Most Romantic Words ever Written

[Misty_Morning]

Words touch everyone in a different way.

They ignite fires within our souls that seem to be merely smoldering embers for others.

To each their own.


What are the most romantic words you've ever come across?

For me, it is Marlowe.

To me, his words are timeless.



Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of th purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.





What words seem to haunt you?

 

[BlackShanglan]

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes

(Two stanzas from "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by e e cummings)

I think the last one of the most beautiful stanzas in English poetry. If you don't know the full poem, "noone" and "anyone" are people who have died and been laid to rest next to each other.

 

[BlackShanglan]

My other choice - my favorite poem:

NON SUM QUALIS ERAM BONAE SUB REGNO CYNARAE

by Ernest Dowson

Last night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine
There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed
Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine;
And I was desolate and sick of an old passion,
Yea, I was desolate and bow'd by head:
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.

All night upon mine heart I felt her warm heart beat,
Night-long within mine arms in love and sleep she lay;
Surely the kisses of her bought red mouth were sweet;
But I was desolate and sick of an old passion,
When I awoke and found the dawn was gray:
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fasion.

I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind,
Flung roses, roses, riotously with the throng,
Dancing, to put thy pale lost lilies out of mind;
But I was desolate and sick of an old passion,
Yea, all the time, because the dance was long:
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.

I cried for madder music and for stronger wine,
But when the feast is finish'd and the lamps expire,
Then falls thy shadow, Cynara! the night is thine;
And I am desolate and sick of an old passion,
Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire:
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.

(Note: the fifth line of each stanza should be slightly indented, but the progam will not allow me to do this.)

 

[trysail]

Ithaka​

By C.P. Cavafy


When you set out for Ithaka ask that your way be long,
full of adventures, full of instruction.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon- do not fear them:
such as these you will never find as long as your thought is lofty,
as long as a rare emotion touch your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops, angry Poseidon-
you will not meet them unless you carry them in your soul,
unless your soul raise them up before you.

Ask that your way be long, at many a summer dawn to enter,
with what gratitude, what joy- ports seen for the first time;
to stop at Phoenician trading centers and to buy good merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, and sensuous perfumes of every kind,
sensuous perfumes as lavishly as you can; to visit many Egyptian cities,
to gather stores of knowledge from the learned.

Have Ithaka always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for.
But don’t in the least hurry the journey, better it last for years,
so that when you reach the island you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to give you wealth.
Ithaka gave you the splendid journey,
without her, you would not have set out.
She hasn’t anything else to give you.

And if you find her poor,
Ithaka hasn’t deceived you, so wise have you become, of such experience,
that already you’ll have understood what these Ithakas mean.

[ It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive. ]

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, Horse, "anyone lived" is one of my favorite poems of all time.
Another one from e.e.cummings;


Doll’s boy’s asleep
under a stile
he sees eight and twenty
ladies in a line

the first lady
says to nine ladies
his lips drink water
but his heart drinks wine

the tenth lady
says to nine ladies
they must chain his foot
for his wrist’s too fine

the nineteenth
says to nine ladies
you take his mouth
for his eyes are mine.

Doll’s boy’s asleep
under the stile
for every mile the feet go
the heart goes nine

 

[cloudy]

I'm still amazed that the Song of Solomon was left in the bible.

from Chapter 7:

How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus. Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries. How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

 

[SimpleGifts]

Not sure these qualify as "romantic"--but they are haunting.

SG

On Love
Kahlil Gibran

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Stella, thank you for that beautiful gem, and you too, Cloudy, for the stirring of a fond memory.

 

[keeblercrumb]

How cool....... When writing our Wedding Ceremony 35 years ago... We used quotes from two places...

Song of Soloman and Kahil Gibran.....

Thank you Shang and Cloudy.... for reminding me.



-KC

 

[LakotaWarrior]

"You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved,
and you will never understand what pain really is until you have lost it."
~ by Anonymous

"Life without love is like a tree without blossom and fruit."
~ by Khalil Gibra

"I love thee, I love but thee, with a love that shall not die, 'till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old."
~ by Willam Shakespeare

EVERYTHING I DO, I DO IT FOR YOU (Bryan Adams)

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Look into my heart - you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

There's no love - like your love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless you're there
All the time - all the way

Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it - there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you - I'd lie for you
Walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you

Ya know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

**********************************

MY HEART WILL GO ON (Celine Dion)
("Titanic" theme)

Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on.
Far across the distance and spaces between us
You have come to show you go on.
Near, far, wherever you are,
I believe that the heart does go on.
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.

Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime,
And never let go till we're gone.
Love was when I loved you, one true time I hold to
In my life we'll always go on.
Near, far, wherever you are,
I believe that the heart does go on.
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.

You're here, there's nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on.
We'll stay forever this way,
You are safe in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.

******************************

AMAZED (Lonestar)

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Oh, it feels like the first time, every time
I want to spend the whole night in your eyes

Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

*****************************

THE BEST OF MY LOVE (Eagles)

Every night I'm lyin' in bed
holdin' you close in my dreams,
thinkin' about all the things that we said
and comin' apart at the seams.
We try to talk it over but the words come out too rough.
I know you were tryin' to give me the best of your love.

