Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and, love it or hate it, romance is in the air. There’s no better time to reflect on some of literature’s most swoon-worthy descriptions, declarations, and (sometimes very passionate) exclamations in celebration of cupid doing his thing. So get cozy, grab a box of chocolates, and settle in for one seriously sentimental journey of the heart.

1. “You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since—on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with.” —Pip to Estella in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Oh, Estella. Always breaking poor little Pip’s heart and standing strong against eloquent declarations like these.

2. (and 3.) “And I pray one prayer—I repeat it till my tongue stiffens—Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as long as I am living! You said I killed you—haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe—I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always—take any form—drive me mad!” —Heathcliff to Catherine in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Yes, this relationship was incredibly toxic, but it did produce some of the most beautifully tortured exclamations in all of literature. So much so that I couldn’t choose just one and had to include Catherine’s description of Heathcliff too:

“Whatever our souls are made out of, his and mine are the same . . . If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”

4. “I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such previous feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own . . . I have loved none but you.” —Captain Wentworth in a letter to Anne in Persuasion by Jane Austen

Speaking of not being able to choose, how do you decide on the most romantic Jane Austen quote? The answer: you can’t. But I had to go with something, and so I settled on Captain Wentworth’s iconic letter that cements him and Anne as one of the most beloved couples in literature.

5. “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.” —Patroclus describing Achilles in The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

This is one of the few modern entries on this list. There’s no denying that Miller has a way with words, and Patroclus’s undying love for Achilles shines through it all.

6. “Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.” —Hamlet to Ophelia in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

This list couldn’t possibly be complete without an entry from the Bard himself. Although their relationship ends in tragedy, Hamlet’s words will always hold an ethereal beauty.

7. “I would enter your sleep if I could, and guard you there, and slay the thing that hounds you, as I would if it had the courage to face me in fair daylight. But I cannot come in unless you dream of me.” —Prince Lír to the Lady Amalthea in The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Poor Prince Lír has no idea why the Lady Amalthea remains so distant and troubled (spoiler alert: she’s really a unicorn). But his persistent love manages to win her heart, even if their relationship is doomed from the start.

8. “Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing, but still and all it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” —Janie describing love in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Janie’s search for love, and the tragedy that awaits her when she finally finds it, makes this quote all the more poignant.

9. “I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river, to me you’re everything that exists; the reality of everything. Life, I tell you, would be impossible without you.” —Ralph to Katharine in Night and Day by Virginia Woolf

This quote manages to perfectly capture the fully immersive nature of falling in love.

10. “And so time goes as it should and events that were once fated to happen are left instead to chance, and Chance never falls in love with anything for long. But the world is strange and endings are not truly endings no matter how the stars might wish it so. Occasionally Fate can pull itself together again. And Time is always waiting.” —From the story of Time and Fate in The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

There are so many beautiful passages in this novel that embody what it means to love selflessly and eternally, but you can’t really top Time and Fate.

Andrea Moran lives outside of Nashville with her husband and two kids. She’s a professional copywriter and editor who loves all things books. Find her on LinkedIn.