Which English poet first linked Valentine's Day to romantic love in "Parliament of Fowls"?

Geoffrey Chaucer first linked Valentine's Day with romantic love in “Parliament of Fowls.”

Written in the late 14th century, the dream-vision poem describes a gathering of birds that assemble on Saint Valentine's Day to choose their mates. Its famous seasonal image helped establish the association between February 14 and romantic courtship.

The poem is usually dated to around 1381–1382, though its exact date and intended Valentine feast day remain debated. Chaucer may have been writing about a springtime celebration rather than precisely the February 14 date used today.

A common mix-up is crediting Shakespeare or John Donne, whose later works certainly shaped love poetry but did not originate this particular association. Scholars generally describe Chaucer's poem as the earliest recorded connection between Saint Valentine's Day and romantic love.