Lord Byron

O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my Dear,
Till a'the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o'life shall run.

And fare thee weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

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Robert Herrick 

To Anthea

Bid me to live, and I will live 
Thy Protestant to be; 
Or bid me love, and I will give 
A loving heart to thee. 

A heart as soft, a heart as kind, 
A heart as sound and free 
As in the whole world thou canst find, 
That heart I'll give to thee. 

Bid that heart stay, and it will stay 
To honor thy decrees: 
Or bid it languish quite away, 
And't shall do so for thee. 

Bid me to weep, and I will weep 
While I have eyes to see: 
And, having none, yet I will keep 
A heart to weep for thee. 

Bid me despair and I'll despair 
Under that cypress-tree: 
Or bid me die, and I will dare 
E'en death to die for thee. 

Thou art my life, my love, my heart, 
The very eyes of me: 
And hast command of every part 
To live and die for thee.

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Richard Lovelace 

Tell Me Not, Sweet,

Tell me not, Sweet, I am unkind
For, from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast, and quiet mind,
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith - embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this unconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
For, I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not honour more.

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William Shakespeare

Shall I Compare Thee


Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou are more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

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Reviewer: A reader from Clinton, MS This book is a wonderful collection of love poems. I couldn't imagine anyone being displeased with it. It has been one of my most favorite collections of poems ever.

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