As we get ready for Valentine’s Day, I wanted to put together a collection of poems, short stories, and texts all about love!
While some classes may benefit from more traditional love poems, other classes will respond better to different riffs on a common theme.
With that in mind, I’ve included titles that focus on heartbreak, non-romantic love, love of self, love of country, and the dangers of love!
This post this post may contain affiliate links. Please read the Terms of Use.
Love Poems
If you’re looking for titles that evoke traditional Valentine’s emotions, these are the titles for you! Each one is short, focused and ready for high school readers!
- First, “Senior Discount” by Ali Liebegott is such a lovely poem! This is a great poem for students because it focuses on a healthy relationship that has weathered the test of time. It’s such a contrast to the romantic relationships most students have in high school. Read it here.
- Likewise, “Old Love” by Pat Mora focuses on similar themes. Pairing this text with “Senior Discount” provides students with an opportunity to synthesize texts. They can also determine main idea, author’s purpose, and point of view too! Read it here.
- Additionally, “[i carry your heart with me (i carry it in]” by E.E. Cummings focuses on similar themes. As with most Cummings’ poems, the complicating factor here is the structure and syntax. Nevertheless, the modern nature of this poem appeals to students. Read it here.
- Finally, “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” by Richard Lovelace is the most traditional poem of them all. However, unlike the other poems here, this is not a poem with a happy ending. Yes, the speaker loves Lucasta, but he famously loves honor more. Read it here.
All four of these poems are included in my Love Poetry Bundle!
Heartbreak Poems
Eventually, everyone experiences heartbreak: breakups, unrequited love, or grief. While these are less traditional Valentine’s Day titles, they’re engaging and relevant for students. Pairing a heartbreak poem with a more traditional love poem can be a good way to help students compare and contrast authors’ perspectives.
- Firstly, “Time does not bring relief; you all have lied” by Edna St. Vincent Millay is probably the most straightforward breakup poem on this list. In addition to being a good poem for the season, this is also a good poem for analyzing structure and tone. Plus, this is a great poem for students experiencing their first heartbreaks and breakups. Read it here.
- Similarly, “I Have a Time Machine” by Brenda Shaughnessy is all about a womxn in a difficult relationship. Of the poems on this list, this one is probably the most emotionally difficult to read. However, the speaker’s first-person point of view suggests a degree of agency that is important and resonates with students. Read it here.
- On the other hand, “No Second Troy” by William Butler Yeats is kind of like a scorched-earth breakup poem. His personal relationships, the Irish Revolution, and the Trojan War all provide the backdrop for this poem. Beyond the historical contexts, this poem is a great piece for analyzing tone, and students respond to his anger and fire! Read it here.
Beyond Breakups
- Additionally, “December” by Jaquira Diaz is less a poem about heartbreak and more a poem nostalgic for young love. The speaker reflects on a youthful love, the loss of innocence, and the quiet rhythms of growing up! All of this makes this poem quiet, introspective, and as heartbreaking as any breakup poem. Read it here.
- Overall, “Long Distance II” by Tony Harrison is probably the poem on this list that I have taught the most often. Unlike some of the poems on this list, this poem touches on different shades of love and of love lost. The father feels grief over the death of the wife he loved for decades. On the other hand, the son resists his grief but also feels love for his parents. It’s a lovely poem and perfect for beginning a poetry spiral. Read it here.
- Finally, “[To an army wife in Sardis]” by Sappho, translated by Mary Bernard, may seem like an odd recommendation for high school students. However, Sappho’s love for Anactoria is evident. Even though the text is ancient, the tone is genuine, and students find the mysteries of who Sappho and Anactoria were engaging. That Anactoria seems to have married someone else makes this a key poem of unrequited love! This is also a great piece for discussing allusion, the power of translation, and applying feminist criticism! Read the poem here.
Beyond Romantic Love
While falling in and out of love are often part of high school and growing up, it’s also important for students to recognize that there’s shades of love beyond romance.
- Firstly, “Tula [‘Books are door shaped’]” by Margarita Engle is about a love of reading and books. This is perfect for teachers who want to celebrate Valentine’s Day without focusing exclusively on romance. This is also a great text for middle school readers! Plus, this poem comes from The Lightning Dreamer, so it’s a great window into a larger text.
- Next, “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson may seem like an unusual suggestion. On the surface, this is not a love story, and it’s an essay of all things! However, this is an essay about Emerson’s love of Nature! This is another good text for teachers who want to lean into the holiday without focusing on romance. Read it here.
- For teachers who want to focus on parental love, Maggie Smith’s poetry is a great option. In “What I Carried” and “You Could Never Take a Car to Greenland,” Smith focuses on the love of a parent for a child. Especially in “Greenland,” Smith uses humor in a way that’s different from any other text on this list. Read both poems in Good Bones, one of my favorite poetry collections!
Loving Yourself
Similarly, it’s also important to help students move beyond romantic love and to help students understand the value of loving yourself. These two texts are a great part of that conversation!
- Like “Nature,” “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson is an essay, so it may seem like an odd choice. However, few writers communicate such a passion for loving yourself, relying on your own instincts, and trusting in your own view of the world! Grab both Emerson essays in this bundle!
- Finally, “A New England Nun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is one of my favorite short stories! If you’ve been following Moore English for a while, you’re probably tired of this recommendation! However, Louisa’s ultimate decision is a great way to emphasize the importance of making decisions that protect your happiness. Read it here.
