Lovebirds (A Symbol of Valentine’s Day)

Lovebirds Symbol History and Meaning According to medieval tradition, February 14 marks the beginning of mating season for birds. In fact, birds were said to choose their mates on that very day, thus making them a favorite symbol for Valentine’s Day. In his Parlement of Foules, Chaucer (1340-1400), the English poet, wrote:

“For this was on Saint Valentine’s day,

When every bird cometh there to choose his mate.”

In the wild, birds are often found in pairs, and some, like doves, have a reputation for choosing lifelong mates. They thus serve as an appropriate symbol for love. By the Elizabethan era (1558-1603), the association of birds with love, and more specifically with Valentine’s Day, was prevalent.

Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) character Theseus, in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, discovers lovers in the woods and asks, “St, Valentine is past; Begin these woodbirds but to couple now?”

In his Epithalamion, John Donne (1572-1631), the English poet, wrote:

Hail, Bishop Valentine! whose day this is;

All the air is thy diocese,

And all the chirping choristers

And other birds are thy parishioners:

Thou marryest every year

The lyric lark and the grave whispering dove;

The sparrow that neglects his life for love,

The household bird with the red stomacher;

Thou mak’st the blackbird speed as soon,

As doth the goldfinch or the halcyon . . .

This day more cheerfully than ever shine,

This day which might inflame thyself, old Valentine!

The English Poet, Robert Herrick (1591-1674), writes in To His Valentine On St. Valentine’s Day:

Oft have I heard both youths and virgins say,

Birds choose their mates, and couples too, this day,

But by their flight I never can divine

When I shall couple with my Valentine.

Birds can also be a reminder for the Christian of God’s intimate love. When tempted to worry about God’s provision for our romantic lives, or any of our needs for that matter, let us “look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:26-27).

In regard to God’s intimate concern about the details of our lives, consider the word’s of Jesus: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

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