Poems for wedding ceremonies are both romantic and inspirational and can add a wonderful finishing touch to your service. This article is the first of two which takes a look at some of the most loving and uplifting words from classic and modern poets, and will help all those couples searching for the ideal poems for wedding ceremonies.
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'A Red, Red Rose'
O, my love's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June:
O my love's like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I,
And I will love thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will love thee still, my Dear, While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love, And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my love. Tho' it were ten thousand mile!
Robert Burns
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her'
If questioning would make us wise
No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;
If all our tale were told in speech
No mouths would wander each to each.
Were spirits free from mortal mesh
And love not bound in hearts of flesh
No aching breasts would yearn to meet
And find their ecstasy complete.
For who is there that lives and knows
The secret powers by which he grows?
Were knowledge all, what were our need
To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?
Then seek not, sweet, the "If" and "Why"
I love you now until I die.
For I must love because I live
And life in me is what you give.
Christopher Brennan
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'How Do I Love Thee'
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being an Ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old grief's, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browing
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'My True Love Hath My Heart'
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
My heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guide:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:
My true-love hath my heart, and I have his.
Sir Philip Sidney
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'On Your Wedding Day'
Today is a day you will always remember
The greatest in anyone's life
You'll start off the day just two people in love
And end it as Husband and Wife
It's a brand new beginning the start of a journey
With moments to cherish and treasure
And although there'll be times when you both disagree
These will surely be outweighed by pleasure
You'll have heard many words of advice in the past
When the secrets of marriage were spoken
But you know that the answers lie hidden inside
Where the bond of true love lies unbroken
So live happy forever as lovers and friends
It's the dawn of a new life for you
As you stand there together with love in your eyes
From the moment you whisper 'I do'
And with luck, all your hopes, and your dreams can be real
May success find it's way to your hearts
Tomorrow can bring you the greatest of joys
But today is the day it all starts
Author Unknown
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'O Tell Me The Truth About Love'
Some say love's a little boy, and some say it's a bird,
Some say it makes the world go around, some say that's absurd,
And when I asked the man next-door, who looked as if he knew,
His wife got very cross indeed, and said it wouldn't do.
Does it look like a pair of pyjamas, or the ham in a temperance hotel?
Does its odour remind one of llamas, or has it a comforting smell?
Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is, or soft as eiderdown fluff?
Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges?
O tell me the truth about love.
Our history books refer to it in cryptic little notes,
It's quite a common topic on the Transatlantic boats;
I've found the subject mentioned in accounts of suicides,
And even seen it scribbled on the backs of railway guides.
Does it howl like a hungry Alsatian, or boom like a military band?
Could one give a first-rate imitation on a saw or a Steinway Grand?
Is its singing at parties a riot? Does it only like Classical stuff?
Will it stop when one wants to be quiet?
O tell me the truth about love.
I looked inside the summer-house; it wasn't over there;
I tried the Thames at Maidenhead, and Brighton's bracing air.
I don't know what the blackbird sang, or what the tulip said;
But it wasn't in the chicken-run, or underneath the bed.
Can it pull extraordinary faces? Is it usually sick on a swing?
Does it spend all its time at the races, or fiddling with pieces of string?
Has it views of its own about money? Does it think Patriotism enough?
Are its stories vulgar but funny?
O tell me the truth about love.
When it comes, will it come without warning just as I'm picking my nose?
Will it knock on my door in the morning, or tread in the bus on my toes?
Will it come like a change in the weather? Will its greeting be courteous or rough?
Will it alter my life altogether?
O tell me the truth about love.
W.H. Auden
Poems For Wedding Ceremonies:
'Somewhere'
Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours
for one lone soul, another lonely soul -
Each chasing each through all the weary hours,
And meeting strangely at one sudden goal;
Then blend they - like green leaves with golden flowers,
Into one beautiful and perfect whole -
And life's long night is ended, and the way
Lies open onward to eternal day.
Sir Edwin Arnold
For more poems for wedding ceremonies, check out the second part of our wedding poem ideas and suggestions.
Recommended Reading
For those of you wanting to find out more, we've a whole host of other articles on wedding ceremonies on our site packed full of expert information and helpful advice, not to mention our online wedding directory that's filled with venue decorators, approved wedding premises, musicians, photographers and more.
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