Rev Wills Selected Wedding Readings

7/31/2019 Rev Wills Selected Wedding Readings

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Rev.Will,Revised5.2012

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Rev. Wills Selected Wedding Readings

EXCERPT FROM 100 LOVE SONNETS by Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers; thanksto your love a certain solid fragrance, risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

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.

*******

SONNET LXIX by Pablo Neruda

Maybe nothingness is to be without your presence,

without you moving, slicing the noonlike a blue flower, without you walking

later through the fog and the cobbles,

without the light you carry in your hand,golden, which maybe others will not see,

which maybe no one knew was growinglike the red beginnings of a rose.

In short, without your presence: without your coming

suddenly, incitingly, to know my life,gust of a rosebush, wheat of wind:

since then I am because you are,

since then you are, I am, we are,

and through love I will be, you will be, we'll be.

*******

THIS IS FRIENDSHIP, by Mary Carolyn Davies

I love you, not for what you are,


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but for what I am when I am with you.

I love you not only for what you have made of yourself,but for what you are making of me.

I love you for the part of me that you bring out.I love you for putting your hand into my heaped-up heart

and passing over all the frivolous and weak thingsthat you cannot help seeing there,

and drawing out into the light all the beautiful, radiant thingsthat no one else has looked quite far enough to find.

I love you for ignoring the possibilities of the fool in meand for laying firm hold of the possibilities of good in me.

I love you for closing your eyes to the discord in me,and adding to the music in me by worshipful listening.

I love you because you are helping me makeof the lumber of my life, not a tavern, but a temple,

and of the words of my days, not a reproach, but a song.I love you because you have done more

than any creed could have done to make me happy.You have done it without a touch, without a word, without a sign.

You have done it by being yourself.After all, perhaps this is what being a friend means.

*******

UNKNOWN

It is often said that it is love that makes the world go round. However,

without doubt, it is friendship which keeps our spinning existence on aneven keel. True friendship provides so many of the essentials for a happy

life -- it is the foundation on which to build an enduring relationship, itis the mortar which bonds us together in harmony, and it is the calm, warm

protection we sometimes need when the world outside seems cold and chaotic.True friendship holds a mirror to our foibles and failings, without

destroying our sense of worthiness. True friendship nurtures our hopes,supports us in our disappointments, and encourages us to grow to our best

potential. [Bride's Name] and [Groom's Name] came together as friends.Today, they pledge to each other not only their love, but also the strength,

warmth and, most importantly, the fun of true friendship.

*******

1ST CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER 13known as the Love Chapter.

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong

or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and allknowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I


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give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain

nothing.4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does notdelight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always

perseveres.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they

will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and weprophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child,

I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I putchildish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see

face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

*******

OH THE PLACES YOULL GO by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!

Today is your day.Youre off to Great Places!

Youre off and away!You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.Youre on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the couple wholl decide where to go.Youll look up and down streets. Look em over with care.

About some you will say, We dont choose to go there.With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

youre too smart to go down, any not-so-good street.And you may not find any

youll want to go down.In that case, of course,

youll head straight out of town.Its opener there

in the wide open air,

Out there things can happenand frequently doto people as brainy

and footsy as you.And when things start to happen,

dont worry. Dont stew.Just go right along.


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Youll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOULL GO!Youll be on your way up!

Youll be seeing great sights!Youll join the high fliers

who soar to great heights!You wont lag behind, because youll have all the speed.

Youll pass the whole gang, and youll soon take the lead.Wherever you fly youll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.Except when you dont.

Because sometimes, you wont.Youll get mixed up of course,

as you already know.Youll get mixed up

with so many strange birds as you go.So be sure when you step.

Step with great care and great tactand remember that Lifes a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?Yes! You will indeed!

(98 and percent guaranteed.)KIDS, YOULL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie or Bassor Mordecai Ali Van Allen OShea,

youre off to great places!Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.So get on your way!

*******

SHAKESPEARE SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate...

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'stSo long as men can breathe or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

*******


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When to the sessions of sweet silent thoughtI summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow, fFor precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,All losses are restored and sorrows end.

*******


Thy bosom is endeared with allWhich I by lacking have supposed dead,

And there reigns love and all love's loving parts,And all those friends which I thought buried.

How many a holy and obsequious tearHath dear religious love stol'n from mine eye

As interest of the dead, which now appearBut things removed that hidden in thee lie!

Thou art the grave where buried love doth live,Hung with the trophies of my lovers gone,

Who all their parts of me to thee did give;That due of many now is thine alone:

Their images I loved I view in thee,And thou, all they, hast all the all of me.

*******


Let me not to the marriage of true mindsAdmit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,


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Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed markThat looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeksWithin 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 proved,I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

*******

FROM DOVER BEACH by Matthew Arnold

Ah, love, let us be true

To one another! for the world, which seemsTo lie before us like a land of dreams,

So various, so beautiful, so new,Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

And we are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,

Where ignorant armies clash by night.

*******

WHY MARRIAGE? Mari Nichols-Haining

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body...

Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,Who won't hold them against me,

Who loves me when I'm unlikable,Who sees the small child in me, and

Who looks for the divine potential of me...

Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the nightWith someone who thanks God for me,With someone I feel blessed to hold...

Because marriage means opportunityTo grow in love in friendship...

Because marriage is a disciplineTo be added to a list of achievements...


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Because marriages do not fail, people fail

When they enter into marriageExpecting another to make them whole...

