by Elle Kim

Created on: September 18, 2008

Do you have a favorite love poem? My personal favorite is "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes, which is included on this list.
There have been many love poems written in the history of mankind, it's difficult to choose which ones can be considered the best of them. So here are fourteen that I think deserve the honor of being named one of the best love poems ever written in no particular order.

1) Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte
Love and Friendship is a beautiful poem that stirs the imagination and vividly paints a picture in your head. This is one of the many masterpieces of Emily Bronte, like Wuthering Heights. It is lovely yet abstract in a mysterious, entrancing way:

"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?

The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly's sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green."

2) Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
In this brilliant poem, Shakespeare uses sensory detail and delicate, yet strong and eloquent words. Emotional and well-written, this is sonnet captures Shakespeare's essence well. Perfect for this category and list:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of may
And summer's lease hath all too short a date
Some time too hot the eye in heaven shines
And often is its gold complexion dimmed
And ev'ry fair from fair some time declines
By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor loose possession of that fair thou ownst
Nor shall death brag thou wanderst in his shade
When in eternal lines thou growst
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee"

3) Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare
Another wonderful sonnet by William Shakespeare. This is one of his most famous and well-liked poems. The words are passionate and evoke strong emotions, which is what any good writer should try to do. Love is saturated in the words; it leaves the reader wondering if there was a real person inspiration.

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou seest the twilight

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