Today, March 21st, is World Poetry Day. World Poetry Day began in 1999 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a way to “promote the reading, writing, teaching and publishing of poetry throughout the world.”

So celebrate World Poetry Day with a meal of verse!

Here is one of my all time favorite poems:

Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee
Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach
When feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level
Of everyday’s Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life
And, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death.