“For a moment, I’m a poet without words.
Speechless because you love me at my worst.”
Image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
Love has promised to save our soul, and on our wedding day, we stand with the person who has vowed to fight the battle with us. It’s a day you never forget and, for most of us, one that has been planned for years. From the venue, right down to the table cloth, everything is tailored to suit the couple, such that no two ceremonies are the same. Our vows are the promises we make to each other, the corner stone of the marriage, and for years people have been repeating the same vows, irrespective of how much of it they understand, or if it makes them feel anything at all. In a world of 7 billion people, no one loves alike, and your wedding vows ought to tell the world how you feel instead of how you’re expected to.
Suggested read: 20 sweet wedding vows that will make you fall in love again
Writing wedding vows is tricky business, especially when you want it to be a perfect embodiment of all you feel. Here are 15 poets to help you speak your heart.
1. Pablo Neruda
“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.”
Image source: Pinterest
When you practice something for too long, it tends to become a part of your subconscious. Like brushing your teeth, or reaching for your phone the moment you wake up. These are ‘habits’ we have developed over time. In the course of loving somebody, they blend seamlessly into your life, and you love them not for their face or skin colour, but because you just do. Put this into your vow and you will have a standing answer to the most recurrent question relationships face across the globe: “Why do you love me?”
2. Sarah Kay
“I know about your rough edges
And I have seen your perfect curves
If loving you means getting dirty
Bring on the grime
I will leave this porcelain home behind
I’m used to twice a day relationships
But with you, I’ll take all the time”
We carry our hell and heaven within us; have sharp edges, and band aids too. We’re the monuments of the most beautiful disasters the world has seen, and when we love, we take the fire and the ice. “For better, or for worse”, they have always said.
3. Rupi Kaur
“You might not have been my first love
but you were the love that made
all other loves seem
irrelevant”
We all struggle with ex-es, simply because we haven’t learnt how to deal with the memory of our person having been somebody else’s. It’s irrational, but it is every bit real. When you step into your wedding, leave your past behind, on the threshold, because you matter. Only you, matter.
4. Lang Leav
“I don’t know how you are so familiar to me—or why it feels less like I am getting to know you and more as though I am remembering who you are. How every smile, every whisper brings me closer to the impossible conclusion that I have known you before, I have loved you before—in another time, a different place, some other existence.”
Image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
We spend our lives in search of our soul-mate; the other part of our jigsaw-puzzle existence. Chances are, you’re standing beside him/her on your wedding day. So, let them know that in a world of wrong, you’ve never felt more right than now.
5. Rumi
“I don’t want
learning, or
dignity, or
respectability.
I want this music,
and this dawn,
and the warmth of your cheek
against mine.”
Staying apart is excruciating when you have found the person you want to share everything with: the sunset, your favorite corner of the sofa, and even the last of the ice-cream. It’s the kind of pain one should never have to undergo, for if you have found your happy place in a human being, there should be nothing keeping you from it. Standing at the altar, you’re a few words away from bridging the last of your distances.
6. Charles Bukowski
“She is mad,
but she is magic.
There is no lie
In her fire.”
Image source: Pinterest
The best love is a kind of madness. When your emotions run wild, tugging at your heart strings, bumping against the walls you have pulled up over the years. They could call this love a tempest, and it’s the healthiest lunacy there ever existed.
7. William Shakespeare
“I love thee, I love but thee
With a love that shall not die.
Till the sun grows cold
And the stars grow old.”
I was always a sucker for math, so the only time-frame I can put my love in is eternity. How lucky you are to have found a love that doesn’t come with an expiry date!
“You gave me a forever in my numbered days, and I am grateful.” -John Green, The Fault In Our Stars
Suggested read: My list of unofficial wedding vows: When we took our vows, I also meant I’d…
8. E. E. Cummings
“Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: –
you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.”
Image source: Pinterest
They’re your world, aren’t they? They’re the kind of person who makes “a small room, an everywhere” (Donne), and lights up the darkest of corners you’ve been hiding away.
