You're like the jolliest picnic in a children's book,
like the bright sun in the morning is the way you look,
you're just the most beautiful dish that any cook could cook!

I simply adore kissing your ears and toes,
its all the course of true love - that's the way it goes -
you're wonderful enough to cancel out a whole week of woes!

I feel terribly happy that I'm the one you like,
My desires all run away with me like a racing bike,
I am amplified like the song that goes into the mike!

And all I can think about is: What did I ever do
to deserve the First Prize of a marvellous person like you?
Hooray! That fate singled me out to be the head of the queue!

GAVIN EWART

ANNA WICKHAM

   You're The Top

You're the top, you're the Coliseum
You're the top, you're the Louvre museum,
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss,
You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeare sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse...

COLE PORTER

  To My Valentine

More than a catbird hates a cat,
Or a criminal hates a clue,
Or the Axis hates the United States,
That's how much I love you.

I love you more than a duck can swim,
And more than a grapefruit squirts,
I love you more than gin rummy is a bore,
And more than a toothache hurts.

As a shipwrecked sailor hates the sea,
Or a juggler hates a shove,
As a hostess detests unexpected guests,
That's how much you I love.

I love you more than a wasp can sting,
And more than a subway jerks,
I love you as much as beggar needs a crutch,
And more than a hangnail irks.

I swear to you by the stars above,
And below, if such there be,
As the High Court loathes perjurious oaths,
That's how you're loved by me.

OGDEN NASH

  ROBERT CREELEY

PABLO NERUDA

   Although I Conquer All The Earth

Although I conquer all the earth,
Yet for me there is only one city.
In that city there is for me only one house;
And in that house, one room only;
And in that room, a bed.
And one woman sleeps there,
The shining joy and jewel of all my kingdom.

ANCIENT INDIA

  Sonnet

Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend,
Nor services to do till you require.
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu.
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But, like a sad slave, stay and think of naught
Save where you are how happy you make those.
      So true a fool is love that in your will,
      Though you do anything, he thinks no ill.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
1564-1616

  Message

Pick up the phone before it is too late
And dial my number. There's no time to spare--
Love is already turning into hate
And very soon I'll start to look elsewhere.

Good, old-fashioned men like you are rare--
You want to get to know me at a rate
That's guaranteed to drive me to despair.
Pick up the phone before it is too late.

Well, wouldn't it be nice to consummate
Our friendship while we've still got teeth and hair?
Just bear in mind that you are forty-eight
And dial my number. There's no time to spare.

Another kamikaze love affair?
No chance. This time I'll have to learn to wait
But one more day is more than I can bear--
Love is already turning into hate.

Of course, my friends say I exaggerate
And dramatize a lot. That may be fair
But it is no fun being in this state
And very soon I'll start to look elsewhere.

I know you like me but I wouldn't dare
Ring you again. Instead I'll concentrate
On sending thought-waves through the London air
And if they reach you, please don't hesitate--
Pick up the phone.

WENDY COPE

  sonnet

it may not always be so; and i say
that if your lips, which i have loved, should touch
another's, and your dear strong fingers clutch
his heart, as mine in time not far away;
if on another's face your sweet hair lay
in such a silence as i know, or such
great writhing words as, uttering overmuch,
stand helplessly before the spirit at bay;

if this should be, i say if this should be--
you of my heart, send me a little word;
that i may go unto him, and take his hands,
saying, Accept all happiness from me.
Then shall i turn my face, and hear one bird
sing terribly afar in the lost lands.

e e cummings

  Sonnet

If thou must love me, let it be for nought
Except for love's sake only. Do not say
'I love her for her smile - her look - her way
Of speaking gently - for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day -
For these things in themselves, Beloved, may
Be changed, or change for thee - and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry -
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
The comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
1806-1861

  THE PROCLAIMERS

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