Love Poems, Readings, and Blessings
Below are a selection of my favourite love poems, readings, and blessings you might want included as part of your Vow Renewal Ceremony. Read more about Vow Renewal Ceremonies in my blog posts. Click on the individual poems, readings and blessings to read them in full, or you can read them all in full here.
Poems
Love is Giving, Anon Love is giving, not taking, mending, not breaking, trusting, believing, never deceiving, patiently bearing and faithfully sharing each joy, each sorrow, today and tomorrow. Love is kind, understanding, but never demanding. Love is constant, prevailing, its strength never failing. A promise once spoken For all time unbroken, Love’s time is forever.
The One, Anon When the one whose hand you’re holding is the one who holds your heart, When the one whose eyes you gaze into gives your hopes and dreams their start, When the one you think of first and last is the one who holds you tight, And the things you plan together make the world seem just right, When the one whom you believe in puts their faith and trust in you, You’ve found the one and only love you’ll share your whole life through.
Proximity by Michael Faudet We joined the dots from A to B, the line we drew from you to me, traced empty shores across the sea, over mountain top, past forest tree, along the roads and walking tracks, all bridges burned, no looking back, for the love we have, no gate can stop, no barking dog or bolted lock, for what is real is meant to be, when two hearts beat- in proximity.
100 Love Sonnets: XVII by Pablo Neruda I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz, or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as one loves certain obscure things, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself, and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose from the earth lives dimly in my body. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you directly without problems or pride: I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love, except in this form in which I am not nor are you, so close that your hand upon my chest is mine, so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
Flowers, by Wendy Cope Some men never think of it. You did. You’d come along And say you’d nearly brought me flowers But something had gone wrong. The shop was closed. Or you had doubts — The sort that minds like ours Dream up incessantly. You thought I might not want your flowers. It made me smile and hug you then. Now I can only smile. But, look, the flowers you nearly brought Have lasted all this while.
The Giraffe and the Monkey by Daniel Thompson Wherever we go Whatever we do Whenever there’s me I hope that there’s you. Now Money is Funny, it can make people odd. You forget to be happy, and you live for your job And fashion, is a passion, beset with a flaw You can dress to excess, but you’ll always need more And a muscle toned body, may sound like a dream But no body is better, than chocolate ice cream What I’m trying to say, is that happiness grows Not through your wages, or body or clothes But in laughter and love, and in sharing your life. In the arms of another as husband and wife. So when you find someone who’s weird just like you Who laughs when you’re stupid and who makes you laugh too. When you sit on the sofa, not hiding your flaws. As imperfectly perfect, as the hand that holds yours. When the fortune of kings, or purse of a beggar. Won’t change how it feels, just being together. When a cuddle and cuppa is all that you need…. Well then… you’ve found something quite special indeed. Wherever we go Whatever we do Whenever there’s me I hope that there’s you.
Readings
Exerpt from The Bridge Across Forever, by Richard Bach Soul Mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys And keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks Our truest selves step out And we can be completely and honestly who we are. We can be loved for who we are… And not for who we are pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, With that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, Our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, And together our direction is up, Chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.
From Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.
Corinthians. 13:4-13 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. And now faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love. Love is giving, not taking, mending, not breaking, trusting, believing, never deceiving, patiently bearing and faithfully sharing each joy, each sorrow, today and tomorrow. Love is kind, understanding, but never demanding. Love is constant, prevailing, its strength never failing. A promise once spoken For all time unbroken, Love’s time is forever.
What Greater Thing, George Eliot What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life- to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?
To Love is Not to Possess, by James Kavanaugh (This one is popular for seaside ceremonies.) To love is not to possess, To own or imprison, Nor to lose one's self in another. Love is to join and separate, To walk alone and together, To find a laughing freedom That lonely isolation does not permit. It is finally to be able To be who we really are No longer clinging in childish dependency Nor docilely living separate lives in silence, It is to be perfectly one's self And perfectly joined in permanent commitment To another–and to one's inner self. Love only endures when it moves like waves, Receding and returning gently or passionately, Or moving lovingly like the tide In the moon's own predictable harmony, Because finally, despite a child's scars Or an adult's deepest wounds, They are openly free to be Who they really are–and always secretly were, In the very core of their being Where true and lasting love can alone abide.
As Robert Fulghum once wrote “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”
Where There Is Love by Helen Rice Where there is love the heart is light Where there is love the day is bright Where there is love there is a song To help when things are going wrong Where there is love there is a smile To make all things seem more worthwhile Where there is love there’s a quiet peace A tranquil place where turmoils cease Love changes darkness into light And makes the heart take wingless flight Oh, blessed are those who walk in love- They also walk with God above.
This is beautiful to open with. From "Iris", about Iris Murdoch I hereby give myself. I love you. You are the only being whom I can love absolutely with my complete self, with all my flesh and mind and heart. You are my mate; my perfect partner, and I am yours. You must feel this now, as I do. It was a marvel that we ever met. It is some kind of divine luck that we are together now. As we look at each other we verify, we know, the perfection of our love, we recognize each other. Here is my life.
Touched By An Angel, 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."
From Anne of Avonlea by L.M Montgomery. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illustration flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps loveunfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath.
Blessings
May you never take each other for granted but always experience the wonders of your union. May your love consist not only in gazing into each other’s eyes, but also in looking outward in the same direction. May your life together be a source of strength and inspiration to yourselves, your families and your friends. May you never forget the beginning of your love for one another, take care of it, nurture it, and allow it to grow strong and firm in the years that are to come. May you always concentrate on making each other happy and secure in your commitment to one another and always rely on your ability to keep the promises you have made to one another today throughout the thick and thin of life’s experiences. And may you always be in love. May your love be as beautiful each day you share as it is on this day of Your Wedding and may all of your wishes come true.
An excerpt from The Prophet by Kihlil Gibran Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
This Day (Author unknown) May this day shine eternally in your lives. May it add brilliance to every achievement and cast a divine light over any misfortune. May you care for each other in all sadness. May you give cheer to each other. May you give vitality to each other in all undertakings. May all that is virtuous, beautiful and honest, remain with you always.
Celtic Wedding Blessing May your hands be forever clasped in friendship and your hearts joined forever in love. Your lives are very special, God has touched you in many ways. May his blessings rest upon you and fill all your coming days.
Celtic Wedding Blessing May you always have enough happiness to keep you sweet, trials to keep you strong, success to make you eager, friends to give you comfort, wealth to meet your needs, enthusiasm to look for tomorrow, and a growing love to make each day better than the day before.
Celtic Wedding Blessing May the road rise to meet you, May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, The rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. May God be with you and bless you; May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortune, Rich in blessings, May you know nothing but happiness From this day forward. May the road rise to meet you May the wind be always at your back May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home And may the hand of a friend always be near. May green be the grass you walk on, May blue be the skies above you, May pure be the joys that surround you, May true be the hearts that love you.
“There is no remedy for love, but to love more.”
Henry David Thorea