Poetry/Readings

[Tybee]

Hi All,

My FI and I just got home from a beautiful wedding in the North Georgia mountains. It was my all time favorite wedding ever!!!!! It gave us a lot to think about.
Their ceremony was so very personal and meaningful. I sobbed through the whole thing. One of the most lovely things about it was the selection of poetry that they had read during the ceremony. There was even one beautiful reading from The Velveteen Rabbit. I swear, there wasn''t a dry eye in the place!

My FI and I aren''t very religious, and I wasn''t really excited about doing any readings from the bible during our ceremony, but poetry added such a personal touch!

So bascially I am on a hunt for poems! I''d love to know what you all might be thinking or doing, or if you''ve been to any ceremonies where some beautful readings were shared.

 

[MissAva]

Unfortunate Coincidence
By the time you swear you''re his,
Shivering and signing,
And he vows his passion is
Infinite, undying--
Lady, make a note of this:
One of you is lying.
-Dorothy Parker....I love her works. Sadly this is the only poem relating to weddings I could think of. Hope this gives you a bit of a laugh.

 

[Tybee]

LOL!
Yes, I love Dorothy Parker too, razor witt! You''re not helpiing me Matora!

!
But thanks for the laugh!!

 

[fountainfairfax]

At my first wedding we were married by a Judge and had no religious content. As something a little different, I had the official read this poem by Charles Jefferys

We have lived and loved together
Through many changing years;
We have shared each other''s gladness
And wept each other''s tears;
I have known ne''er a sorrow
That was long unsoothed by thee;
For thy smiles can make a summer
Where darkness else would be.
Like the leaves that fall around us
In autumn''s fading hours,
Are the traitor''s smiles, that darken
When the cloud of sorrow lowers;
And though many such we''ve known, love,
Too prone, alas, to range,
We both can speak of one love
Which time can never change.
We have lived and loved together
Through many changing years,
We have shared each other''s gladness
And wept each other''s tears.
And let us hope the future,
As the past has been will be:
I will share with thee my sorrows,
And thou thy joys with me.

We had been together for over 6 years when we married, so the sentiment rung true. I really like poetry readings at wedding ceremonies, but can I add- the shorter, the better

 

[Tybee]

Oh that is a beautiful poem, I love it!
I think I''ve got to get myself to the library to do some research.
My problem is that I''m still so in love with the wedding that we just attended, all I can think about is their Pablo Neruda poem and their reading from the Velveteen Rabbit. I''m stuck in THEIR wedding!
I need something that rings as true to us as your poem did to you two.
Unfortunately for me, most of the poetry that I know and love is dark or sarcastic!

 

[MelissaSue]

This isn''t really a poem, but I found this in a magazine shortly after we got engaged (or maybe before..who knows..) and I knew I HAD to have it read at our wedding. I don''t think it is even that original, but I just LOVE it..

Its called "The Hands of the Bride and Groom" and it is believed to be originally written by John Donne, but modified over time

"These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you,
that are holding yours on your wedding day as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years,
and with the slightest touch will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief wracks your mind.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes,
tears of sorrow and tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged will still be reaching for yours
still fiving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch."
​

 

[Tybee]

Oh, that''s beatiful MS!

 

[AndyRosse]

This is my favorite:

i carry your heart with me
by ee cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it''s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that''s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

 

[Tybee]

Stretch,
Oh, chills!
I love ee cummings.
Keep em coming girls! I''m sure if you all keep sending me love poems one of them will knock me out and SCREAM our names!
Plus it''s fun to see what you all like!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I am so glad you started this thread Tybee. We are having a non-religious ceremony too and I want to have a few readings so these are giving me some ideas!

 

[Tybee]

Oh Tacori,
I''m so glad that it might help you too. I''m going to start digging through what I can find. Perhaps I''ll find post that beautiful Pablo Neruda poem too, once I did it up.
Keep them coming everyone! Thanks for your help too.
Tybee

 

[Tybee]

This isn''t the one they read, but I find it beautiful! Laughter is such a great part of my FI and my life.
It''s probably too long to read at a wedding, but oh, so lovely to me!


Your Laughter

Take bread away from me, if you wish,
take air away, but
do not take from me your laughter.

Do not take away the rose,
the lance flower that you pluck,
the water that suddenly
bursts forth in joy,
the sudden wave
of silver born in you.

My struggle is harsh and I come back
with eyes tired
at times from having seen
the unchanging earth,
but when your laughter enters
it rises to the sky seeking me
and it opens for me all
the doors of life.

My love, in the darkest
hour your laughter
opens, and if suddenly
you see my blood staining
the stones of the street,
laugh, because your laughter
will be for my hands
like a fresh sword.

Next to the sea in the autumn,
your laughter must raise
its foamy cascade,
and in the spring, love,
I want your laughter like
the flower I was waiting for,
the blue flower, the rose
of my echoing country.

Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter
for I would die.

 

[teebee]

I love that Tybee!!! I think being able to laugh together is such a wonderful and important part of a happy relationship so that is very appropriate. Is it too long? If you aren''t having a lot of other readings or other time-consuming ceremony things, then it may be just fine? Like, I don''t think we''re doing the unity candle & such... cuts a little time.

 

[MelissaSue]

Tybee- Have you checked out "The Knot Guide to Wedding Vows and Traditions"? Its got a whole section of poems/readings for ceremonies, as well as lots of other ideas, interesting traditons from different cultures etc. Its definitely worth it.. but buy it from Amazon, not theknot.com or a bookstore!

 

[Tybee]

Great advice MelissaSue,
I definitely need something to keep my occupied planning-wise.

 

[AGBF]

Tybee-

Please check out, "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran if you have not already done so. It used to be overused, but seems to have fallen into (relative) obscurity. The Bible also has some beautiful poetry. My husband was an atheist when we got married (in the Unitarian Church). He asked that the minister not wear robes and that there be no reference to God. Nonetheless, he read from the Bible. (He is a big believer in the forces that shaped western society: the Greeks, the Romans, the Judeo-Christian tradition.)

I will look up the quotation after I take my daughter to the school bus.

Also: because it fit our circumstances, we read one of, "The Sonnets from the Portuguese" by Elizabeth Barret Browning. Those are quite beautiful love poems and very personal.

Keep us apprised!

Deb

 

[Tybee]

Thanks for looking Deb,
I have come across some beautiful quotes from The Prophet in my recent searches.
Here are two that I found that I love, one is from the I Ching, the other is Maya Angelou.
I''m trying to just collect as many beautiful readings as I can, then figure out what
speaks the most to us and our relationship. I''m not ruling the Bible out, I just
don''t want it to be the primary focus, I know there''s a beutiful reading from St. Francis
of Asisi that I love too.


I CHING
~ Excerpt ~

When two people are at one
in their inmost hearts,
they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.
And when two people understand each other
in their inmost hearts,
their words are sweet and strong,
like the fragrance of orchids.


and Maya Angelou

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL
By Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love''s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.