I love a good love poem. I wish I could express what my criteria for that is.
So, here, abbreviated, "The Bait" by John Donne.
Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines, and silver hooks.
…
…
For thee, thou need’st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait:
That fish, that is not catch’d thereby,
Alas, is wiser far than I.
Go here for the full poem.
The first stanza reminds me of Catullus’s Poem 5:
Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus
Rumoresque senum severiorum
Omnes unius aestimemus assis
Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
And let us value the gossip of all
The too-severe old men at only a single coin.
(That’s my loose translation. Adapted for modern readers, because they aren’t familiar with ancient currency, generally.)
