There's a great deal of poetry and other literature that has love as a theme or focus. Take a look at these works to learn more about the literature of love. Enjoy!
1. Love in the Western World
by Denis de Rougemont. Princeton University Press. The author explores the history of love in literature, starting with the legend of Tristan and Isolde. This book addresses "the inescapable conflict in the West between passion and marriage."
2. The Art of Courtly Love
by Andreas Capellanus and John Jay Parry (Translator). Columbia University Press. Courtly love was brought to light by the troubadours of southern France. This book explores the influences of courtly love on English literature.3. The Art of Love: Amatory Fiction from Ovid to the Romance of the Rose
by Peter L. Allen. University of Pennsylvania Press. From the publisher: "Persuasively argues that the De amore and the Romance of the Rose are central to the courtly tradition."4. The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard
by Constant J. Mews and Neville Chiavaroli. Palgrave Macmillan. The story of Abelard and Heloise is one of the most famous love stories in history. This book takes a look at early correspondence between Abelard and Heloise. Mews provides a complete translation and commentary.5. The Love Letters of Dylan Thomas
by Dylan Thomas. Sourcebooks, Inc. A self-described "scrubby Welshman," Dylan Thomas lived life to the fullest, expressing his passion through his poetry, letters and other works. This volume of love letters shows something of the personal life of Dylan Thomas: his loves, hates, and insecurities.6. Love Poems: A Collection of Heart-Felt Verses
Gramercy Books. From the publisher: "This treasury of beloved verse is both a tribute to a special loved one and an affirmation of the life-changing power of love in our lives." This volume includes works by Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Blake, Tennyson, Rossetti, Donne, and Browning.7. Great Love Poems
by Shane Weller (Editor). Dover. From the publisher: "Treasury of over 150 familiar poems by English and American poets, including a selection of Shakespeare's sonnets, John Donne's 'The Ecstasy,' William Blake's 'The Garden of Love,' as well as works by W. B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Whitman, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Keats, Milton, Robert Frost and many more."8. Against Love Poetry
by Eavan Boland. Norton. From the publisher: "These powerful poems are written against the perfections and idealizations of traditional love poetry. The man and woman in these poems are husband and wife, custodians of ordinary, aging human love. They are not figures in a love poem. Time is their essential witness, and not their destroyer."9. A Book of Love Poetry
by Jon Stallworthy (Editor). Oxford University Press. From the publisher: "From the civilization of the Lower Nile to that of the Lower Hudson, more poets have written more convincingly, more poignantly about love than about any other subject. Jon Stallworthy has here selected some of the most moving, funny, shameless, and erotic love poems in the English language."10. The 100 Best Love Poems of All Time
by Leslie Pockell (Editor). Warner Books. From the publisher: "Here in this portable treasurey are the 100 most moving and memorable love poems of all time, each accompanied by an illuminating introduction."