The Legend of Saint Valentine


The Story of Saint Valentine
is a legend, it is true,
But legends are delightful
and very lovely too.
The Legend says Saint Valentine,
imprisoned in a cell,
Was thinking of his little flock
He had always loved so well.
He wanted to assure them
of his friendship and his love,
So he picked a bunch of violets
and sent them by a dove.
And on the violets' velvet leaves
he pierced  these lines divine---
They simply said "I love you
and I'm your Valentine."
So through the years that followed
from that day unto this,
Folks still send messages of love
and seal them with a kiss.
Because a saint in prison
reached outside his bars one day
And picked a bunch of violets
and sent them out to say
That faith and love can triumph
no matter where you are,
For faith and love are greater
than the strongest prison bars.
Helen Steiner Rice