Poetry about unrequited love is deeply poignant, echoing with a profound sense of longing, heartache, and melancholic yearning. These verses delve into the agonizing beauty of loving someone out of reach, exploring themes of longing, despair, and silent devotion.
The poet uses evocative imagery and emotive language to encapsulate the bittersweet pain of unfulfilled love. Such poetry resonates with anyone who has ever experienced the anguish and longing of unrequited love.
‘Gacela of Unforseen Love’ explores the relationship between love and despair through a remembered romance which has run its course.
No one understood the perfume
of the dark magnolia of your womb
Nobody knew that you tormented
a hummingbird of love between your teeth.
‘Her Initials’ by Thomas Hardy is a deeply poignant poem that wrestles lucidly with grief’s diminishing effect on memories of loved ones.
Upon a poet’s page I wrote
Of old two letters of her name;
Part seemed she of the effulgent thought
Whence that high singer’s rapture came.
In “Take me anywhere, anywhere;” by Hilda Doolittle, the poet-speaker addresses a lover, expressing the way in which she takes refuge in their affection.
Take me anywhere, anywhere;
I walk into you,
Doge—Venice—
‘Yellow Stars and Ice’ captures the unattainable nature of memory, even when it feels tantalizingly close at hand.
I am as far as the deepest sky between clouds
and you are as far as the deepest root and wound,
and I am as far as a train at evening,
as far as a whistle you can't hear or remember.
‘Maud Muller’ by John Greenleaf Whittier is a classic narrative ballad that recounts how the poor peasant, Maud, and an urban judge fantasize about getting married and living together. However, neither of them ever takes action, which fills their lives with regret.
God pity them both! and pity us all,
Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: “It might have been!”
‘Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward’ showcases the heartbreaking moment a mother is separated from her child as she is too unwell.
Child, the current of your breath is six days long.
You lie, a small knuckle on my white bed;
lie, fisted like a snail, so small and strong
‘The Triumph of Achilles’ depicts the titular hero as he mourns the loss of his beloved companion Patroclus.
In the story of Patroclus
no one survives, not even Achilles
who was nearly a god.
‘The Lost Mistress’ is a poem written by Robert Browning, it is a dramatic monologue that expresses the pain and agony of a lover.
All’s over, then: does truth sound bitter
As one at first believes?
Hark, ’tis the sparrows’ good-night twitter
About your cottage eaves!
‘The Distances’ by Charles Olsen present a complex, haunting meditation on the darker sides of love.
I wake you,
stone. Love this man.
‘Strings in the earth and air’ by James Joyce is a romantic poem that imagines love as a youth playing sweetly enchanting music.
Strings in the earth and air
Make music sweet;
Strings by the river where
The willows meet.
‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes is a gothic narrative of tells of the story of the highwayman, the red coats who wanted to capture him and his lover.
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
‘A Jet Ring Sent’ by John Donne describes how a speaker’s beloved returned his promise ring. The speaker meditates on the nature of their relationship and how it is symbolized by the black ring.
Thou art not so black as my heart,
Nor half so brittle as her heart, thou art ;
What would'st thou say ? shall both our properties by thee be spoke,
—Nothing more endless, nothing sooner broke?
‘A Valentine’ throws a challenge to the readers in the guise of a meticulously formed poem. This poem hints at the name of Edgar Allan Poe’s platonic lover.
For her this rhyme is penned, whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Loeda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that, nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
‘Break of Day’ by John Donne is an aubade told from a female perspective. It conveys a woman’s understanding of her relationship with a busy lover.
‘Tis true, ‘tis day, what though it be?
O wilt thou therefore rise from me?
Why should we rise because ‘tis light?
Did we lie down because ‘twas night?
‘Easter Monday (In Memoriam E.T.)’ is a fascinating exploration of grief and friendship against the backdrop of the First World War.
‘Elegy VII’ by John Donne, also known as ‘Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,’ is a typical piece about unrequited love.
Nature’s lay idiot, I taught thee to love,
And in that sophistry, oh, thou dost prove
Too subtle: Fool, thou didst not understand
The mystic language of the eye nor hand:
‘Sonnet 136,’ also known as ‘If thy soul check thee that I come so near,’ is one of the “Will” sonnets. It describes the speaker’s lust for the Dark Lady.
If thy soul check thee that I come so near,
Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy Will,
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there;
Thus far for love, my love-suit, sweet, fulfil.
‘The Spring’ by Thomas Carew is a poem about unrequited love in spring. The poet mourns the fact that no matter the season, his beloved does not love him.
In ‘The Triple Fool’, Donne deals with unrequited love. Heartbroken, he writes poetry to alleviate the pain.
I am two fools, I know,
For loving, and for saying so
In whining poetry;
But where's that wiseman, that would not be I,
‘There came a Day—at Summer’s full’ by Emily Dickinson depicts two lovers in a tricky situation that keeps them apart. But, they know they’ll be reunited in the next life.
There came a Day—at Summer's full,
Entirely for me— I thought that such—
were for the Saints—
Where Resurrections—be—
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