No dirty limericks, but a veiled sonnet would be nice
July 23, 2015 2:37 PM Subscribe
Wedding poetry recommendations for a pair of active, late 20-somethings?
I've been asked to recite a brief poem (no more than 1-2 minutes, I'd think) at a sibling's wedding.
As I'm not finding much that is inspiring, I'm hoping the literary minds at Metafilter may offer guidance.
Are there any poems you would recommend that would:
- celebrate the outdoors and nature, and interactions with them
- say nothing about having kids after marriage
- be written in a voice to be spoken to both partners (i.e., "second person plural")
- have an audio recording to help with learning its proper recital
The first two points are crucial — I'm really trying to avoid the bland, flowery, generic Hallmark card fluff I can find via Google, to find something more personal. Also, the bride-to-be seems pretty clear about not having children, so I want to avoid that theme, entirely.
The third point is a nice-to-have, from the perspective of wanting to speak directly to them, for others to hear, as opposed to speaking about their marriage to others. If that distinction makes sense.
The fourth point is a nice-to-have — I'm not much of a public speaker, so if the stanzas are oddly framed, knowing how a professional poet would convey the prose would help me in that department.
For example, I found a poem by Robert Frost called The Master Speed that might be aligned with the first three points, except that when I hear my voice say it out loud, my delivery is awkward and stilted.
Lighthearted would be great, so long as it is still heartfelt. Shel Silverstein is good stuff — I'm thinking about something along the lines of The Romance, sans any references to having offspring.
Thanks for any tips!
I've been asked to recite a brief poem (no more than 1-2 minutes, I'd think) at a sibling's wedding.
As I'm not finding much that is inspiring, I'm hoping the literary minds at Metafilter may offer guidance.
Are there any poems you would recommend that would:
- celebrate the outdoors and nature, and interactions with them
- say nothing about having kids after marriage
- be written in a voice to be spoken to both partners (i.e., "second person plural")
- have an audio recording to help with learning its proper recital
The first two points are crucial — I'm really trying to avoid the bland, flowery, generic Hallmark card fluff I can find via Google, to find something more personal. Also, the bride-to-be seems pretty clear about not having children, so I want to avoid that theme, entirely.
The third point is a nice-to-have, from the perspective of wanting to speak directly to them, for others to hear, as opposed to speaking about their marriage to others. If that distinction makes sense.
The fourth point is a nice-to-have — I'm not much of a public speaker, so if the stanzas are oddly framed, knowing how a professional poet would convey the prose would help me in that department.
For example, I found a poem by Robert Frost called The Master Speed that might be aligned with the first three points, except that when I hear my voice say it out loud, my delivery is awkward and stilted.
Lighthearted would be great, so long as it is still heartfelt. Shel Silverstein is good stuff — I'm thinking about something along the lines of The Romance, sans any references to having offspring.
Thanks for any tips!
I don't have a particular poem in mind, but I think that many poems by Tyler Knott Gregson would fit your criteria.
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 3:23 PM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by TurquoiseZebra at 3:23 PM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Check out wild geese by Mary Oliver. We used in our wedding and found it on some list of wedding poems
posted by neematoad at 3:34 PM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by neematoad at 3:34 PM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.
posted by pintapicasso at 3:34 PM on July 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.
posted by pintapicasso at 3:34 PM on July 23, 2015 [8 favorites]
Best answer: Shakespeare's How Do I Love Thee?
Hey there is a really brief poem by Langston Hughes it goes something like this.
Sometimes from the table of joy,
A crumb falls
A bone is tossed.
To some, love is given,
To others, only heaven
posted by Oyéah at 3:49 PM on July 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hey there is a really brief poem by Langston Hughes it goes something like this.
Sometimes from the table of joy,
A crumb falls
A bone is tossed.
To some, love is given,
To others, only heaven
posted by Oyéah at 3:49 PM on July 23, 2015 [3 favorites]
These are some things we considered for our wedding; I bet a lot of them came from Metafilter :)
Vow
Clare Shaw
(whole poem here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/23/wedding-carol-ann-duffy-poetry)
Say yes.
That word on your lips
is a kiss;
is a promise already made.
We made it.
Love did not turn from hurt
or hard work.
When lights failed, it did not switch off.
When love had no road,
we willingly built it.
We shouldered its stones
and its dirt. So thank god
there are days like this when it's easy.
When we open our mouths
and the words flood in.
Love must, at all costs,
be answered. We have answered
and so have a million before us
and each of their names is a vow.
