What Can Love Do?
A heartfelt poem exploring love's power to transform and uplift life.
Updated March 10, 2026, by Catherine Pulsifer.
John Imrie's What Can Love Do? is a beautiful reminder of the incredible power of love in our lives. Love can brighten even the darkest moments and strengthen us when we feel weak. This poem shows us how love can guide our actions, warm our hearts, and bring joy to our days. Imrie’s words inspire us to live with kindness, compassion, and purpose, teaching us that love connects us not only to one another but also to God. Let this poem encourage you to let love lead the way in all that you do.
What Can Love Do?
Love can make the eyes shine bright,
Love can brighten darkest night;
Love can make the lover gush,
Love can make the maiden blush.
Love can warm the coldest heart,
Love can kindest words impart;
Love can happiness bestow,
Love can never answer "No."
Love can sing the gayest song,
Love can make the weak feel strong;
Love can lighten every care,
Love can sweetly trials bear.
Love can sit enthron'd in state.
Love can rule a nation great;
Love can noble laws impart,
Love can win the people's heart.
Love can educate the mind,
Love can aye be true and kind;
Love can greatest pleasure give.
Love can teach us how to live -
Love can sweetest comfort bring,
Love can take from Death the sting;
Love can greatest burdens bear,
Love can all our sorrows share.
If our lives are pure and free
Love must then our teacher be;
Daily learn the heavenly plan: -
Love to God and love to man.
Key Messages from this poem:
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Love is a Source of Light and Strength
Love has the remarkable ability to brighten even the darkest times. It warms hearts, lifts burdens, and brings a sense of strength to those who feel weak. This message reminds us that love is not just an emotion—it’s a force that inspires hope and courage.
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Love Guides Us to Live with Purpose
Imrie shows that love is a teacher, shaping how we interact with others and how we approach life. Love brings kindness, harmony, and understanding, teaching us how to live with compassion and integrity. It highlights the importance of making love the foundation of our actions and decisions.
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Love Connects Us to God and Each Other
The poem closes with a profound truth: love aligns us with a heavenly plan. By loving God and our fellow man, we create a life of meaning and joy. This message emphasizes the spiritual dimension of love and its power to unite and inspire humanity.
Popular Pages:
These popular pages continue the message of this poem by sharing more thoughts on love, faith, and the ways love shapes our lives.
Conclusion
What Can Love Do? leaves us with a message that is both simple and powerful. Love can lift a burden, comfort a hurting heart, and guide us to live with greater kindness and purpose. John Imrie reminds us that love is not only something we feel, but something we choose to show in our words, actions, and daily lives. When we let love lead, we bring more peace, more compassion, and more hope into the world around us.
This poem also points us toward a deeper truth. Love connects us to one another, but it also draws us closer to God. That is what gives the poem such lasting meaning. It encourages us to keep learning love's lessons each day and to let that love shape the way we live, serve, and care for others.
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