VALENTINES DAY
14th February is devoted to the memory of St Valentine although the Roman Catholic Church removed celebration of his feast day from their A-list in 1969.
Why lovers and sweethearts everywhere continue to celebrate this relatively unknown Saint who was canonised for obscure reasons is unknown. Coming to the fore somewhere between 354 and 496 AD his inclusion in the list of those “whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God” is no clue at all.
Some say that his adoption as Patron Saint of Romantic Love is due to the machinations of Geoffrey Chaucer and his literary circle in the 14th Century. Others say that it was an attempt to win pagans over from the debauched celebrations of Lupercalia.
Whatever the origins Valentine’s Day is now firmly fixed in the secular calendar if not the religious one and greetings card manufacturers and florists everywhere are grateful for it. So are the many poets who have written verses on the theme.
Here are a few of the many who have written on the themes
Edgar Allen Poe who apparently wrote for the poetess Frances Sargent Osgood.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/1415-Edgar-Allan-Poe-A-Valentine
Adam Lindsey Gordon who apparently wrote to his sister.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/30363-Adam-Lindsay-Gordon-To-A-Proud-Beauty
Barcroft Henry Boake who wrote the story of an Australian bushman.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/30546-Barcroft-Henry-Boake-A-Valentine
Ernest Hemmingway who wrote one of the briefest of Valentine messages.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/100281-Ernest-Hemingway-Valentine
Eugene Field who asks his young love to check with his grandma on the meaning of love.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/26691-Eugene-Field-A-Valentine
Lewis Carroll who is unsure of his loves affection.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/5730-Lewis-Carroll-A-Valentine
Ogden Nash who wrote with his usual wit.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/11737-Ogden-Nash-Old-Dr--Valentine-To-His-Son
Alfred Joyce Kilmer who wrote about the ‘saint’ himself.
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/13379-Alfred-Joyce-Kilmer-A-Blue-Valentine
And the appropriately named Richard Lovelace who beseeches his love with courtly splendour
http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/14022-Richard-Lovelace-To-His-Fairest-Valentine-Mrs--A--L-
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