True love and soulmates are two concepts that have captivated poets, philosophers, and lovers for centuries. The belief in soulmates—the idea that there exists one person who is destined to be your perfect match—has sparked countless stories and poems that celebrate the depth, intensity, and uniqueness of these relationships. This article delves into ten beautiful poems that encapsulate the essence of true love and soulmates, providing not only the text of each poem but also a detailed exploration of its meaning, significance, and the emotions it conveys. These poems illustrate the timeless beauty of love that transcends time, distance, and circumstance, binding two souls together in an inseparable connection.
1. “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 is one of the most famous poems in the English language, often used to express eternal love. The sonnet speaks to the unchanging nature of true love and how it outlasts even the passing of time.
Poem:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives my love, and it gives life to thee.
Analysis:
Shakespeare compares the subject of his love to a summer’s day, only to argue that the beloved surpasses the fleeting nature of summer. The love expressed here is enduring, eternal, and untouched by the ravages of time or nature. By claiming that his love will live forever in the poem itself, Shakespeare immortalizes the essence of his feelings, which speaks directly to the concept of true love that never fades. This poem is a declaration that love, like a soulmate connection, is forever.
2. “How Do I Love Thee?” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43 from Sonnets from the Portuguese is a quintessential expression of passionate, unconditional love. The speaker counts the ways in which she loves her partner, conveying an unquantifiable depth of feeling.
Poem:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Analysis:
Browning’s sonnet is a profound and expansive expression of love that touches on every aspect of the speaker’s being. The love is all-encompassing, reaching deep into the soul and encompassing the mundane as well as the extraordinary. The last line reveals a key element of soulmate love: the belief that love can transcend even death. This poem resonates with anyone who has ever believed in a love that is eternal, a connection beyond the physical realm.
3. “The Sun Rising” by John Donne
John Donne’s The Sun Rising explores the idea of two lovers as the center of their universe. In this poem, the speaker proclaims that their love is so significant that it renders the sun and the rest of the world irrelevant.
Poem:
Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows and through curtains call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late schoolboys and sour apprentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
Thy beams, so reverend and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and to-morrow late tell me
Whether both the love, or not thine.
Analysis:
In this witty and irreverent poem, Donne conveys the overwhelming power of love between two people, to the extent that it renders all else insignificant. The sun, symbolizing time and the larger world, is mocked for trying to interfere with their private world of love. The love between the two lovers here feels all-consuming, suggesting the idea of soulmates whose connection is greater than anything else in the universe. The speaker refuses to acknowledge the passage of time and places their love above all else.
4. “I Carry Your Heart With Me” by E.E. Cummings
E.E. Cummings’ I Carry Your Heart With Me is a tender and intimate poem that expresses the idea of two souls being so intertwined that they are never apart. The poem is a celebration of the closeness of soulmates.
Poem:
I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it. Anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling.
I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
I want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you.
Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
Here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart.
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart).
Analysis:
This poem is a beautiful expression of oneness between two people in love. Cummings describes love as something that transcends physicality, existing in the hearts of both lovers. The speaker’s heart and the beloved’s heart are fused together as one entity, which is the very definition of a soulmate connection. The poem portrays an intimate bond that cannot be broken by space, time, or circumstance. The love is so deep and pervasive that it defines the speaker’s entire existence.
5. “When You Are Old” by William Butler Yeats
Yeats’ When You Are Old speaks to the enduring nature of true love, even as physical beauty fades with age. The poem expresses the longing to be loved for one’s inner soul rather than outer appearance.
Poem:
When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Analysis:
Yeats speaks to the idea of a love that goes beyond the physical, loving the essence of the person—their soul—rather than their transient beauty. The poem is often interpreted as the poet’s love for the person’s soul, which will endure even as the body ages. This speaks directly to the idea of soulmates: a connection that lasts beyond physical appearances and survives through the passage of time.
6. “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott’s Love After Love is a unique reflection on self-love and healing after heartbreak. While not directly about a romantic soulmate, the poem speaks to the idea of reuniting with one’s true self, which can also be considered a form of soul connection.
Poem:
The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread.
Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
Analysis:
While the poem may not explicitly talk about romantic love, Walcott emphasizes the importance of reconnecting with oneself—something crucial in any soulmate connection. The speaker invites the reader to fall in love again with the person they are, to acknowledge their own worth and importance, which can also be seen as preparing oneself for a deeper connection with another person, a true soulmate. This poem reminds us that the love between soulmates begins with a love for oneself.
7. “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet’s To My Dear and Loving Husband is an intimate and deeply affectionate poem written to her husband. The poem speaks to the idea of eternal love, which is often central to the soulmate concept. It’s a tribute to a love that transcends earthly life and continues forever.
Poem:
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompence.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let’s so persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Analysis:
Bradstreet’s poem expresses a love that is pure, perfect, and eternal. She elevates her husband’s love to a divine level, suggesting that no material wealth or earthly treasure can compare to the bond they share. The poem speaks to the idea that true love—and by extension, soulmate love—is something that exists beyond the confines of life and death, living on in eternity. The sentiment of eternal connection mirrors the idea that soulmates are forever intertwined, even beyond the mortal world.
8. “The Good-Morrow” by John Donne
John Donne’s The Good-Morrow presents a transformative view of love—one that transcends the world and creates a perfect union between lovers. The speaker celebrates the awakening of love, claiming that their connection is so deep and complete that it makes the outside world insignificant.
Poem:
I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
‘Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.
And now good morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to others show, let us possess
One world, each hath one, and is one.
Analysis:
In this poem, Donne speaks of a love so profound that it renders the rest of the world irrelevant. The speaker compares their love to a new awakening, where their connection is all that matters. This sense of spiritual awakening is characteristic of the soulmate experience—the idea that true love creates a world of its own, one that transcends all else. The lovers are no longer concerned with external matters because they have found perfection in each other.
9. “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
Poe’s Annabel Lee is a haunting and beautiful poem that explores the depth of love between the speaker and his deceased beloved. The poem reflects the idea that true love is eternal, even beyond death, which is often a central theme in soulmate connections.
Poem:
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
But we were loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
But we were loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
Analysis:
Poe’s Annabel Lee speaks to the timeless and unbreakable bond between two souls that death cannot sever. The love described in the poem is so intense and powerful that it transcends even the limits of life itself. The notion of a love so powerful that even angels are envious perfectly encapsulates the soulmate connection—an unbreakable bond that endures beyond earthly existence.
10. “i carry your heart with me” by e.e. cummings
As a final tribute to the theme of deep, eternal love, e.e. cummings’ i carry your heart with me delves into the idea that love between soulmates is so profound and consuming that the two lovers are never truly apart.
Poem:
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it. anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling.
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you.
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart.
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart).
Analysis:
Cummings’ poem is a beautifully intimate expression of love that goes beyond physical boundaries. The phrase “I carry your heart with me” suggests an inseparable connection between the two lovers, a connection that transcends the physical world and becomes a part of their very being. This poem is often considered a modern expression of soulmate love, where the two individuals are so emotionally and spiritually united that they exist as one.
Conclusion
The eleven poems presented here encapsulate the various dimensions of true love and soulmates, exploring the themes of eternal connection, transcendence, and mutual understanding that are central to the idea of soulmates. Whether it is Shakespeare’s timeless ode to love’s immortality, Browning’s unwavering devotion, or Cummings’ beautiful intimacy, each poem offers a unique perspective on the unbreakable bond between two people destined to be together. These works continue to inspire those who believe in the profound, life-changing power of love, reminding us that true love is not only about romantic connection but about deep, soulful understanding that stands the test of time.