The Dangers of Love
While we often associate Valentine’s Day with epic romance, some of the greatest literature focuses on romantic failures, the dangers of obsession, and the consequences of weak relationships. As a result, these are some of my students’ favorite texts to discuss and analyze.
- First, “Editha” by William Dean Howells is a short story about the consequences of a weak relationship. Sure, Editha loves George or the idea of George, but her desire to “fix” him ruins everything. His mother’s reaction to Editha would be a good complement to Maggie Smith’s poems. Read it here.
- Additionally, “Berenice” by Edgar Allan Poe is the rare text that appears on both my Valentine’s and Halloween recommendations list! Eagus’ fixation with Berenice shows readers the consequences of obsession. Read it here.
- Similarly, “Winter Dreams” by F. Scott Fitzgerald features a man obsessed with a woman. Dexter’s “winter dreams” and longing for Judy affect his entire life and affect every choice he makes. My students just finished this short story, and their disdain for the characters made their discussions powerful! Read it here.
- Finally, “The Yellow Wall-paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is an anti-love story or, perhaps, an anti-marriage story. The speaker’s journey is partially about rejecting traditional norms about gender and marriage and partly about the importance of listening to yourself. While this is not your typical Valentine’s read, it’s another title that keeps students hooked! Read it here.
All three of these short stories (plus six more) are included in my 9-12 Short Stories Bundle!
Love of Country
If Valentine’s Day comes around while you’re in a unit on nonfiction or rhetoric, it can be hard to find text pairings that celebrates the season without interrupting instruction. With that in mind, I put together a collection of texts that focus on patriotic love.
These three titles are staples in American literature classrooms. When I teach these texts, I focus on word choice, rhetorical devices, and author’s purpose. However, at the end of the day, these texts are all about patriotic love. If you’re in the middle of a nonfiction unit but still want to celebrate the season, just changing the lens through which you view a text might be enough!
- The Crisis by Thomas Paine
- Speech to the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry
- Letters from an American Farmer by Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur
All three of these texts (plus four more) are included by my American Enlightenment bundle!
Longer Works
Love is a key source of character motivation, conflict, and theme that it is central to countless pieces of literature. With these longer works, teachers and students can explore the benefits of romantic love as well as its consequences.
Dramas About Love
If you are interested in a drama, these titles all deal with love in some way:
- First, Romeo and Juliet is such a classic text! It’s perfect reading around Valentine’s Day and also provides students with opportunities to consider familial conflict, the importance of communication, and the power of young love.
- Secondly, Macbeth is often associated with the dangers of greed, envy, and ambition. However, it’s also a text about the dangers of weak relationships. Plus, it’s ultimately Macduff’s grief about the death of his family and Malcolm’s love of Scotland that save the day.
- To finish my Shakespeare recommendations, Julius Caesar features two marriages that readers can compare and contrast to reveal truths about strong, successful relationships. Additionally, Brutus’ love of Rome, of democracy, and of honor is his undoing, so this is also a good play for evaluating the consequences of acting only from a place of love.
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller also features love as it is complicated by adultery and social pressures. The Act I scene between John and Abigail contrasts so well with the Act II scene between John and Elizabeth. Check out my favorite resources for teaching The Crucible.
All my resources for teaching the Shakespeare plays are included in my Abridged and Modified Shakespeare Bundle!
Novels About Love
If you are more interested in a novel, these two titles are perfect and focus on different depictions of love!
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald gives readers a character study about the consequences of obsession. The desire to live and love in the past is ultimately the source of Gatsby’s undoing, so this is a good novel for considering the downside of love. Grab my favorite resources for this novel!
- On the other hand, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen provides more perspectives on love, romance, and marriage. In this novel, Austen takes readers through six key relationships, each one providing a different kind of commentary on love and marriage. Additionally, familial love plays a key role in this novel, providing readers with a different perspective. Check out my favorite resources for Pride and Prejudice!
Mythological Romance
Finally, mythology is ripe with relationships that cause drama, unite and destroy nations, and provide readers with insight into love and marriage. In particular, I love teaching The Odyssey in this context.
First, Odysseus’ motivation comes from a desire to return home to Penelope, so reading the sections that speak to this motivation can touch on the power of love.
- Firstly, Calypso provides an important contrast to Penelope. How Homer and Odysseus treat and describe Calypso in contrast to Penelope is important.
- Secondly, Odysseus’ Homecoming provides insight into love of a place. Like Gatsby, Odysseus has memories of the past that no longer matches reality.
- Of course, Penelope’s Suitors complicate Odysseus’ homecoming and show the dangers of marriage that’s based on money, greed, and pride rather than love.
- Furthermore, Penelope’s reflections on Odysseus’ return and her time without him give an alternative perspective on love.
- Ultimately, the contest between the suitors and Odysseus’ revenge show how love can be challenged, can provide powerful motivation, and can lead to unexpected consequences.
Over the years, different writers have taken on the story of Odysseus and Penelope. Reading different interpretations of their story provides commentary on love, marriage, and womxnhood. Check out these titles:
- “An Ancient Gesture” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
- “Calypso” by Suzanne Vega
- “Penelope to Ulysses” by Meredith Schwartz
- “Penelope” by Dorothy Parker
All of these excerpts from The Odyssey and the accompanying poems are included in The Odyssey Ultimate Bundle.
What other texts do you recommend for Valentine’s Day?
