'Roses are red, violets are blue' has a long, twisting history

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer inspired the modern, romantic version of Valentine's Day

In the 1380s, the "Canterbury Tales" author wrote "The Parliament of Fowls," a 700-line poem about birds that choose their mates on St. Valentine's Day. The poem argued that romantic love—for fowls and humans alike—was an ideal, and linked the holiday with that sentiment.

19th-century 'vinegar valentines' sometimes mocked recipients

In Victorian England, cards were sent to paramours and crushes, but they were also sometimes sent to people the sender disliked and would belittle them for their occupations or appearances. It was also expected that anyone who received a Valentine's Day card would send one in return, so there was a subgenre of responses, including rejections for unwanted suitors.

Read a 19th-century guide to writing a Valentine's Day card

Thomas Richardson's "London Fashionable Gentleman's Valentine Writer" offers readers romantic messages they can send to the objects of their eyes—along with some chippy kiss-offs for unwanted suitors. It might be sincere, or it might be satire. Either way, it's an entertaining read. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

See a collection of Valentine's Day cards from the past century

Hallmark helped popularize (and commercialize) the holiday in the early 20th century, largely through its greeting cards. This digital collection includes cards from the 1910s through the 2000s, allowing you to see how the holiday—and our popular understanding of romance—has evolved. Below is a card from the 1930s.

'Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.'

-Author and poet Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929)

The dark origins of Valentine's Day.

The holiday began as a feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two. So how did it become all about love?

In the 20th century, Valentine's Day became more commercialized

Historian Elizabeth Nelson notes that companies sought "to turn holidays into opportunities for selling things from candy to flowers to magazine advertisements" in the 1900s. Hallmark, founded in 1911, pushed the holiday toward elementary students, who aimed to collect cards from as many classmates as possible.

Valentine's Day's namesake is unclear

Valentine, which means "powerful" or "worthy," was a popular name in the Roman Empire. Considering that, it's no surprise that there's more than one St. Valentine. In fact, three different men named Valentine were martyred on February 14, and none of them, despite some unproven legends, were ever associated with love or romance.

Check out Valentine's Day traditions from around the world

Valentine's Day is a holiday all about romance, but the way that's expressed differs depending on where the celebration takes place. This list breaks down some interesting takes on the holiday from across the globe, including mass weddings in the Philippines and Japan's gender-specific chocolate exchanges.

Reforms reducing postage rates helped popularize Valentine's Day cards

In 1845, Congress voted to slash postage rates, paving the way for larger swaths of the American public to send and receive mail. This convenience was capitalized on by paper and stationery sellers who sought to profit from the holiday. Esther Howland's New England Valentine Company was the first major commercial producer of valentines in the US, but Hallmark followed a few decades later.

A medievalist explains how romantic love emerged as a cultural concept

Many long-form stories written in English were originally considered "romances," a term derived from the Old French word for "the speech of the people." But changes in medieval culture, triggered by a number of 12th-century church reforms, led to a new interest in what we now consider romantic love, including a new view of marriage as a pursuit of love rather than a transaction. Those new perspectives were then reflected in the period's popular stories, including stories in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales."

Some believe Valentine's Day evolved from the Roman holiday Lupercalia

The festival, which took place in mid-February, featured Roman priests sacrificing a goat and using its hide to lightly slap women and the land, believing it would bring fertility. Some believe that the Catholic Church repurposed the pagan holiday as a Christian one by attaching it to a saint, but scholars are not certain that this is true.

Dozens of common phrases are attributed to Shakespeare

His clever wordsmithery infiltrated English, from “Neither rhyme nor reason” to “In my heart of hearts.” This article lists nearly two dozen of his best-known phrases.

Romanticism was an 18th and 19th century creative movement

The movement emphasized the beauty of nature and human feeling. It was inspired by reactions against classical traditions, social injustices, technological change, and the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Although the movement spanned literature, visual art, music, poetry, and architecture, some of its most recognizable works are paintings.

Esther Howland built a Valentine's Day card empire in 19th-century New England

In 1849, Howland launched her card business, the New England Valentine Company, in her home, staffing an assembly line with her friends, who'd piece together the intricate valentines. The cards were elaborately decorated, with silk, lace, and romantic verse. Howland's annual sales eventually grew to $100K and helped popularize the holiday in the US.

The history and significance of rosemary

Rosemary is more than just an herb—it’s a powerful symbol intertwined with ancient Egypt, Christianity’s origins, Shakespeare, the culinary arts, and more. Native to the Mediterranean area, this plant has accompanied humanity for centuries, providing us with pleasant aroma, adornment, and even medicine. Explore this article for further insight into the significance of our long-standing relationship with rosemary.

