some valentiney goodness...

The Good-Morrow

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then,
But suckled on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in seven sleepers' den?
'Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

And now good morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room of everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to others, worlds on worlds have shown
Let us possess one world; each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres
Without sharp North, without declining West?
Whatever dies was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or thou and I
Love so alike that none do slacken, none can die.

--john donne

So they came
into that bed so steadfast, loved of old,
opening glad arms to one another...
The royal pair mingled in love again
and afterward lay revelling in stories:
hers of the siege her beauty stood at home
from arrogant suitors, crowding on her sight,
and how they fed their courtship on his cattle,
oxen and fat sheep, and drank up rivers
of wine out of the vats.

Odysseus told
of what hard blows he had dealt out to others
and of what blows he had taken-- all that story.
She could not close her eyes till all was told.

--homer (the epic poet, not of doh! fame. yummy goodness from the odyssey, one of my all time favorite pieces of literature)

I ask you, sir, to
stand face to face
with me as a friend
would: show me the
favor of your eyes

--sappho

I confess
I love that
which caresses
me. I believe

Love has his
share in the
Sun's brilliance
and virtue.

--sappho