There is a long and rich tradition linking poetry to the marriage ceremony, beginning with the Greeks, who invented a form known as the epithalamium. Whether you’re looking for a poem to read for your significant other or to toast the newly married couple, browse this selection of popular wedding poems to share for any type of couple or ceremony.
Popular Classic Poems to Read at Weddings
1 Corinthians 13:4–7, from World English Bible
Love is patient and is kind…
“How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
“Now” by Robert Browning
Out of your whole life give but one moment!…
“This Union” by Hafez
This / Union you want...
“[Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape]” by Rainer Maria Rilke
Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape...
“Epithalamion, [Happy Bridegroom]” by Sappho
Happy bridegroom, Hesper brings…
“Sonnet 18 [Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?]” by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…
“Sonnet 116 [Let me not to the marriage of true minds]” by William Shakespeare
Let me not to the marriage of true minds…
“Marriage Morning” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Light, so low upon earth…
“Song of the Open Road, I” by Walt Whitman
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road…