Photo by Jasmine Carter
The Color of Love by Raymond Quattlebaum is a thoughtful and insightful exploration of love and the many wonders and moments people bring with them when in love.
As Andy Williams–and many others–have once said, “Love is a Many-Splendored Thing.” This means that love manifests itself in a myriad of ways to a diverse range of people. Love is shapeless and formless, and everyone has their own interpretation of what it is. It would not be an exaggeration to say that since humanity first learned to open their mouths, make sounds and create meaning that “love” has always been something of a very tough cookie.
And here comes poetry.
Speaking of love through poetry is an opportunity for those in love and being loved to understand more of what they are feeling. By searching for the right words, the correct sequence of words, and the proper rhythm, the meter for those in the know: one is drawing upon insights from their experiences of love and constructing a more rational and coherent outlook on romance.
Love and poetry, name a more iconic duo!
Love naturally falls into the purview of poetry and vice versa. With poetry, love is given shape and form, a means with which to be understood by the world and not only by the one who is in love. Such is the beauty of poetry.
Love poems are some of the oldest forms of poetry throughout human history. Love is a primal emotion, after all, and something oh-so universal. So, it isn’t a surprise that love has always been on the minds of humanity
Yet, despite this length of existence and the many examples of love spoken through poetry across the millennia, writing love poems is still quite difficult. But here are some ideas on how to go about it:
Talking About Love Through Poetry
Before starting with your writing, it is best that you already have someone or something in mind as the subject of your poem. Poetry is a form of communication, and the best poems do exactly that: communicate. And to communicate properly, you should have someone to communicate with. Poetry should speak from the heart, especially love poems.
The most impactful love poems speak on the nature of love and loving someone. They are reflections of the writers’ experiences and considerations of love.
Another pre-writing preparation you can do is to gather your favorite love poems and identify what makes them resonate. A good poem speaks in specificities, but a great one becomes universal. Once you have already discovered the direction where you want to go with, these steps can help you:
- Experiment with style and structure. Shakespeare wrote about love through sonnets, as did Pablo Neruda. The late E. E. Cummings, meanwhile, eschewed form altogether. Some poets wrote ballads, and there are some who wrote entire epics professing their views on love and their romantic interest in someone. Find what feels right for your intentions and your subject in mind.
- Try to encompass all the senses. Love takes over everything, filling the eyes, the ears, the nose, the mouth, and the skin–the best poetry evokes the senses, plays around with imagery, conjures up vivid images, and creates impactful memories. Love is indeed wonderfully protean, but writing about how it is will only overload your and your reader’s senses, so stick to a concept or an image and expand on that. By focusing on one thing, you can reach further.
- Exaggerate, exaggerate, exaggerate. Of course, this does not mean that you are going to lie about things. When people fall in love, everything about that love feels hyperbolic, so why not express that in your writing? Explore your emotions and let them explode!
When you write a love poem to someone, you are saying so much more than just “I love you.” You are saying that “My love for you is so much that I do not know how to express them simply, and I must blow up in words.”
The Color of Love by Raymond Quattlebaum is a great collection of ruminations on love through poetry.
