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The History of Valentine's
Day
St. Valentine was a 3rd century Roman priest
who lived during the reign of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius outlawed
marriage for young men because he thought that single men were more likely
to join the army and made better soldiers than those with wives and
families. Valentine defied Claudius over this unjust law and continued to
perform marriages for young lovers in secret. Valentine was eventually
arrested and sentenced to death by Claudius. According to legend, before
his death, he himself fell in love with a young woman, possibly his
jailer's daughter. Before he was executed on February 14, 270 A.D., he
sent her a note signed "From Your Valentine".
After his death, Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. In 496 A.D.,
Pope Gelasius named February 14th as St. Valentine's Day.
The oldest known valentine that is still in
existence today is a romantic poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of
Orleans. Charles was captured during the Battle of Agincourt and wrote the
poem for his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Poems for Valentine's Day
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When You Are Old
When you are old and gray and full of
sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true;
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
And bending down beside the glowing bars
Murmur a little sadly, how love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
William Butler Yeats |
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Sonnet XLIII
How do I love thee? Let me count the
ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and Ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seem to lose
With my lost saints -- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
From: Sonnets from the Portuguese
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Jenny Kiss'd Me
Jenny kiss'd me when we
met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have miss'd me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kiss'd me.
Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)
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Sonnet XVIII.
Shall I compare thee to a
summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) |
Lighthearted Valentines Jokes
What did the stamp say to the
envelope?
Stick with me and we'll go places.
What is a ram's favorite song?
I Only Have Eyes For Ewe, Dear.
What travels around the world but stays in one corner?
A stamp.
What does an envelope say when you lick it?
Nothing, it shuts up.
What happens when you fall in love with a French chef?
You get buttered up.
If your Aunt ran off to get married, what would you call her?
Antelope.
What is the difference between a girl who is sick of her boyfriend and a
sailor who falls into the ocean?
One is bored over a man; the other is a man overboard.
What do farmers give their wives on Valentine's Day?
Hog and kisses!
What did the paper clip say to the magnet?
"I find you very attractive."
What did the caveman give his wife on Valentine's Day?
Ughs and kisses!
What did the chocolate syrup say to the ice cream?
"I'm sweet on you!"
What did one light bulb say to the other?
"I love you a whole watt!"
Movies
For Valentine's Day
Be My Valentine, Charlie
Brown
Bridget Jones's Diary
Bringing Up Baby
Camelot
Casablanca
Dead Again
The English Patient
Ghost
Like Water for Chocolate
Moonstruck
Much Ado About Nothing
My Best Friend's Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
The Philadelphia Story
Prelude to a Kiss
Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet
Some Like It Hot
Strictly Ballroom
Titanic
The Wedding Singer
Quotes
The only gift is a portion of
thyself. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Love is the expansion
of two natures in such fashion that each includes the other, each is
enriched by the other. ~ Felix Adler
You will find as you look
back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the
moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. ~ Henry Drummond
Love does not consist in
gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction. ~
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The heart has reasons that
reason does not understand. ~ Jacques Benigne Bossuel
Love is the emblem of
eternity: it confounds all notion of time: effaces all memory of a
beginning, all fear of an end. ~ Germaine De Stael
It is best to love wisely, no
doubt; but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.
~ William Thackeray
Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The
only way to retain love is to give it away. ~ Elbert Hubbard
Love is the master key
that opens the gates of happiness. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an
imperfect person perfectly. ~ Sam Keen
What the heart has once owned and had, it shall never lose. ~ Henry Ward
Beecher
Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride
worthwhile. ~ Franklin P. Jones
The truth [is] that there is only one terminal dignity-love. And the story
of a love is not important-what is important is that one is capable of
love. It is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity. ~ Helen
Hayes
The most powerful symptom of love is a tenderness which becomes at times
almost insupportable. ~ Victor Hugo
There is no instinct like that of the heart. ~ Lord Byron
We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves
for those who love us. ~ Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
What greater thing is there
for two human souls that to feel that they are joined... to strengthen
each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.
~ George Eliot
The
Language of Flowers
Apple blossom - Hope, good
fortune, better things to come
Baby's Breath - Everlasting
Love
Bellflower - Gratitude
Bleeding Heart - Hopeless but not heartless
Bluebells - Constancy
Blue Periwinkle - Friendship
Carnation - Distinction, fascination
Cleome - Elope with me
Cyclamen - Modesty and shyness
Daffodil - Regard
Forget-Me-Not - True love; memories
Gardenia - You're lovely; secret love
Gladiolus - Love at first sight
Honeysuckle - Generous and devoted affection
Hyacinth - Loveliness
Iris - Warmth of affection
Ivy - Eternal fidelity
Jonquil - Love me; affection returned; desire for a return of affection
Larkspur - Laughter
Lavender - Devotion
Lemon Blossom - Fidelity in love
Lilac - First Love
Lily-of-the-valley - Return of happiness or Let's make up
Magnolia - Perseverance
Marigold - Affection
Mimosa - Secret love
Myrtle - Love and remembrance
Orchid - Rare Beauty
Peony - Bashfulness
Primrose - I can't live without you
Rose - love
Rose leaf - You may hope
Rosemary - Remembrance
Salvia - I think of you
Stephanotis - Happiness in marriage
Sweet William - You are gallant and suave
Tulip - Declaration of love
Violet - Watchfulness; faithfulness; I'll always be true
Zinnia - Constancy
Happy
Valentine's Day!
Dave & Rosemary
North Metro
Denver Real Estate: Denver,
Brighton, Thornton, Broomfield, Westminster, & Northglenn
Dave Babb, Broker, ABR, e-PRO, GRI
Keller Williams Preferred Realty
Direct: (303) 637-9370
Email:
Dave@DaveBabb.com
Website:
www.DaveBabb.com
Copyright 1999-2010 Dave Babb. All rights reserved.
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