A scholarly analysis of romance's enduring popularity

Diane Winston, a media scholar at the University of Southern California, argues that romance novels have remained popular because they've historically offered women shame-free ways to explore their identities and sexualities. She notes that's even more true today, with contemporary romance novels, from romantasy bestsellers to "Heated Rivalry," more willingly explore social dynamics.

The average person celebrating Valentine's Day spends $189

That might include dinner, flowers, or something even more romantic. The most popular gift is candy, with 56% of people celebrating the holiday by purchasing sweets. That's about $2.5B in sales.

'Romeo and Juliet' was based on a preexisting narrative poem

Arthur Brooke's "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet" was first published in 1562 and shares many details with Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Shakespeare wasn't alone in his borrowing; Brooke's poem was based on other earlier Italian stories. None of this writing was considered fan fiction—copyright law didn't exist, and stories were regularly cribbed from preexisting sources.

An early literary mention of a New Year's kiss dates to the 14th century

The medieval poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” includes a description of a New Year’s party where women are planning on giving “New Year’s gifts” to men. Scholars say it’s implied that the “gifts” are kisses.

Conversation candy hearts were originally message-free medicinal lozenges

In 1847, a Boston pharmacist invented a machine that automated the production of his pharmacy's medicinal lozenges and then formed the New England Confectionery Company, which later became part of the company now known as NECCO. By the late 1800s, they were producing cookies with Valentine-themed messages and eventually brought the romantic messages to their smaller lozenges, which they later called Sweethearts.

Is the love song dying?

This visual essay, compiled using 65 years of industry data, is an entertaining trip through the history of pop music, exploring whether or not music has grown less romantic. But, at its heart, this isn't about the Billboard charts—it's about the many different ways we define romance.

Romanticism continues to influence culture

The breadth and impact of Romanticism and its emphasis on individualism, embracing emotion, and the power of nature outlived the formal boundaries of the movement’s popularity and continue to linger in the public consciousness.

The best Valentine's Day-themed horror movies

It may seem like an odd combination—a holiday centered on love and a film genre dedicated to fright—but the hyperspecific subgenre thrives on the apparent juxtaposition, along with some campy send-ups of an overly commercialized holiday.

A detailed analysis of romance novel covers through history

A lot has changed in the romance genre over time, a fact that's clearest in the way that the books are marketed to consumers. This interactive data visualization surveyed decades of romance book jackets, finding that raunchy, realistic paintings of scantily clad models have largely been replaced by vibrantly colored illustrations, often with the characters drawn as cartoons.

According to its creators, Virginia's famous tourism slogan, 'Virginia Is for Lovers,' contains no salacious or subtle messages.

Englishmen in the 17th century mixed their blood into wine to show devotion

In order to demonstrate their love for a woman, some young Englishmen would stab themselves in the arm and mix the blood into their wine. They'd then toast the object of their affection and drink to their honor.

Advertisers emphasized Cupid's childlike qualities to appeal to a younger demographic

Cupid is the Roman god of desire, and was often depicted in ancient mythology as both childlike and violent. In the 1800s, however, American advertisers eager to appeal to a younger demographic leaned into the less threatening versioning, portraying him as a cherubic child.

A quote by Florence Nightingale

"Poetry and imagination begin life."

A quick guide to rosé wine

What is a rosé? Rosé wines are technically reds, though they’re typically served cold and have more flavor characteristics in common with white wines. This primer explains the basics of the fastest-growing wine category in the US. It covers production and rosé-making regions and styles, along with some common tasting notes for each bottle.

‘Torch songs’ are passionate expressions of unrequited love

The term comes from an idiom about dedicated romantics carrying torches for their love interests. The style was especially popular for female vocalists before the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and significantly influenced early girl group records.

Valentine's Day is considered the end of 'proposal season'

Wedding website The Knot's internal study found that Christmas is the most popular day to propose. It also kicks off "proposal season," a monthslong season from Christmas to Valentine's Day that's a popular time for lovers to pop the question.

Romantics sought to experience 'the sublime'

“Sublime” may be a word that’s still used in popular culture, but when Irish philosopher Edmund Burke used it in a 1757 essay, he was attempting to define an astonishment at something that was beyond full human understanding.

Mini-portraits were shared as love tokens in Elizabethan England

Art historians are identifying previously unknown works by Nicholas Hilliard, Elizabeth I's court painter, whose thumb-sized watercolors on vellum served as love tokens, diplomatic currency, and status symbols. They were believed to be passed secretly between courtiers and monarchs.

