Introduce the theme, explaining the relationship between the poems below and the theme. With annotations of the poems. Theme is love 1. "The Definition of Love" by Andrew Marvell (A late sixteenth or seventeenth century poem) 2. "Remember" by Christina Rossetti (a nineteenth century poem) 3. "Love Letter" by Sylvia Plath (a twentieth century poem) 4. My Heart by Kim Addonizio (a twenty first century poem) 5. "Sonnet 116" by Shakespeare (sonnet) 6. "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles (lyrics to a song)

All of these poems are concerned with the same theme—love—which has been a key concern of poets for all time. The seven poets approach the theme differently, but we can also see similarities of thought between them.
Andrew Marvell, for example, in "The Definition of Love," writes about love almost as torture, his love having been "begotten by Despair" at thinking it impossible. He and his lover are forever "parallel," but Fate keeps the two of them apart. In the final stanza, Marvell writes that love is "the conjunction of the mind / And opposition of the stars."
We can detect a similarity here between this poem and Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116." While "Sonnet 116" discusses love in its most ideal form, and does not have the undertone of impossibility we see in Marvell's poem, it, too, depicts love as "the marriage of true minds," rather than being born of anything physical. Just as the love in Marvell's poem endures despite the "opposition of the stars," in "Sonnet 116," love is "an ever-fixed mark" which cannot be "altered" by anything it encounters. Both poets depict true love as eternally enduring.
Rossetti, too, depicts love as having the potential to be eternally enduring in "Remember." While she approaches the theme of love from a different perspective—that of a lover who is, perhaps, about to die—she focuses on the concern that her lover should "remember me when I am gone away." However, memory for its own sake is not, in Rossetti's view, true evidence of love. Rather, love for Rossetti might involve forgetting; love is selfless—"better by far you should forget and smile."
Let's look now at the more modern poems and how they approach the theme. In Plath's "Love Letter," the tone is melancholy, as the speaker describes a difficult relationship in which she, "out of habit," "was dead." The poem is generally understood to be about depression; the speaker describes how she attempted to catch the attention of her former lover—"I shone...to pour myself out like a fluid." We see the ongoing idea that love recognizes itself: "I knew you at once." But the tone of the poem is ultimately not hopeful; this poem makes us question whether it is possible for love to die.
"My Heart," by Kim Addonizio, paints a nostalgic picture of teenage love. We can interpret from the title of the poem that Addonizio's poem details the various component parts of her "heart" in terms of how she remembers them: "that landing strip with no lights / where you are aiming your plane" seems to encapsulate her approach to the theme. Love, Addonizio seems to suggest, is flying blindly in hopes of a soft landing.
Finally, let's look at The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love." The lyrics to this song are relatively simple, but its approach to the theme is clear: love is not something that can be purchased, but must happen naturally. "I don't care too much for money / Money can't buy me love." The repeated refrain reinforces the singer's feelings on the theme: that love is superlative and to be desired more than any worldly goods.