Be My Valentine

Thoughtful ways to say I love you, plus a couple of beautiful poems

Hello, again. It’s Valentine’s Day THIS FRIDAY, so I couldn’t resist sharing a few Valentines-y bits, bobs and ideas.

I love this poem:

Sudden Light by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1828-1882

I have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell;
I know the grass beyond the door,
The sweet keen smell,
The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before, -
How long ago I may not know:
But just when at the swallow’s soar
Your neck turned so,
Some veil did fall, - I knew it all of yore.

Has this been thus before?
And shall not thus time’s eddying flight
Still with our lives our love restore
In death despite,
And day and night yield one delight once more?

And this one:

‘My true Love hath my heart, and I have his’ by Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586

My true Love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;
There never was a better bargain driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.
His heart his wound received from my sight,
My heart was wounded with his wounded heart;
For as from me, on him his hurt did light,
So still methought in me his hurt did smart.
Both, equal hurt, in this change sought our bliss:
My true Love hath my heart, and I have his.

Breakfast in bed is always such a treat; and Valentine’s Day feels like pretty much the perfect excuse for it. Unless, of course, you’re the kind of person who takes their breakfast in bed everyday in which case: please know that you are living my dream. To make things extra Valentines-y, you could make heart-shaped eggs either by investing in one of these nifty little pans or simply by putting a heart shaped cookie cutter in the middle of your regular frying pan, then cracking the egg directly into it. The same principle applies to pancakes. I’m thinking thick, spongey American style pancakes rather than paper thin crèpes: for these, I love this Nigella Lawson recipe; she adds a splash of melted butter to the batter, which I think makes all the difference and is why they taste so very extra special good. If you then really wanted to gild the lily, you could make little pats of heart-shaped butter by briefly freezing (no more then 30 mins in the freezer) little dollops of salted (or flavoured) butter in one of these ice cube trays - then you can serve your butter hearts with your (eggs and) toast and/or with your pancakes. All quite sweet.

Write a nice card. I especially love these Valentines cards, but really any card will do - it’s what it says on the card that matters. Or write a postcard. Or download the HiNote app so you can WhatsApp Valentines from your phone. Then you can send everyone in your life you love a Valentine’s note: why not?!