The sun itself, which makes times as they pass,
Is elder by a year now than then it was,
When thou and I first one another saw;
All other things to their destruction draw,
Only our love hath no decay;
This, no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday.
Running, it never runs from us away,
But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.
John Donne (1572-1631), The Anniversary .
'New Poems for the Underground 2006', London, Cassell, 2006, p. 54. John Donne came from a Roman Catholic background in the time of Shakespeare. An erotic poet, Donne managed, sometimes if not here, to relate uninhibited sexual infatuation with an experiential devotion to God. He became Dean of S. Paul's Cathedral in London. 'Valentine' was a Christian saint martyred in Rome. The English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400), is reputed to have named the day, after the day in his time 'when every bird comes to choose his mate.' Perhaps for that reason, it is sometimes thought to be the first day of Spring.
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