Beautiful faces and loud empty places,
look at the way that we live.
Wastin' our time on cheap talk and wine
left us so little to give.
That same old crowd was like a cold dark cloud that we could never rise above
but here in my heart I give you the best of my love.

O-O-O-OH SWEET DARLIN' you get the best of my love
YOU GET THE BEST OF MY LOVE
O-O-O-OH SWEET DARLIN' you get the best of my love
YOU GET THE BEST OF MY LOVE

I'm goin' back in time and it's a sweet dream,
it was a quiet night and I would be alright
if I could go on sleeping.

But every mornin' I wake up and worry
what's gonna happen today.
You see it your way and I see it mine
but we both see it slippin' away.
You know we always had each other, baby, I guess that wasn't enough.
Oh, but here in my heart I give you the best of my love.

(Repeat Chorus)

*************************

I'M THE ONLY ONE (Melissa Etheridge)

Please baby can't you see
My mind's a burnin' hell
I got razors a rippin' and tearin' and strippin'
My heart apart as well
Tonight you told me
That you ache for something new
And some other woman is lookin' like something
That might be good for you

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you nothing's wrong
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one

Please baby can't you see
I'm trying to explain
I've been here before and I'm locking the door
And I'm not going back again
Her eyes and arms and skin won't make it go away
You'll wake up tomorrow and wrestle the sorrow
That holds you down today

Go on and hold her till the screaming is gone
Go on believe her when she tells you nothing's wrong
But I'm the only one
Who'll walk across the fire for you
I'm the only one
Who'll drown in my desire for you
It's only fear that makes you run
The demons that you're hiding from
When all your promises are gone
I'm the only one

 

[keeblercrumb]

Words touch everyone in a different way.

They ignite fires within our souls that seem to be merely smoldering embers for others.

To each their own.


What are the most romantic words you've ever come across?

For me, it is Marlowe.

To me, his words are timeless......

What words seem to haunt you?

It is not a poem... just a short line from a Hollywood movie.... but for me, the line I remember the clearest as Romantic was from "As Good As It Gets"....

"You make me want to be a better man"

and to demonstrate my other crass commercial pop roots.... (and my aopologies to the truly fine poets quoted above... ) but the stupid song that ALWAYS gets to me was (he said, mumbling and head held in shame) from the Beachboys...

"and what she does to me,
when she makes love to me
and she says...
Don't worry Baby, Everything will be all right"

I have always loved that image.

Of course I have been known to find romance in other unlikely places as well.

-KC

 

[keeblercrumb]

I think I need a new alt..... perhaps "BuzzKiller"?

-KC

 

[cantdog]

Nah. Buzzkilla? Nah.

But Jack's line in that movie, while evocative, implies much that other writers have said more explicitly.

 

[Equinoxe]

Two Japanese poems

The autumn night
is long only in name -
We've done no more
than gaze at each other
and it's already dawn.
- Ono no Komachi

Speak of this to no one,
not even in dreams -
and in case the pillow
should be too wise,
we'll have no pillows but our arms.
- Lady Ise


At least for today.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

When We Two Parted

I've always been partial to Byron...

WHEN we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow—
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me—
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met—
In silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

 

[Belegon]

I can't top Kit Marlowe.

Tennyson, In Memoriam 27

I envy not in any moods
The captive void of noble rage,
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods:

I envy not the beast that takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetter'd by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;

Nor, what may count itself as blest,
The heart that never plighted troth
But stagnates in the weeds of sloth;
Nor any want-begotten rest.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

 

[impressive]

What words seem to haunt you?

Usually song lyrics -- and usually because they apply to something that's happened or is happening in my life.

Here on Lit, a poem by RisiaSkye called Wayward rocked me because -- at the time -- I was so incredibly in love with my best friend. Thank heavens that madness passed.

 

[Liar]

Each breath is a song of love
From left and right, pass us by
We’ll return to the world above
Such fate no-one can defy.

We have come from the skies
Befriended angels in heaven
To the same place we will rise
To that city past skies seven.

We are above the skies
And angels we transcend
Why should we compromise?
The House of Songs is our end.

With good fortune may we live
Fate is contradictory,
Gladly our lives may we give
Worldly pride victory.

The sweet scent of this breeze
Is from the curl of that hair
Radiant fantasy on its knees
Upon that face gladly stare.

People are like the loons
Are born from the sea of soul
Stay afloat many moons
The sea the loon control.

On that sea came the wave
While the ship was taking form
From shipwreck no-one could save
Returned to sea by that storm.

What seemed bad, was grace
Kindness was in the wave’s wrath
Dawn of fulfillment is in place
Lighting up that divine path.

From Tabriz began to shine
The Light of Truth, to me call
Thy light is Light Divine
Distinct, yet connecting all.

