Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned poet behind The Canterbury Tales, was the first to link Valentine's Day with romantic love. In his 1375 poem Parliament of Foules, Chaucer depicted a day when birds gathered to choose their mates, which he associated with Saint Valentine's feast day. His lines, "For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate," stand as some of the earliest known references connecting Valentine's Day to romance. Chaucer's poetic vision laid the groundwork for the holiday's transformation into the celebration of love as we know it today.
