Words are a major part of what I do as a Celebrant, and I love poetry. It does’t matter whether they are long, short, classic or modern, a good poem can make your day! Here are 3 favourite love poems of mine with a little bit about why I love them so much.
Sonnet 116: William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
The Bard
For me, the Bard is the best and this is definitely in my tops of the tops! A testament to what true love is, it’s strong, unchanging through good and bad times. If I had to pick an all-time favourite, this would be it. I love to listen to it being read aloud. Here you can find it read by Patrick Stewart here and in the original pronunciation by Ben Crystal here. You will see how different they sound and as much as I love Patrick Stewart on hearing Ben read it, it takes on a whole new life.
A Red, Red Rose – Robert Burns
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve 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 luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.
Poem or Song?
This was written as a song in 1794 by Robert Burns, but is often read as a poem. As a Poem or Song it has a beautiful rhythm and Christopher Tait reads it here, his voice has such a beautiful timbre.
Annabel Lee -Edgar Allan Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee,
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
Eternal Love!
This has it all, they meet as children and she knew for her there would never be another. They fall so deeply in love that, even when tragedy strikes and she dies, the angels are jealous. And he sits with her by her tomb, never to leave her, always with her. Arron Quinn reads it beautifully here.
Well, these are 3 favourite love poems, very different with very different sounds. I added the links so you could hear how they sound when read, because if you haven’t read them before it makes it so much easier to enjoy them. Poems for your wedding do not have to be long and serious and all about love. They can be short and full of fun, they can be whatever you want. I hope you enjoyed reading and hearing some of my favourites, I would love to hear about your favourites. If you would like to talk about your 3 favourite love poems you should have for your special day, please contact me here.
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