# Love — Poetry character guide > Love in Poetry by Oscar Wilde. **Role:** minor **Also known as:** Sweet, Flower of Love, Γλυκύπικροϛ Ερωϛ Sweet **First appearance:** 0105-flower-of-love ## Who they are The personification of love, addressed as a character in poems. ## Relationships ### [The Young Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/the_young_man) _romantic_ Love personified pursues the Young Man with intense passion, embodying both desire and spiritual longing. ### [Queen Venus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/queen_venus) _romantic_ Love and Queen Venus share a romantic and mythological bond, often depicted as mother and son or lovers in classical tradition. ### [The Hermit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/the_hermit) _psychological_ Love and the Hermit are in a tense, philosophical struggle over the soul of the Young Man, representing desire versus renunciation. ### [Athena](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/athena) _rivalry_ Athena, goddess of wisdom, competes with Love over influence on mortals, representing reason versus passion. ### [Nilus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/nilus) _friendship_ Love and Nilus (the Nile god) share a harmonious alliance, symbolizing the life-giving union of desire and nature. ### [Queen Venus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/queen_venus) _romantic_ Love and Queen Venus share a romantic and mythological bond, often depicted as mother and son or lovers in classical tradition. ## In the story ### [From Spring Days to Winter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/from-spring-days-to-winter) Addressed as the beloved who first appears in spring and is mourned as dead in winter. ### [Άντιστροφή](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/chapter) Referenced as 'Love's bitter fight' in the context of Leto's travail. ### [Lotus Leaves](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/lotus-leaves) Mentioned as 'my love to Him' in the context of the dawn and the speaker's devotion. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/iii) The speaker's love is heralded to Him who waits for the dawn. ### [Sen Artysty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/sen-artysty) Implied as the gentle alternative offered by the angel, representing light, love, and laughter. ### [Ave Maria Gratia Plena](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/ave-maria-gratia-plena) Referenced as the 'supreme mystery of Love' that the speaker stands before. ### [The New Helen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/the-new-helen) Personified as a god whose 'terrible wheel' causes the speaker's suffering and devotion. ### [Wind Flowers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/wind-flowers) Central figure in the serenade and other poems, representing the speaker's devotion and longing. ### [Serenade](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/serenade) The speaker personifies love as a woman's toy and reflects on the pain of unrequited love. ### [Endymion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/endymion) The speaker's deep affection and longing for Endymion, personified as a waiting lover. ### [La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/la-bella-donna-della-mia-mente) The speaker's beloved is addressed as the object of his desire and pain. ### [Chanson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/chanson) Implied as the recipient of the speaker's devotion and the subject of the contrasting gifts. ### [In the Gold Room](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/in-the-gold-room) The speaker's beloved, whose physical beauty and touch are described in vivid, sensual imagery. ### [Santa Decca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/santa-decca) Love is addressed directly and warned to fly the anger of any hidden god. ### [By the Arno](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/by-the-arno) The speaker's heart's delight is referenced, tied to love and the nightingale's song. ### [Panthea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/panthea) Implied as the driving force behind nature's cycles and the union of lovers. ### [The Fourth Movement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/the-fourth-movement) Addressed as 'Love' in 'Apologia' and 'Her Voice', representing both a beloved and the ideal of love. ### [Apologia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/apologia) Addressed directly as the beloved force that may will the speaker's suffering, yet also the source of transcendent experience. ### [Quia Multum Amavi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/quia-multum-amavi) The beloved addressed as 'Dear Heart,' the object of the speaker's impassioned devotion and idolatry. ### [Silentium Amoris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/silentium-amoris) The speaker's love is so intense it renders him mute, embodying the paradox of excess love causing silence. ### [Her Voice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/her-voice) Addressed as 'Sweet' and 'dear friend'; the poem is a farewell to a beloved. ### [My Voice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/my-voice) Addressed as 'You'—the beloved who shared in the speaker's joy but remains unmoved by the subsequent sorrow. ### [Humanitad](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/humanitad) Described as a noble madness; the speaker renounces love's perilous bliss. ### [Flower of Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/flower-of-love) The beloved addressed as 'Sweet' and 'Flower of Love'; the central figure of the speaker's passion. ### [Under the Balcony](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/under-the-balcony) The speaker's beloved, addressed indirectly through apostrophes to nature, awaiting her arrival. ### [The Harlot's House](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/the-harlot-s-house) The speaker's love, who abandons him to enter the harlot's house, symbolizing the surrender of love to lust. ### [The New Remorse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/the-new-remorse) Addressed as 'love' in the line 'Nay, love, look up and wonder!' ### [To My Wife](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/to-my-wife) Personified as the force that wafts the poem to the wife's hair. ### [Roses and Rue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/roses-and-rue) The poem is addressed to a lost love, referred to as 'Dear love,' whose memory is the central focus of the speaker's lament. ### [Poems in Prose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/poems-in-prose) Mentioned in 'The House of Judgment' as something the man gave lust in return for; also implicitly present in the final poem's theme of perfect love. ### [The Doer of Good](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/the-doer-of-good) Referenced indirectly through the woman's painted appearance and the young man's lustful gaze, though not named explicitly. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters/love - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_18_se/characters