poems about love

To ganymede an eagle came,
A swan to Leda flew,
Zeus took his joy from both the same,
An equal pleasure knew.

Let some of women's beauty preach,
Of youths let others tell,
I love them both and find that each
Is incomparable.

I HOLD him, verily, of mean emprise,
Whose rashness tempts a strength too great to bear;
As I have done, alas! who turned mine eyes
Upon those perilous eyes of the most fair.
Unto her eyes I bow'd;
No need her other beauties in that hour
Should aid them, cold and proud:
As when the vassals of a mighty lord,
What time he needs his power,
Are all girt round him to make strong his sword.

With such exceeding force the stroke was dealt
That by mine eyes its path might not be stay'd;

Though I ought to love the moonlight
I fear the harsh cold of the night air.
I call a maid, have all the windows shut:
flowers in the vase suddenly fragrant.

Bereft of their love,
Huang and Yin, the royal ladies of old,
Ranged the banks of Hsiao and Hsiang, south of Tungting.
They wandered by the fathomless waters of the deep.
All the world tells the tale of their misery.

Dark is the day, and dismal the clouds;
Demons howl in the fog and infernal spirits whistle in the rain.
Ah, me! What would it avail me if I dared to speak?
High heaven shines not, I fear, on the loyalty of my heart.
Clouds gather clouds,—they would roar aloud in anger.

As a white dove that, in a cage of gold,
Is prisoned from the air, and yet more bound
By love than bars, and will not wings unfold
To fly away, though every gate be found
Unlocked and open; so my heart was caught,
And linked to thine with triple links of love.
But soon, a dove grown wanton, false it sought
To break its chain, and faithless quite to rove
Where thou wouldst not; and with a painted bird
Fluttered far off. But when a moon was past,
Grown sick with longing for a voice unheard

O' ER the Mediterranean sea
Proudly hath the Orient sprung;
Who loves Hafis and knows him, he
Knows what Calderon hath sung.

HE that Love hath never try'd,
Nor had Cupid for his guide,
Cannot hit the passage right
To the palace of Delight.

What are honours, regal wealth,
Florid youth, and rosy health?
Without Love his tribute brings;—
Impotent, unmeaning things!

Gentle shepherds, persevere,
Still be tender, still sincere;
Love and Time, united, do
Wonders, if the heart be true.

When you were here, ah foolish then!
I scarcely knew I loved you, dear.
I know it now, I know it when
You are no longer here.

When you were here, I sometimes tired,
Ah me! that you so loved me, dear.
Now, in these weary days desired,
You are no longer here.

When you were here, did either know
That each so loved the other, dear?
But that was long and long ago:
You are no longer here.

It was the love of life, when I was young,
Which led me out in summer to explore
The daybreak world A bird's first notes were sung
For childhood standing at the garden door.
That loneliness it was which made me wise
When I looked out and saw
Dark trees against the strangely brightening skies
And learnt the love of earth that is my law.

The love of life is my religion still.
Steadfast through rigorous nights, companioned only
By what I am and what I strive to be,—
I seek no mystery now beyond the hill

Thou sayest that I am heartless and a coward,
That I with blandishments thy passion drew
Until thy will was weakened and o'erpowered,
Then back to thee that love again I threw.

Thou doest me wrong when thou dost call me coward.
To kill a passion one must needs be brave:
To tear a love out, strong and hope enflowered,
And cast it warm and pulsing in the grave.

I plucked my love while in its virgin beauty
And memorised it, for I was afraid
That it might warm to lust or chill to duty;