A POET from Tetbury, is working with Interflora, the world’s largest floristry network, on a new campaign encouraging people to put their romantic thoughts into words this Valentine’s Day.

Julia Bird who works for the Poetry School in London is sharing her expert advice into crafting the perfect verse for people's loved ones.

As part of her work Julia is examining the perfect love poem based on analysis of the nation’s ten favourite love poems.

She is also providing eight expert tips into how to get romantic poetry right, ensuring it is beautifully crafted prose, and not tongue-tied drivel.

Julia's Eight tips on crafting the perfect verse

1) Read first, then write. Poets have wooed their lovers in verse for centuries, poetry is a continuous conversation that you can join. Read a few of the best love poets for inspiration, and see what classic works you can adapt or imitate for your own romantic purposes. Here’s a list of the UKs’ favourite love poems to get you started.

2) Alternatively, you could always quote someone else’s poem on your flower card - www.poetryarchive.org (UK) and www.poetryfoundation.org (USA) contain thousands of poems celebrating every sort of idea and experience, and you can search by keywords to find something particularly meaningful to you and your lover.

3) Remember, specificity is key. If you’re going to write a poem about your partner, don’t try and encompass the whole sweep of your relationship - focus on the particular detail: the weather on day you met, the charming asymmetry of her freckles, the way he cooks shepherd’s pie. There’s nothing so disarming as the knowledge that you are deeply known and remembered by another.

4) Equally exciting, however, is mystery. Perhaps you’re sending your flowers anonymously. In that case, concentrate on describing your own feelings – are you yearning or burning, sighing or lying? The person on the receiving end of the dozen stargazers will be dizzy with curiosity about who they’ve inspired to such levels of emotion.

5) Love poetry is driven by rhythm, the pattern of words that makes readers think of heart beats or dance steps. Are you going to fit lots of multisyllabic Latinate words into your lines for a delicate and precise sound; or will you go for the pounding rhythms of shorter Anglo Saxon words? A rose is the same thing as a Rosa berberifolia – but which one is more like your particular crush?

6) If you’re using rhyme, look beyond the obvious full rhymes (love / dove, heart / apart, moon / June) that have been used many times before. Part rhymes (love / save, heart / hurt, moon / mine) are less predictable, therefore more intriguing.

7)Leave behind the language of the past. Some poetic phrases are woven so deeply into our culture (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’ / ‘What light through yonder window breaks’) that we reach instinctively for the archaic poem-sounding words to add gravitas to our writing. Let go of ‘thee’ and ‘yonder’, and instead find the poetry in the fads and fashions of today’s dictionaries.

8) Your innate creativity. Your relationship, fuelled by its particular mix of emotion, memory, desire, laughter and regret. The passion that you have for her, the lust that you have for him. Find a place for it all in your writing. Let your poem bloom.

 

For further information, including a guide to romantic etiquette and an eBook of romantic verses visit www.interflora.co.uk/romantic-verse.