-Rumi

 

[oggbashan]

John Donne: Elegy_XIX:_To_His_Mistress_Going_to_Bed

Come, Madam, come, all rest my powers defy,
Until I labour, I in labour lie.
The foe oft-times, having the foe in sight,
Is tired with standing, though they never fight.
Off with that girdle, like heaven's zone glistering
But a far fairer world encompassing.
Unpin that spangled breast-plate, which you wear
That th'eyes of busy fools may be stopped there:
Unlace yourself, for that harmonious chime
Tells me from you that now 'tis your bed time.
Off with that happy busk, whom I envy
That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.
Your gown's going off such beauteous state reveals
As when from flowery meads th'hills shadow steals.
Off with your wiry coronet and show
The hairy diadem which on you doth grow.
Off with those shoes: and then safely tread
In this love's hallowed temple, this soft bed.
In such white robes heaven's angels used to be
Received by men; thou Angel bring'st with thee
A heaven like Mahomet's Paradise; and though
Ill spirits walk in white, we easily know
By this these Angels from an evil sprite:
They set out hairs, but these the flesh upright.


License my roving hands, and let them go
Behind before, above, between, below.
Oh my America, my new found land,
My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned,
My mine of precious stones, my Empery,
How blessed am I in this discovering thee.
To enter in these bonds is to be free,
Then where my hand is set my seal shall be.


Full nakedness, all joys are due to thee.
As souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be
To taste whole joys. Gems which you women use
Are as Atlanta's balls, cast in men's views,
That when a fool's eye lighteth on a gem
His earthly soul may covet theirs not them.
Like pictures, or like books' gay coverings made
For laymen, are all women thus arrayed;
Themselves are mystic books, which only we
Whom their imputed grace will dignify
Must see revealed. Then since I may know,
As liberally as to a midwife show
Thyself; cast all, yea this white linen hence.
Here is no penance, much less innocence.


To teach thee, I am naked first: why then
What need'st thou have more covering than a man.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Two poems... his vows and mine:

His:

Such Different Wants
Robert Bly

The board floats on the river.
The board wants nothing
But is pulled from beneath
On into deeper waters.

And the elephant dwelling
On the mountain wants
A trumpet so its dying cry
Can be heard by the stars.

The wakeful heron striding
Through reeds at dawn wants
The god of sun and moon
To see his long skinny neck.

You must say what you want.
I want to be the man
And I am who will love you
When your hair is white.

*********
Mine:

Love Poem
Kathleen Raine

Yours is the face that the earth turns to me.
Continuous beyond its human features lie
The mountain forms that rest against the sky.
With your eyes, the reflecting rainbow, the sun’s light
Sees me; forest and flowers, bird and beast
Know and hold me forever in the world’s thought,
Creation’s deep and untroubled retrospect.
When your hand touches mine, it is the earth
That takes me—the deep grass.
And rocks and rivers; the green graves,
And children still unborn, and ancestors,
In love passed down from hand to hand from God.
Your love comes from the creation of the world,
From those paternal fingers, streaming through the clouds
That break with light the surface of the sea.
Here, where I trace your body with my hand,
Love’s presence has no end;
For these, your arms that hold me, are the world’s.
In us, the continents, clouds and oceans meet
Our arbitrary selves, extensive with the night,
Lost, in the heart’s worship, and the body’s sleep.

 

[janiexx]

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

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 everyday'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 a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I 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.

 

[maggot420]

Gimme some sugar, baby.
~Ash

 

[LakotaWarrior]

Two poems... his vows and mine:

His:

Such Different Wants
Robert Bly

The board floats on the river.
The board wants nothing
But is pulled from beneath
On into deeper waters.

And the elephant dwelling
On the mountain wants
A trumpet so its dying cry
Can be heard by the stars.

The wakeful heron striding
Through reeds at dawn wants
The god of sun and moon
To see his long skinny neck.

You must say what you want.
I want to be the man
And I am who will love you
When your hair is white.

*********
Mine:

Love Poem
Kathleen Raine

Yours is the face that the earth turns to me.
Continuous beyond its human features lie
The mountain forms that rest against the sky.
With your eyes, the reflecting rainbow, the sun’s light
Sees me; forest and flowers, bird and beast
Know and hold me forever in the world’s thought,
Creation’s deep and untroubled retrospect.
When your hand touches mine, it is the earth
That takes me—the deep grass.
And rocks and rivers; the green graves,
And children still unborn, and ancestors,
In love passed down from hand to hand from God.
Your love comes from the creation of the world,
From those paternal fingers, streaming through the clouds
That break with light the surface of the sea.
Here, where I trace your body with my hand,
Love’s presence has no end;
For these, your arms that hold me, are the world’s.
In us, the continents, clouds and oceans meet
Our arbitrary selves, extensive with the night,
Lost, in the heart’s worship, and the body’s sleep.

Very nice sentiments!

 

[BlackShanglan]

Gimme some sugar, baby.
~Ash

*stalk*



Maggot. Surprisingly kissable.

 

[maggot420]

*stalk*



Maggot. Surprisingly kissable.

Too kind.