How to Write a Love Poem

It's Valentine's Day!  The day when people rush out to buy chocolates, cards, and roses for their sweethearts.  But do you know which of these above items is shockingly overpriced?  CARDS!  Every year they seem to get more expensive.  But you don't have to submit to the man and pay those unreasonable prices. No, you can buck the system. 

Make your own.

All you really need for a homemade card is a nice message to your love, but if you really want to go the extra mile, write a poem.

I'm serious, poetry is not dead, and you'd be amazed at the effect it can have.  A blank verse poem can seem daunting, with its "freedom."  No worries, though.  There are different kinds of poetry formats to give you a template to work from.  If you're a newbie poet, give one of these a try for your Valentine's love poem.

1. Roses are Red...

If all you want is a simple, silly poem that doesn't take much effort, you can go with the old standby.  They typically go something like this:

Roses are red, (A)
Violets are blue, (B)
Candy is sweet, (C)
and you are too. (B)

Four lines.  Lines 2 and 4 need to end with a rhyme, and that's it. 

2. Villanelle

This is a beautiful poetry type.  Although it can seem daunting with it's 19 lines, it has 2 repeating rhymes and 2 refrains. An excellent example is Dylan Thomas's "Do not go gentle into that good night."   A typical villanelle looks like this:

You made me who I am today(Aa)
I was broken, but you gave me glue(1b)
You picked me up and showed me the way.(Ba)

When I cry, you tell me it'll be okay (2a)
There's nothing I wouldn't do for you (3b)
You made me who I am today (Aa)

When the sky was clouded and gray (4a)
When there wasn't an inch of blue (5b)
You picked me up and showed me the way (Ba)

I say the things you say (6a)
You do the things I do (7b)
You made me who I am today. (Aa)

You never need to worry if I will stay(8a)
To you my heart will always be true (9b)
You picked me up and showed me the way (Ba)

We are each others' molding clay (10a)
You fix me and I fix you too (11b)
You made me who I am today (Aa)
You picked me up and showed me the way (Ba)

Pretty simple, yeah? Maybe not? I promise once you start in, it'll go pretty fast.  You have the alternating repeating lines from the first stanza, and you have two rhymes throughout.  Make sure to pick words that have a lot of rhymes.  This website will help: RhymeZone. 

3. Limerick

This poem type is famous for being dirty or rude, but yours doesn't have to be.  This form is good for silly, funny love poems.  The rhyme scheme of a limerick is AABBA.  The "A" lines typically have around 7-9 syllables and the "B" lines have about 5.  Here's an example:

I love you so much my dear Jim, (A)
I'll kiss you when the lights are dim, (A)
Then you'll kiss me too (B)
Like you always do, (B)
And I'll say, "Your beard needs a trim!" (A)

The last line of a limerick is often a punch line, so you'll have to gauge whether this is the type of poem your Valentine would appreciate.

4. The Shakespearian Sonnet

Good ol' Billy Shakes coming to save us.  The Shakespearian Sonnet consists of 14 lines in Iambic Pentameter.  What that means, is that you have 5 "I ams" in a line.  "I am I am I am I am I am"

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks...."
   I      am    I       am    I          am  I     am  I      am 

The rhyme scheme goes like this:  ABABCDCDEFEFGG

I'd write my own, but the Bard's are better than anything I'd come up with for an example:

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; (A)
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; (B)
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; (A)
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. (B)
I have seen roses damasked, red and white, (C)
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; (D)
And in some perfumes is there more delight (C)
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. (D)
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know (E)
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; (F)
I grant I never saw a goddess go; (E)
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. (F)
        And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare (G)
        As any she belied with false compare. (G)

6. The Haiku 

This one is abstract and easy.  Three lines: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables.  No rhymes.

You're my Valentine.
You are my heart and my home.
Will you please get milk?


And there you have it: a poetry starter kit for you.  There are plenty of other poetry forms out there if you're interested in taking a look, but any of these 6 will be sure to win your Valentine's heart just as effectively...if not more so...than one of those cash-grabbing cards. 

Happy Valentine's Day from your faithful Online Writing Tutor,
Mrs. B