9. Maya Angelou
“In all the world, there is no
heart for me like yours.
In all the world, there is no
love for you like mine.”
You were meant for each other. In a world of science, and calculated moves, let’s defy empiricism and say that in the vast expanse of this universe, there isn’t a heartbeat you’d sleep better to.
10. Christopher Poindexter
“I have thought
my entire life
I needed
Seas
or mountains
or magnificent
city lights
to be happy.
Truth is:
I do not
care where
I am
as long
as I have
you.”
All along, in our baskets and bookshelves, pantries and professions, tea-cups and travelling, we have been hunting for happiness. That is perhaps the only aspect of life that doesn’t come with a foolproof 101. The person standing next to you, has probably made you smile in crowded buses, or laugh at quiet family gatherings; and in this moment you know, that all the happiness you have looked for, was sent to you in a human being.
11. Tyler Knott Gregson
“We
Are the silver lining
In any and every dark cloud
we could ever find.
There is no need
to go looking
for the light
when you bring it
with you.”
Image source: Pinterest
You’ve gained a comrade in war, and in peace. There isn’t a single mountain you cannot move, a single battle you cannot overpower, as long as you have each other by your side. It’s because you hold each other up to the sun and every moon there is; believe, despite the world telling you otherwise; just know that you will always be safe with the person beside you. And, by heavens, that is all that ever mattered.
12. Sylvia Plath
“I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
They’re too good to be true. They have drawn maps into parts of you, you never knew you had, they’ve made you love in ways you didn’t think possible, and sometimes, when you look at them, you’re convinced that they’re imaginary. Somebody told me fairies don’t exist, but I believed in a genie once, and he has granted my wish.
13. Erin Hanson
“Do you remember the night the moon dropped from the sky?
We knew that our eyes had not seen such a view,
You were looking at it,
I was looking at you.”
They’re beautiful, aren’t they? In a way that makes them stand out from the rest. They’re a permutation and combination of all the magic the world has to offer, and you could spend ages memorizing the way they speak, the lines on their face, the way their hair smells, the different kinds of smiles they have and what each mean. You could spend an eternity trying to study the marvel you’re about to marry.
14. J.A.
“I want you to know
you secretly inspire me
like the stars
do
to a dreamer
and the moon
does
to the sea.”
Love inspires us to create all the magic we’ve been too tame to see; dream every dream we weren’t full enough to realize. Cushioned in love, we begin to believe in clear skies, sunny days, and the mere belief that good things are possible, brings us to them.
Suggested read: For better or worse: Are wedding vows truly forever?
The last inspiration for writing wedding vows on our list hasn’t been penned by a poet(s), but their love is where I first learnt poetry, and none of my speeches on love will ever be complete without them:
15. Chandler and Monica’s Wedding Vows, F.R.I.E.N.D.S
“Chandler: Monica, I thought this would be the most difficult thing I would ever have to do. But just now, when I saw you coming down the aisle, I realized how simple it is. I love you. And, no matter what little surprises are thrown at us, I will always love you.
Monica: Chandler, for so long, I wondered if I would ever find my prince, my soul mate. Then, three years ago, at another wedding, I turned to a friend for comfort. Instead, I found everything I had ever been looking for in my life. And now, here we are, our future in front of us and I only want to spend it with you, my prince, my soul mate, my friend.”
Image source: Google, copyright-free image under Creative Commons License
Love will save you, perhaps even from yourself. It’s a rare kind of magic that doesn’t come with a toolbox and obvious tricks. There’s nothing obvious about love. It just is, in various ways, in various times, running quietly in our veins. And, whoever said you couldn’t fit the galaxy in a human being, didn’t know:
“You’re my sky,
You’re my sky full of stars.”
– Coldplay
Writing wedding vows doesn’t have to be a nerve-racking experience. We hope these poets and their lines help you shape your thoughts as beautifully when you scribble your vows for the person you love the most.
Was this helpful? Let us know in the comment section below.
Featured image source: Pixabay, under Creative Commons License
Facebook
Disqus
Google + 
