As a girl who once had an anti-Valentine's Day party, but is now in a committed, oh so loving relationship, I have mixed feelings about the holiday (I was not in a committed loving relationship at the time of my party). On the one hand, I understand that many people hate it, claiming that (no matter what their true reason for hating it is) people "shouldn't need a special day to celebrate their love, they should celebrate it every day". To that I say, CHILL OUT. That's like saying, "why should you celebrate your birthday? You should celebrate your age EVERY day!", or "you shouldn't celebrate your wedding anniversary, you should recognize and appreciate your marriage ALL THE TIME!". News flash: people tend not to forget their ages and the fact that they're married. I, for one, appreciate my relationship every day. And I really try and do something every day to show my boyfriend that I care, and love him. But the vday-haters need to give us humans a break. It's always nice to have an occasion set aside for these things.
Have a heart for Valentine's Day.
And substantial section of this post:
But this morning something I *do* take issue with was brought to my attention. I woke up to texts from my aunts and uncles, all saying "Happy St. Valentine's Day!", and it reminded me that this all started with a saint. And given my very thorough 7-year Sunday school education (I was raised catholic), I was surprised to realize that I actually had no idea who Saint Valentine was, or why his feast day was a day for lovers. So I did a little research.
It turns out that very little is known about Saint Valentine. He was first mentioned in Church logs around the 3rd century, and it is written that he died on February 14th. Historical records show that there were actually two or three Saint Valentines, and that there was a virgin martyr Valentina.
The traditional story tells that the saint officially associated with Valentine's Day, Saint Valentine of Rome, performed secret weddings for Roman soldiers in the 3rd century, when the Emperor Claudius II prohibited marriage for his military men. As most Saint stories go, Saint Valentine was caught, told to renounce his Christian faith *or else*, and when he refused, was killed.
However, the feast day of Saint Valentine was not associated with romantic love until my man Geoffrey Chaucer came along in the 14th century. Apparently, he was the very first to reference this idea in writing, in his 700-line poem the Parlement of Foules. Now this excited me, because I love Chaucer. It must've been my 13th birthday when my parents gifted me a 100-year-old copy of The Canterbury Tales, in the original Middle English, and I proceeded to memorize the prologue. I can still recite it, remembering it as clear as day. Middle English is so romantic to me; speaking it is almost like singing, it's so incredibly melodic.
Anyway, his poem (as I take it) is about a dream signaling the beginning of Spring, about a flock of birds (foules) assembling to choose their mates. From what I've read of Chaucer, I believe I can safely say that he loves to reference mating birds in his writing. In the prologue to The Canterbury Tales he also speaks of fowls "making melody" in the night, as he recounts the beauty of rainy April.
Here are the three stanzas that reference Valentine's Day(the first two are sequential, and the third is farther down in the poem):
For this was on Seynt Valentynes day,
Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,
Of every kinde, that men thynke may;
And that so huge a noyse gan they make,
That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake
So ful was, that unnethe was ther space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.
And right as Aleyn, in the Pleynt of Kynde,
Devyseth Nature of aray and face,
In swich array men mighten hir ther finde.
This noble emperesse, ful of grace,
Bad every foul to take his owne place,
As they were wont alwey fro yeer to yere,
Seynt Valentynes day, to stonden there.
Ye knowe wel how, Seynt Valentynes day,
By my statut and through my governaunce,
Ye come for to chese -- and flee your way --
Your makes, as I prik yow with plesaunce.
But natheles, my rightful ordenaunce
May I not lete, for al this world to winne,
That he that most is worthy shal beginne.
The language seems at first not so different from modern English, but there are some words that, while spelled the sam way as a modern word, mean something completely different. Take the line "Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make"; "make" actually means "mate" (if you think about it, there are similarities: both reference the creation of something). Thus the line translates to something like, "When every bird goes there to choose his mate". I would honestly be ecstatic to do an entire translation of this right now, but this post is getting a little long, so perhaps I'll save it for another day.
Anyway, after Chaucer's poem, the love letters started to fly, and there the Saint Valentine's Day: For Lovers edition was born. Centuries later, our consumerist society took up the practices of buying jewelry and chocolate in heart-shaped boxes for our expectant loved ones (side note: while I have no problem with [fair trade] chocolate, I do have a problem with the significant amount of waste generated by this holiday; paper cards, toxic chemicals and plastic wraps on store-bought flowers...).
I know this post actually came a day after Valentine's Day. I sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful one :)
xoxo (for real),
Maralah
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