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What’s better than a love poem? In honor of National Poetry Month, we’ve gathered some love poems that go beyond “Roses are Red/Violets are Blue,” ranging from the ancient to the contemporary, the ecstatic to the cynical, the passionate to the nonplussed.

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Here are ten gems from JSTOR’s digital library, available here for free download:

“The Art of Love,” Kenneth Koch

“Love-Kiss XLI,” Quirinus Kuhlmann and Richard Sieburth

From “Six Love Poems,” David Ignatow

“Love Poem,” Joyce Carol Oates

“Twenty Love Poems and The Unhoping Song,” Pablo Neruda and Brian Coffey

“Old Love,” Robert Penn Warren

“I Should Like To Write a Love Poem,” Chen S. Yuan

“Making of a Harlem Love Poem,” Willie Perdomo

“An Unpublished Love Poem,” Edith Wharton 

“Love Poem,” Thomas Geraghty

Want more poems? Check out our Seven Favorite Flower Poems.

Edith WhartonAmerican LiteratureBOMBIrish University ReviewPoetryPrairie SchoonerThe Hudson ReviewThe Iowa ReviewThe Sewanee Review

Resources

JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR.

"The Art of Love"
By: Kenneth Koch
Poetry, Vol. 121, No. 2 (Nov., 1972), pp. 63-78
Poetry Foundation
"Love-Kiss XLI"
By: QUIRINUS KUHLMANN and Richard Sieburth
Poetry, Vol. 194, No. 1, The Translation Issue (APRIL 2009), pp. 13-16
Poetry Foundation
From "Six Love Poems"
By: David Ignatow
Poetry, Vol. 151, No. 5 (Feb., 1988), pp. 398-399
Poetry Foundation
Love Poem
By: Joyce Carol Oates
The Hudson Review, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Autumn, 1973), p. 503
The Hudson Review, Inc
Twenty Love Poems and The Unhoping Song
By: Pablo Neruda and Brian Coffey
Irish University Review, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring, 1973), pp. 51-65
Edinburgh University Press
Old Love
By: Robert Penn Warren
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 92, No. 3 (Summer, 1984), pp. 348-350
The Johns Hopkins University Press
I SHOULD LIKE TO WRITE A LOVE POEM
By: CHEN S. YUAN
Prairie Schooner, Vol. 1, No. 4 (OCTOBER, 1927), p. 246
University of Nebraska Press
The Making of a Harlem Love Poem
By: Willie Perdomo
BOMB, No. 52 (Summer, 1995), p. 82
New Art Publications
An Unpublished Love Poem by Edith Wharton
By: Adeline R. Tintner
American Literature, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar., 1988), pp. 98-103
Duke University Press
Love Poem
By: Thomas Geraghty
The Iowa Review, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Spring - Summer, 1990), p. 129
University of Iowa