Diving into 'The Flame and the Flower,' the book that popularized 'bodice ripper' romance

The 1972 Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novel helped create the romance subgenre featuring historical settings and intense, steamy sex scenes. It was an under-the-radar sensation, quietly selling millions of copies while simultaneously courting controversy for its portrayals of rape. In this essay, Jeannette Cooperman revisits the book to see how it reads 50 years after its publication.

Shakespeare included a reference to toasting in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’

At one point in the 1602 play, the character Falstaff calls for a quart of wine, asking for toast to be placed in it, as was customary at the time.

The petty ancient Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus

Classics with a capital "C" probably doesn't bring to mind erotically charged diss poetry. Gaius Valerius Catullus would like to change that. Instead of mythical epics, Catullus wrote poetry about his personal life as part of the 1st century BCE's "new wave" of Roman poets embracing the lyrical and everyday. The focus of his poetic work ranges from serenades to spiteful insults.

How Shakespeare changed the sonnet

A sonnet is a rigid poetic form from the Renaissance, featuring 14 lines, a consistent meter (or beat) and rhyme scheme, and a noticeable thematic shift known as a "volta." Shakespeare popularized a form featuring three four-line stanzas and a rhyming couplet, departing from the Petrarchan two-part structure of eight- and six-line stanzas.

Why some writers believe there's a new romanticism

Journalist and novelist Ross Barkan argues that a crushing political system and alienating technology have led people to become more interested in the offline, analog world and the beauty of nature and emotion. In this essay, he defines this as "the new romanticism," and predicts it will come to define the culture of the 2020s.

Love is a more recent part of marriage

Love matches are incredibly late to the marriage game. For most of our history, marriage has been about alliance, wealth, property, power, and, as an occasional afterthought, the couple liking each other. All that changed when Enlightenment thinkers were inspired in their pursuit of personal happiness, including in their choice of mate.

Shakespeare played a major role in the history of the sonnet

The Renaissance writer Petrarch first developed the 14-line poem with a two-part structure. Through English translations of his sonnets by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 1500s, the form took on new life, particularly through Shakespeare. Variations on the form have continued to evolve since.

A guide to the romance genre's major tropes

This guide breaks down romance's most prominent tropes, or narrative patterns, used by romance writers and adored by their fans. After you learn about "friends to lovers," "marriage of convenience," and "forced proximity," you'll start to see your favorite romance reads in an entirely new light.

When did humans start kissing romantically?

This article explores the ancient roots of romantic kissing. Current archaeological evidence dates sexual and romantic lip kissing to about 2,500 BCE. A Mesopotamian clay tablet from the time shares a tale of two deities locking lips. There's also...

Romanticism changed the norms of the artworld

Romanticism’s expressiveness led to a change in the norms of portrait painting, favoring emotion, nuance, and less conventional subjects. One such example is Géricault’s portraits of mental illness, depicting patients, including a kleptomaniac and a “child snatcher,” in states of expressive emotion.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity.

Listen to some of romance's leading writers discuss the genre

In this interview from 2022, romance novelists Helen Hoang (author of the "Kiss Quotient" series) and Emily Henry ("Beach Read," "People We Meet on Vacation," and more) discuss both loving and subverting the conventions of the genre.

The first commercial Christmas card was created in 1843

Overwhelmed by the task of writing many holiday letters, Sir Henry Cole commissioned artist JC Horsley to design a festive card he could send to friends and family in 1843—creating and popularizing the first mass-produced Christmas card.

In addition to his plays, Shakespeare wrote nearly 200 poems

Beyond his famous plays, Shakespeare penned 154 sonnets, including the well-known romantic ode “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” He also wrote two long poems as well as several minor pieces.

The surprisingly poetic origins of the phrase 'March Madness'

When legendary sportscaster Brent Musberger called the 1982 NCAA basketball tournament "March Madness," the term stuck and helped popularize the annual event. But he wasn't the first to use the phrase. This Time magazine article explores the contributions of Henry V. Porter, who originally used "March madness" in a 1939 article about the Illinois State basketball tournament, and later in a 1942 poem called "Basketball Ides of March."

One Mary Cassatt painting features a sly political message

Critics had long been puzzled by the unrealistic flower pinned to the woman's chest in the 1905 painting "Mother and Child." In exploring the painting's history, researcher Nikki Georgopulos discovered that the flower alluded to a women's suffrage badge popular at the time, something Cassatt emphasized in the painting's original title, "Woman With a Sunflower."