Flowers are aptly called the language of love, because they convey most eloquently the romantic sentiments of the sender, especially on Valentine’s Day, the day dedicated to the ardent expression of the quest for love, the hope for the reciprocation of love, and most satisfyingly, the joy of fulfilled love. But perhaps more eloquent in its own way — and certainly more lasting — is the use of actual language through the art of romantic poetry.

     I can imagine that even before the dawn of history, our cave-man ancestor found ways to express his feelings (love or lust) for the object of his desire in ways more gentle than the standard visual caricature of him grabbing the helpless female by the hair and dragging her off to his cave. It was probably more likely that he resorted to pleading grunts and exaggerated physical gestures, together with an offering of freshly killed game as enticement for a much needed meal, the primitive equivalent of today’s romantic candlelight dinner. I can also imagine that this courting ritual was accompanied by vigorous chest-thumping if the primitive male was victorious in driving away or disposing of his erstwhile competitors for the lady’s favors.

     All this of course changed with the rise of human language — of many different languages in fact — which enabled people to express themselves verbally via an ever-increasing vocabulary with the passage of time. The game-changer was the invention of writing, when the communication of ideas and emotions took on a more permanent, recorded form.

     In the English language, with which we are most familiar, various forms of literature developed and flourished, reaching their first peak during the Elizabethan age and continuing to the present. Aside from the many different forms of prose — essays, novels, plays, short fiction, etc. — poetry writing also developed prolifically, evolving into many forms — lyric poems, sonnets, odes, ballads, villanelles, blank verse, free verse, etc. Love is a major theme in many of these verse forms.

     Among poetry lovers, who can forget the immortal love sonnets of Shakespeare (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”); or Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s profession of undying love for fellow poet Robert Browning in her many “Sonnets from the Portuguese” (“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways”); or American poet Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting lyric poem, “Annabel Lee” (“And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me”). To provide perspective however, we have to note that the writing of love poetry is a rich tradition in countries around the world, in their respective languages and various dialects.

     Beautiful love poems from the heart, whether written by famous or unknown poets, do not fade, wilt or wither like flowers, but are verbal bouquets which bloom through the ages, like the few ones mentioned above. In the words of Shakespeare, addressing the object of his affection in one of his sonnets, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Valentine, for me, is best celebrated in a poetic spirit. Let me contribute to this spirit with two poems from my book, “Glimpses of Love, Life and Beyond,” a recommended book choice of Powerbooks when it was first published, which I believe are most appropriate for this occasion.

     The first one describes the three kinds of “Valentines,” which is the poem’s title:

valentines,
it seems to me,
come in three varieties
and its seems
i have known all three.

there are old valentines
when two lovers look back
and to each other say:
      “you have been my valentine
      for all these years;
      you are my valentine today.”

there are new valentines
when fledgling lovers,
still in ecstasy, declare:
      “we have finally found each other
      and are each other’s valentine today.”

and then
there are hopeful valentines
when the hoper
can only ask
the hoped-for:
      “will you be my valentine today?”

will you be my valentine today?