Poems of Love

From The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran:
Love one another,
But make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea
Between the shores of your souls
Fill each other’s cup
But drink not from the same cup
Sing and dance together and be joyous,
But let each one of you be alone
Even as the strings of the lute are alone
Though they cjuiver with the same music
Give your hearts,
But not into each other’s keeping
Far only the hand of life
Can contain your hearts
And stand together
Yet not too near together      

For the pillars of the temple stand apart
And the oak tree and the cypress
Grow not in each other’s shadow.

“Taking Time to Love” by Rod McKuen

Taking time to love is what it’s all about

what makes clocks turn and the sunsets come

true and without complication or staying always face to face

It’s meant to cover walking, being apart and knowing

that coming back together makes small distances even smaller

And taking time to love is, most of all, caring enough to

not hold on too tightly and yet not run too loose

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments.

Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:
0, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

“Love’s Philosophy” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The fountains mingle with the river,
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea
And what are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?

Adapted from I Corinthians 13 on the love you hold as an ideal in your relationship
Love is always patient and kind;
It is never jealous;
Love is never boastful or conceited;
It is never rude or selfish;
It does not take offence,
And it is not resentful.
Love takes no pleasure
In other people’s faults
But delights in the truth;
It is always ready to excuse, to trust,
to hope.
It is always ready to endure whatever
comes, and finally,
True love does not come to an end.

“To a Marriage” by Brian Zouch
In your hands you hold the key to life
The key to open up the door of love
The strength to face together joy or strife
And all of human frailties rise above
You take a vow this day to be as one
In all you do — in all that you aspire
And let there be no one beneath the sun
Who’d seek to put asunder your desire,
And let us wish this knot we tie this day
Be firm and strong against the test of time
And let our children’s children say
That all was good and right and fine.
And so in all humility and in this place
We cast your love into the hands of fate

For it is written true that all you face
If faced with love, you’ll triumph and be great.
For greatness lies within the souls of lovers
There is no power can tear it from your grasp
It bonds your hearts as one, to one another’s

As Alpha and Omega —first and last.

So go you forward from this place this day

And as you journey ‘long the road of life

Know that you stand together, come what may
For true love comes just once, not twice, not thrice.

“Learn how to love” adapted from Walter Rinder
Every day you live,
Learn how to love,
Take time with each other,
Restore each other’s soul
With loving words.
Receive love
With as much understanding
As you give it

Find that which is within yourselves

Then you can share it with each other.

Do not fear this love,
And do nor fear this marriage,
But keep open hearts and sincere minds.
Be sincerely interested
in each other’s happiness,
Be, too, constant and consistent in your love,
And in your actions.
From this, as you know, comes security and strength.

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us
So even though .you retain your individuality,
Today in a real sense you also become one
In a true unity
That this may be deep and rewarding,
Today the day of your marriage,
Try to commit yourselves,
Fully and freely, and trustingly
To each other, without reservations.

“How Do I Love Thee” 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 every day’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.
1 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.