Celebrate Valentine's Day with Poetry

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I love a rhyme

Hope you do too

When setting out to write this blog, I had one crucial question: what is the origin of “roses are red, violets are blue”? These two lines have inspired many struggling Valentine’s Day poets and, conversely, parodies for the lovelorn. Turns out, a variation of these lines has appeared throughout history in different languages. The earliest example seems to be Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene from the 16th century. In the poem, a man views a fairy woman bathing and describes, “She bath’d with roses red, and violets blew,/ And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.” The 18th century nursery rhyme book Gammar Gurton’s Garland features a poem titled "The Valentine," which reads, “The rose is red, the violet’s blue,/ The honey’s sweet, and so are you./ Thou art my love, and I am thine; I drew thee to my Valentine:/ The lot was cast, and then I drew,/ And fortune said it should be you.” Swoon!

Victor Hugo put his own spin on the phrase in Les Misérables. Translated from French, Fantine sings, “We will buy very pretty things/ A-walking through the faubourgs./ Violets are blue, roses are red./ Violets are blue,/ I love my loves.” She sings the lullaby as she reminisces about happier times with her daughter, Cosette. While Fantine’s story doesn’t have a happy ending, the song shows that these lines don’t have to have a romantic connotation – they can be a celebration of love in all its forms.

In that spirit, we have collected some other poems to share with your Valentine, whether that’s your child, partner, friend, or pet! Let us know your favorite or if you were inspired to write your own on Twitter @NEAarts.

For your best friend...

"Love is like the wild rose-briar,/ Friendship like the holly-tree—/ The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms/ But which will bloom most constantly?" From "Love and Friendship" by Emily Brontë

For a new love...

"It’s neither red/ nor sweet./ It doesn’t melt/ or turn over,/ break or harden,/ so it can’t feel/ pain,/ yearning,/ regret." From "Heart to Heart" by Rita Dove

For a longtime partner...

"Nothing stays. I want/ to watch you walk// the hall to the cold tile/ bathroom—all// night, a lifetime." From "Ditty" by Kevin Young

For a parent or child...

"You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you./ For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday./ You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth./ The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far." From "On Children" by Kahlil Gibran

For a lost love...

"Like an oyster/ That cloisters a spoil of pearls,/ Untouched—// The heart that’s had/ Enough/ Stays shut." From "Poem" by Jill Alexander Essbaum 

For your dog...hey, who says they can't understand poetry? 

"LOVING friend, the gift of one,/ Who, her own true faith, hath run,/ Through thy lower nature ;/ Be my benediction said/ With my hand upon thy head,/ Gentle fellow-creature !" From "To Flush, My Dog" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning