Just a few days ago, many of us spent a lot of time finding just the right valentine for our loved one. With a nod to Hallmark, let’s look to some of literature’s most eloquent writers to see the sentiment of love uniquely, yet perfectly, expressed.

Let’s begin in 1595, when William Shakespeare wrote “Romeo and Juliet,” the tragic love story familiar to many of us. Early on, Romeo Montague proclaims, “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!” Juliet Capulet expresses the nature of her star-crossed love for Romeo Montague when she says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Years later, Jane Austin’s enduring character, Elizabeth Bennet, in 1797’s “Pride and Prejudice,” speaks of the power of love when she says, “Till this moment I never knew myself.”

At the height of the romantic period, in 1850, poet Elizabeth Barret Browning proclaims her love for her poet husband Robert Browning, saying, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach.”

In another romantic period classic - Charlotte Bronte’s 1897 novel “Jane Eyre” - Jane says to herself, “There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort.”

Leo Tolstoy’s 1873 romantic tragedy, “Anna Karenina,” has Anna professing, “I have always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is, not as you would like them to be.”

Surely, these sentiments do perfectly capture aspects of the emotion we know as love. However, fast forwarding to 1996, to Nicholas Spark’s blockbuster novel, “The Notebook,” Noah says, “I am nothing special. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who’s ever lived: I loved another with all my heart and soul.”

That says it all.

BOOKS ON ORDER

Fiction: “The Umbrella Lady,” V.C. Andrews; “The Push,” Ashley Audrain and Pamela Dorman; “Dark Sky,” C.J. Box; “Calder Brand,” Janet Daily; “Meant to Be,” Jude Deveraux; “The Wrong Family,” Tarryn Fisher; “Danger in Numbers,” Heather Graham; “The Midnight Library,” Matt Haig; “The Wife Upstairs,” Rachel Hawkins; “No Way Out,” Fern Michaels; “The Palm Beach Murders,” James Patterson; “Double Jeopardy,” Stuart Woods

Nonfiction: “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency,” Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes; “America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present,” John H. Ghazvinian; “The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing and the Future of the Human Race,” Walter Isaacson; “Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019,” Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, editors; “Killer Triggers,” Joe Kendra; “Kamala’s Way,” Dan Morain; “Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,” Ira Rosen; “Just As I Am,” Cicely Tyson

Juvenile: “Minecraft: The Mountain,” Max Brooks; “Timelines from Black History: Leaders, Legends, Legacies,” DK; “Ground Zero,” Alan Gratz; “What Is the Civil Rights Movement?” Sherri L. Smith; “Dangerous Gift (Wings of Fire #14),” Tui T. Sutherland

Young adult: “Good Girl, Bad Blood,” Holly Jackson; “Covet,” Tracy Wolff

Children’s picture books: “Candace’s Playful Puppy,” Candace Cameron Bure; “Pete the Cat Parents’ Day Surprise,” James and Kimberly Dean; “Ambitious Girl,” Meena Harris; “My Little Pony: 5 Minute Stories,” Hasbro; “Goodnight, Astronaut,” Scott Kelly; “Bronco and Friends: A Party to Remember,” Tim Tebow