So now I can tell you, quite simply
you are the house I will live in:
there is no good reason
to move. Good earth,
you are home, stone, sun,
all my countries. Vital to me
as the light. You are it
and I am asking.
Say yes.
For now, we make our promises gently.
This extraordinary day we have made.
Listen – the birds in their ordinary heaven.
Tonight the sky will blaze
with stars.
Say yes.
Pathways
Rainer Maria Rilke
(this is some translation that I can't source, found it on offbeatbride I think)
Understand, I’ll slip quietly
Away from the noisy crowd
When I see the pale
Stars rising, blooming over the oaks.
I’ll pursue solitary pathways
Through the pale twilit meadows,
With only this one dream:
You come, too.
From Blossoms
Li-Young Lee
From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.
From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.
O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
Jane Hirshfield’s A Blessing for Wedding
Today when persimmons ripen
Today when fox-kits come out of their den into snow
Today when the spotted egg releases its wren song
Today when the maple sets down its red leaves
Today when windows keep their promise to open
Today when fire keeps its promise to warm
Today when someone you love has died
or someone you never met has died
Today when someone you love has been born
or someone you will not meet has been born
Today when rain leaps to the waiting of roots in their dryness
Today when starlight bends to the roofs of the hungry and tired
Today when someone sits long inside his last sorrow
Today when someone steps into the heat of her first embrace
Today, let this light bless you
With these friends let it bless you
With snow-scent and lavender bless you
Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly
Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears
Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes
Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you
Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days
posted by goodbyewaffles at 4:57 PM on July 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
Vow
Clare Shaw
(whole poem here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/23/wedding-carol-ann-duffy-poetry)
Say yes.
That word on your lips
is a kiss;
is a promise already made.
We made it.
Love did not turn from hurt
or hard work.
When lights failed, it did not switch off.
When love had no road,
we willingly built it.
We shouldered its stones
and its dirt. So thank god
there are days like this when it's easy.
When we open our mouths
and the words flood in.
Love must, at all costs,
be answered. We have answered
and so have a million before us
and each of their names is a vow.
So now I can tell you, quite simply
you are the house I will live in:
there is no good reason
to move. Good earth,
you are home, stone, sun,
all my countries. Vital to me
as the light. You are it
and I am asking.
Say yes.
For now, we make our promises gently.
This extraordinary day we have made.
Listen – the birds in their ordinary heaven.
Tonight the sky will blaze
with stars.
Say yes.
Pathways
Rainer Maria Rilke
(this is some translation that I can't source, found it on offbeatbride I think)
Understand, I’ll slip quietly
Away from the noisy crowd
When I see the pale
Stars rising, blooming over the oaks.
I’ll pursue solitary pathways
Through the pale twilit meadows,
With only this one dream:
You come, too.
From Blossoms
Li-Young Lee
From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.
From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.
O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
Jane Hirshfield’s A Blessing for Wedding
Today when persimmons ripen
Today when fox-kits come out of their den into snow
Today when the spotted egg releases its wren song
Today when the maple sets down its red leaves
Today when windows keep their promise to open
Today when fire keeps its promise to warm
Today when someone you love has died
or someone you never met has died
Today when someone you love has been born
or someone you will not meet has been born
Today when rain leaps to the waiting of roots in their dryness
Today when starlight bends to the roofs of the hungry and tired
Today when someone sits long inside his last sorrow
Today when someone steps into the heat of her first embrace
Today, let this light bless you
With these friends let it bless you
With snow-scent and lavender bless you
Let the vow of this day keep itself wildly and wholly
Spoken and silent, surprise you inside your ears
Sleeping and waking, unfold itself inside your eyes
Let its fierceness and tenderness hold you
Let its vastness be undisguised in all your days
posted by goodbyewaffles at 4:57 PM on July 23, 2015 [5 favorites]
Wedding by Alice Oswald?
Was going to recommend that - not least because, from experience, it's wonderful and joyous to say out loud in front of people.
posted by Sebmojo at 9:04 PM on July 23, 2015
Was going to recommend that - not least because, from experience, it's wonderful and joyous to say out loud in front of people.
posted by Sebmojo at 9:04 PM on July 23, 2015
Maybe this one? From an article in the Guardian, on poems for a wedding.
John Agard
Nuptials
River, be their teacher,
that together they may turn
their future highs and lows
into one hopeful flow
Two opposite shores
feeding from a single source.
