20 Best Love Poems of All Time (2023)

Love poems are tricky—for most of us, it's difficult to find one that properly conveys how you feel about matters of the heart, and the idea of writing your own romantic poetry is even more daunting. Luckily, there’s no shame in turning toward the experts for help. (In fact, if your idea of writing a love poem starts with "Roses are red," we think your beloved will appreciate you borrowing from a professional poet!)

Below, we’ve collected 20 of the best love poems—including short love poems, sweet poems, and famous love poems, all of which should do the trick when you’re looking to woo a special someone.

Related: 10 Steamy Historical Romance Novels That'll Make You Swoon

"It feels right to be up this close in tight wind

It feels right to notice all the shiny things about you

About you there is nothing I wouldn’t want to know

With you nothing is simple yet nothing is simpler"

—"Lines Depicting Simple Happiness," by Peter Gizzi

Gizzi's poetry is perfect for when you want love poems that aren't overly mushy. You can read more of his work in his book of selected poems, In Defense of Nothing.

—"How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways,"by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Love this love poem? Check out The Collected Poems of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Related: 9 Inspiring Female Coming of Age Stories

—"The Good-Morrow," by John Donne

Read more of his metaphysical poetry in The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Donne.

"Then there's the two

of us. This word

is far too short for us, it has only

four letters, too sparse

to fill those deep bare

vacuums between the stars

that press on us with their deafness.

It's not love we don't wish

to fall into, but that fear.

this word is not enough but it will

have to do. It's a single

vowel in this metallic

silence, a mouth that says

O again and again in wonder

and pain, a breath, a finger

grip on a cliffside. You can

hold on or let go."

—"Variations on the Word Love," by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood is most famous for writing novels, including The Handmaid's Tale. But she's also a skilled poet who's written 11 volumes of poetry.

Related: 20 Books Like The Handmaid's Tale

—"Who Said That Love Was Fire?" by Patience Worth

Allegedly, Patience Worth was a spirit channeled by Pearl Lenore Curran. You can learn more about Curran/Worth's relationship in Patience Worth: a psychic mystery.

Related: 10 Most Terrifying Ghost Stories and Paranormal Novels

—"She Walks in Beauty," by Lord Byron

If you're looking to impress a woman, you could do a lot worse than reading one of Byron's love poems for her. All of George Gordon Byron's writing can be found in his Complete Works.

Related: Your Favorite Poems of All Time

—"i carry your heart with me," by e.e. cummings

Read more of his best love poems sans capital letters in his Selected Poems.

—"Unending Love," by Rabindranath Tagore

Discover more from this Bengali wordsmith in The Complete Works of Rabindranath Tagore.

"I am yours as the summer air at evening is

Possessed by the scent of linden blossoms,

As the snowcap gleams with light

Lent it by the brimming moon.

Without you I'd be an unleafed tree

Blasted in a bleakness with no Spring.

Your love is the weather of my being.

What is an island without the sea?"

—"Yours," by Daniel Hoffman

—"That I Did Always Love,” by Emily Dickinson

You can read the rest of Dickinson's poems in her Complete Poems.

Related: 20 Quotes From Your Favorite Poets

—"Love One Another," by Khalil Gibran

If you're unfamiliar with this Lebanese-American writer, we highly suggest reading his Complete Works.

—"Sonnet 116,” by William Shakespeare

You can't have a list of the best love poems without including the Bard. For a fun twist on Shakespurr—we mean, Shakespeare—check out Shakespeare's Cats: The Complete Sonnets for the Literary Cat Lover.

Related: The 36 Most Famous Poems Ever Written in the English Language

—"Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her,” by Christopher Brennan

Brennan's heartwarming words can also be found in 50 Classic Love Poems You Have to Read.

"Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape

and the little churchyard with its lamenting names

and the terrible reticent gorge in which the others

end: again and again the two of us walk out together

under the ancient trees, lay ourselves down again and again

among the flowers, and look up into the sky"

—"Again and again, even though we know love's landscape," by Rainer Maria Rilke

The most romantic love poetry is timeless—Rilke's words about being happy to do the same, simple things with your loved one, over and over, are as touching today as they were 100 years ago. Read more of his work in Where the Paths Do Not Go.

"When you come to me, unbidden,

Beckoning me

To long-ago rooms,

Where memories lie.

Offering me, as to a child, an attic,

Gatherings of days too few.

Baubles of stolen kisses.

Trinkets of borrowed loves.

Trunks of secret words,

I CRY."

—"When You Come," by Maya Angelou

The Complete Poetry of Maya Angelou is something that everyone should read once in their lifetime.

Related: 20 Must-Read Books By Iconic Black Authors

“Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene;

Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen.

Only your word will heal the injury

To my hurt heart, while yet the wound is clean -

Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene.”

—"Rondel of Merciless Beauty," by Geoffrey Chaucer

We can't think of a higher compliment than being told you have "merciless beauty." The Canterbury Tales author's Complete Works are definitely worth a read.

Related: Short Inspirational Poems to Brighten Your Day

“Don't go far off, not even for a day, because—

because—I don't know how to say it: a day is long

and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station

when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep.”

—"Don't Go Far Off," by Pablo Neruda

Also don't be fooled by Neruda's innocent words here—he's known for his passionate poems that will get your heart racing. See for yourself in The Poetry of Pablo Neruda.

"I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed

And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.

(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

—"Mad Girl's Love Song," by Sylvia Plath

Sometimes, you need a good unrequited love poem—for those moments, you can do no better than Pulitzer Prize winner Sylvia Plath, the master of sad poetry. Read more of her poetry in her Collected Poems.

“love will come

and when love comes

love will hold you

love will call your name

and you will melt

sometimes though

love will hurt you but

love will never mean to

love will play no games

cause love knows life

has been hard enough already”

—pg. 60, Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur

Not too many poets stand out in their own time, but recently Rupi Kaur has managed to do just that. Milk and Honey became a best-selling poetry book soon after its release in 2014, and her second book of poetry, The Sun and Her Flowers, managed to do the same.

"O my Luve’s like a red, red rose,

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve’s like the melodie

That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair are thou, my bonie lass,

So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my Dear,

Till a’ the seas gang dry."

—"A Red, Red Rose," by Robert Burns

Bonus points if you read this one out loud with a light Scottish brogue. For more words to woo your bonie lass or lad, check out the Complete Works of Robert Burns.

Related: 11 Poetry Collections That Even Non-Poetry Readers Will Enjoy

Featured photo: Thought Catalog / Unsplash, from the poetry collection This Is For the Women Who Don't Give a F*ck, by Janne Robinson.