Poetry Book Society

The gift of poetry as a love token on Valentine's Day is, of course, not new but it remains one of the best ways to celebrate the love between two people. And, of course, poetry can be truthful as well as tender. The books below depict love in its many forms, from the achingly romantic to the sassily erotic - pick one to suit your Valentine.


Love Poems, Carol Ann Duffy, Picador, (ISBN 9780330512718), Hardback, £12.99

In these 34 poems, presented in a decadently textured burgundy and black hardback, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy covers the waterfront of love - longing, seduction, passion, unrequited love and erotic love in the heartfelt, witty and direct style that has made her one of the country's best-loved poets. Accessible, truthful and beautiful.


Penguin's Poems for Love, ed. Laura Barber, Penguin Classics, (ISBN 9781846141690), Hardback, £20

This pulsating voyage through the mystery of love contains the greatest love poetry ever written. From around the world and through the ages, poets from W H Auden to William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson to Roger McGough provide comfort to those who have lost in love and delight to those who have won another's heart.


The New Faber Book of Love Poems, ed. James Fenton, Faber & Faber (ISBN 9780571218158), Paperback, £9.99

Whitbread Award-winning poet James Fenton has compiled the best lyric poems in the English language in an endearing and diverse blend of classics and popular favourites, including blues lyrics, American folk poetry, Elizabethan lyrics and Broadway songs.


The Picador Book of Love Poems, ed. John Stammers, Picador, (ISBN 9780330509022), Hardback, £12.99

A book of delightful and surprising connections and juxtapositions in which award-winning poet Stammers partners centuries-old love poems with modern counterparts. Love poems by Spenser and Tennyson sit side by side with work by Carol Ann Duffy and Michael Donaghy. A book of love poems to delight, inspire and console.


Twenty Love Poems, Pablo Neruda, Jonathan Cape, (ISBN 9780224074414), Paperback, £6.99

This book, by the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet, is one of the most celebrated and admired books of romantic poetry of the twentieth century. Translated into countless languages, on publication in 1924, it attracted controversy for its eroticism, especially as its author was only 19 when he wrote it.


More in this series:

Poetry Books for... All Occasions

Poetry Books for... Weddings

Poetry Books for... Funerals

Poetry Books for... Christmas

Poetry Books for... Lovers

Poetry Books for... Faithful Friends

Poetry Books for... Marvellous Mums

Poetry Books for... Doting Dads

Poetry Books for... Awesome Aunts

Poetry Books for... Favourite Uncles

Poetry Books for... Graceful Grannies

Poetry Books for... Grumpy Grandads

Poetry Books for... Boys

Poetry Books for... Girls

Poetry Books for... Tiny Terrors