Poems for Your Wedding Vows
Wedding vows bring out the waterworks – which makes writing them a bit of a stressful task. Are you worried about whether yours will hold up and if it will strike the delicate balance between affectionate and tasteful? Everyone needs a little help writing their vows so why not look to these literary greats for some guidance? Whether you recite their poems, quote from them or use them only as inspiration, let the muses guide your pen in revealing what’s in your heart. As long as it’s sincere, it will always be profound.
[Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia]
“Mad, bad and dangerous to know,” was how Lady Caroline Lamb described the Romantic poet Lord Byron, the world’s first heartthrob celebrity, so it’s no wonder his poetry on romance and love carry a certain mystery and danger. The poem above is the perfect selection for a groom to celebrate his wife-to-be’s ethereal presence that transcends past that which is vulgar, trivial and transient in this world. Byron’s voice in this love poem is sincere and simple – how can you say no to a bad boy with heart of gold?
[Photo Courtesy of Journey of A Million Words]
Pablo Neruda’s If You Forget Me may not seem like a convention choice in the beginning: the narrator warns his lover that if she forgets him then he will forget her too. There are no lofty declarations of forever love but as read on, you realize the truth in its message: that both lovers must work together to make their love work and that if you commit to this then I will give you everything. Their love may not be unconditional but if it is reciprocated, it can be extraordinary. What a statement to make at the union of two lives!
[Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia]
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet is another beautiful example of loving for the sake of love. In it, narrator implores her lover not to love her because of any one thing such as her smile, her looks or the way she speaks because these things can change. It also emphasizes the inability to describe why you love someone and how impossible it is quantify their attributes when explaining why you love them. The central message is to cherish the person as they are because loving for love’s sake makes the love eternal.
Dawn Lo is a contributing writer to the Bridal Guide.
