poems will ignite your truest passions.
Sick of romance? Check out some anti-romance reads here.
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