Mountain, be their milestone,
that hand in hand they rise above
familiarity's worn tracks
into horizons of their own
Two separate footpaths
dreaming of a common peak.
Birdsong, be their mantra,
that down the frail aisles of their days,
their twilight hearts twitter morning
and their dreams prove branch enough.
posted by yesbut at 1:29 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
John Agard
Nuptials
River, be their teacher,
that together they may turn
their future highs and lows
into one hopeful flow
Two opposite shores
feeding from a single source.
Mountain, be their milestone,
that hand in hand they rise above
familiarity's worn tracks
into horizons of their own
Two separate footpaths
dreaming of a common peak.
Birdsong, be their mantra,
that down the frail aisles of their days,
their twilight hearts twitter morning
and their dreams prove branch enough.
posted by yesbut at 1:29 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure there's more, but here's a partial round up of previous ask.me questions.
May-you-always-find-water-and-shade
Give-me-your-best-NON-RELIGIOUS-wedding-readings
Help-me-find-a-shared-wedding-reading
A-poem-or-quote-to-bring-a-tear-to-the-eye-of-the-grandfather-who-raised-the-bride
How-can-I-put-this
coral-is-far-more-red-than-her-lips-red
What-is-an-appropriate-modern-love-poem-for-a-reading-at-a-wedding
Recommendations-for-either-poems-or-poets-Wedding-poetry
Help-me-pick-a-reading-for-a-wedding
posted by theora55 at 7:37 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
May-you-always-find-water-and-shade
Give-me-your-best-NON-RELIGIOUS-wedding-readings
Help-me-find-a-shared-wedding-reading
A-poem-or-quote-to-bring-a-tear-to-the-eye-of-the-grandfather-who-raised-the-bride
How-can-I-put-this
coral-is-far-more-red-than-her-lips-red
What-is-an-appropriate-modern-love-poem-for-a-reading-at-a-wedding
Recommendations-for-either-poems-or-poets-Wedding-poetry
Help-me-pick-a-reading-for-a-wedding
posted by theora55 at 7:37 AM on July 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
We went with the Good-Morrow, by John Donne (one of our friends is an actress, she read it really well).
Really I think poetry is such a personal thing that the couple should be involved - do either of them have a favourite poet? Or at least a favourite style of poetry? A Shakespearean sonnet hits a pretty different note to a Philip Larkin poem.
And does it have to be poetry? Our other readings were prose excerpts. Much easier to source, much easier to read and much easier to follow from the audience point of view (just not quite as romantic as love poetry).
posted by tinkletown at 10:07 AM on July 24, 2015
Really I think poetry is such a personal thing that the couple should be involved - do either of them have a favourite poet? Or at least a favourite style of poetry? A Shakespearean sonnet hits a pretty different note to a Philip Larkin poem.
And does it have to be poetry? Our other readings were prose excerpts. Much easier to source, much easier to read and much easier to follow from the audience point of view (just not quite as romantic as love poetry).
posted by tinkletown at 10:07 AM on July 24, 2015
One of the poems we used was "So Much Happiness," by Naomi Shihab Nye, which I think fits your criteria well and is really lovely:
So Much Happiness
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
With sadness there is something to rub against,
a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn't need you to hold it down.
It doesn't need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
and disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now live over a quarry of noise and dust
cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
it too could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
and love even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled linens and scratched records…..
Since there is no place large enough
to contain so much happiness,
you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
into everything you touch. You are not responsible.
You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
and in that way, be known.
posted by ilana at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
So Much Happiness
It is difficult to know what to do with so much happiness.
With sadness there is something to rub against,
a wound to tend with lotion and cloth.
When the world falls in around you, you have pieces to pick up,
something to hold in your hands, like ticket stubs or change.
But happiness floats.
It doesn't need you to hold it down.
It doesn't need anything.
Happiness lands on the roof of the next house, singing,
and disappears when it wants to.
You are happy either way.
Even the fact that you once lived in a peaceful tree house
and now live over a quarry of noise and dust
cannot make you unhappy.
Everything has a life of its own,
it too could wake up filled with possibilities
of coffee cake and ripe peaches,
and love even the floor which needs to be swept,
the soiled linens and scratched records…..
Since there is no place large enough
to contain so much happiness,
you shrug, you raise your hands, and it flows out of you
into everything you touch. You are not responsible.
You take no credit, as the night sky takes no credit
for the moon, but continues to hold it, and share it,
and in that way, be known.
posted by ilana at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thetortoise at 3:06 PM on July 23, 2015 [2 favorites]