Are Valentine's Day Poems Popular

• Next to Christmas, Valentine's Day is the largest seasonal card giving occasion of the year. Close to 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged in the US each year.
• Women are the purchasers of 85% of all Valentines.
• Parents receive 1 out of 5 valentines given.
• Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the biggest holidays for giving flowers.
• This is who receives Valentine's Day cards according to popularity:

................children, teachers, mothers, wives, sweethearts, pets (really?)..............

• Over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day worldwide.

How does Cupid and his arrows of desire make its way to be associated with Valentine's Day?

Of all the Valentine's Day symbols cupid remains the most famous. He is the winged boy child armed with bow and arrows and piercing hearts. Love is spread with hearts being pierced with his golden arrows.

Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother was Venus.

Mythology has Aphrodite sending her son to use his arrows when she decided to unite 2 objects to assure their union.

Even mythological children where a little disobedient or mischievous and sometimes the unions were questionable. It is said that the arrows signify the desires and emotions of love and when hit by one it causes the humans or gods to fall deeply in love.

Who of us has not felt the excitement and exquisite pain that is produced when one of his arrows has pierced our heart? Due to the popularity of this depiction by poets and artists over the centuries cupid remains a favorite Valentine's Day icon.

Are Valentine poems popular or have they become obsolete.

The poet Chaucer is one of the first linked to St. Valentine's Day. It has been noted that in medieval times in England and France that birds mated on Feb. 14th. Chaucer used the images of birds as the symbols of lovers in poems that he dedicated to that day.

In his poem " The Parliament of Fowls" he wrote:
"For this was on St. Valentine's Day, when every fowl cometh there to choose his mate".

Well, this type of wording and thought would be lost on many of us. Perhaps, these types of poems would not mean to much to us in 2012. However, many of the greeting cards sent on Valentine's Day have great sentimental and loving verses in them. They may not be considered poetry but often these verse express feeling that we can not put in our own words. With the interesting fun fact of one billion cards given on Valentine's Day, the writers of these cards are doing well helping us say how we feel and answer the question are Valentine's Day Poems popular. Yes, Yes, Yes.

Go to the website stvalentinesday.org to read poems written by people from all over the world. May give you some good ideas.

There is a great history of Valentine's Day at the holidayspot that I found interesting and complicated. Perhaps that is why the Saint part has been taken out and is still an acceptable fun holiday in schools.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentine would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for a week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for people to know how you are feeling!

From: www.stvalentinesday.org