Poignant poetry please
November 13, 2011 10:30 PM Subscribe
Suggestions for a poignant (but not depressing) poem to give on the occasion of a niece's christening?
I would like to write out a beautiful poem and frame it as a christening gift for my new niece. The parents are not particularly religious and the poem needn't be either.
Most of the poems I like seem to be quite melancholy and possibly a bit dark for this occasion (for example TS Eliot, Sylvia Plath, WH Auden and Robert Frost are a few of my favourite poets that come to mind). But on the other hand, I don't want anything too sweet or sentimental - it just doesn't feel right for this occasion somehow.
I have no knowledge of contemporary poetry, nor anything that might not have been textbook college reading in the mid-90s. Please expand my mind MeFi, and fill me in on some of the many exciting poets I have not yet discovered!
I would like to write out a beautiful poem and frame it as a christening gift for my new niece. The parents are not particularly religious and the poem needn't be either.
Most of the poems I like seem to be quite melancholy and possibly a bit dark for this occasion (for example TS Eliot, Sylvia Plath, WH Auden and Robert Frost are a few of my favourite poets that come to mind). But on the other hand, I don't want anything too sweet or sentimental - it just doesn't feel right for this occasion somehow.
I have no knowledge of contemporary poetry, nor anything that might not have been textbook college reading in the mid-90s. Please expand my mind MeFi, and fill me in on some of the many exciting poets I have not yet discovered!
I read this at my own niece's christening.
posted by Knappster at 10:45 PM on November 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Knappster at 10:45 PM on November 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
"A Valley Like This" by William Stafford. (I can't figure out how to link, sorry.) We used this poem on our daughter's birth announcement.
posted by Malla at 2:52 AM on November 14, 2011
posted by Malla at 2:52 AM on November 14, 2011
"Little Fanfare for Felix Mangowan" by James Merrill. Full text doesn't seem to be online but one of the good bits is quoted here.
posted by dr. boludo at 5:21 AM on November 14, 2011
posted by dr. boludo at 5:21 AM on November 14, 2011
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posted by mollymayhem at 10:41 PM on November 13, 2011 [2 favorites]