4 Unforgettable Love Poems for Every Mood

Passion

“…once I look at you for a moment, I can’t speak any longer, but my tongue breaks down, and then all at once a subtle fire races inside my skin, my eyes can’t see a thing and a whirring whistle thrums at my hearing, cold sweat covers me and a trembling takes ahold of me all over: I’m greener than the grass is and appear to myself to be little short of dying.”

—

Yes, she’s that Sappho, the classical Greek poetess from the island of Lesbos, the reason we call gay women lesbians. Remarkably, we only have a few fiery fragments of Sappho’s writing left, but they are still inspiring lovers of all kinds after almost 3,000 years. Can’t afford to make a pilgrimage to Greece? Try one of these literary road trips in the U.S. instead.