Because, knowing this,I promise myself to take full responsibility

For my spiritual, mental and physical wholenessI create me,

I take half of the responsibility for my marriageTogether we create our marriage...

Because with this understandingThe possibilities are limitless.

*******

SPEAK TO US OF LOVE from The Prophet by Kahlil Gilbran

Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. Andwith a great voice he said: When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and

steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinionsmay wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your

dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for

your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiverin the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. Like

sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. He threshes you to make you naked. He sifts you tofree you from your husks. He grinds you to whiteness. He kneads you until you are pliant; And

then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that

knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, Then it is better for you

that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless worldwhere you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it bepossessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your

course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, letthese be your desires:To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;


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To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

*******

ON MARRIAGE by Kahlil Gibran

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"And he answered saying:

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.But 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.

*******

FROM THE RUBIAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM by Edward Fitzgerald

Ah, Love, could you and I with Fate conspire

To grasp the sorry Scheme of Things entire,Would not we shatter it to bits -- and then

Remold it nearer to the Heart's Desire!

*******

FALLING IN LOVE IS LIKE OWNING A DOG by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,especially in a city like New York.

So think long and hard before deciding on love.On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:

when you're walking down the street late at nightand you have a leash on love


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ain't no one going to mess with you.

Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.It lies between you and lives and breathes

and makes funny noises.Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.

It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.Love doesn't like being left alone for long.

But come home and love is always happy to see you.It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,

but you can never be mad at love for long.Is love good all the time? No! No!

Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.Love makes messes.

Love leaves you little surprises here and there.Love needs lots of cleaning up after.

Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper

and swat love on the nose,not so much to cause pain,

just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.

Because love loves exercise.It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.

It pulls you in several different directions at once,or winds around and around you

until you're all wound up and can't move.But love makes you meet people wherever you go.

People who have nothing in common but lovestop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,again, and again, and again.

But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.And in return, love loves you and never stops.

*******

BLESSING OF THE HANDS -- Author Unknown

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are

holding yours on your wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, andforever. These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.

These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, and withthe slightest touch, will comfort you like no other. These are the hands that will hold you when


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fear or grief fills your mind. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from

your eyes; tears of sorrow, and tears of joy. These are the hands that will tenderly hold yourchildren. These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one. These are the hands

that will give you strength when you need it. And lastly, these are the hands that even whenwrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness

with just a touch.

*******

A NEW BEGINNING by Gwen Frostic

On this earth there is a onenessA rhythmic flow through everything that lives

The things with roots and stems and leavesThe things with shells and fins and furs

The things with wings with which to flyThe things that crwal and those that walk

Each thing must eat and breath and restEach thing must seek and each is sought for

Each has a birth, a purpose to fulfillTo each an end and then a new beginning.

*******

DOVE POEM ~ Author Unknown ~

Two doves meeting in the sky

Two loves hand in hand eye to eyeTwo parts of a loving whole

Two hearts and a single soul

Two stars shining big and brightTwo fires bringing warmth and light

Two songs played in perfect tuneTwo flowers growing into bloom

Two Doves gliding in the air

Two loves free without a care

Two parts of a loving wholeTwo hearts and a single soul

*******


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SUDDEN LIGHT byDante Gabriel Rossetti

I have been here before,

But when or how I cannot tell;I know the grass beyond the door,

The sweet keen smell,The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before,

How long ago I may not know:But just when at that swallow's soar

Your neck turned so,Some veil did fall, - - I knew it all of yore.

Has this been thus before?

And shall not thus time's eddying flightStill with our lives our love restore

In death's despite,And day and night yield one delight once more?

*******

FIDELITY by Dorothy Colgan

Man and woman are like the earth, that brings forth flowers

in summer, and love, but underneath is rock.Older than flowers, older than ferns, older than foraminiferae,

older than plasm altogether is the soul underneath.And when, throughout all the wild chaos of love

slowly a gem forms, in the ancient, once-more-molten rocksof two human hearts, two ancient rocks,

a man's heart and a woman's,that is the crystal of peace, the slow hard jewel of trust,

the sapphire of fidelity.The gem of mutual peace emerging from the wild chaos of love.

*******

HINDU MARRIAGE POEM

You have become mine forever.

Yes, we have become partners.I have become yours.

Hereafter, I cannot live without you.Do not live without me.


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Let us share the joys.

We are word and meaning, unite.You are thought and I am sound.

May the nights be honey-sweet for us.

May the mornings be honey-sweet for us.May the plants be honey-sweet for us.

May the earth be honey-sweet for us.

*******

HOW DO I LOVE THEE by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of every day'sMost quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love with a passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints, -- I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.

*******

IF THOU MUST LOVE ME by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

If thou must love me, let it be for naught

Except for love's sake only. Do not say,'I love her for her smile - her look - her way

Of speaking gently,- for a trick of thoughtThat falls in well with mine, and certes brought

A sense of pleasant ease on such a day' -

For these things in themselves, Beloved, mayBe changed, or change for thee - and love, so wrought,May be unwrought so. Neither love me for

Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry:A creature might forget to weep, who bore

Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!


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But love me for love's sake, that evermore

Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.

*******

IN LOVE MADE VISIBLE byMary Swenson

In love are we made visibleAs in a magic bath

are unpeeledto the sharp pit

so long concealed

With love's alertnesswe recognize

the soundless whimperof the soul

behind the eyesA shaft opens

and the timid thingat last leaps to surface

with full-spread wing

The fingertips of love discovermore than the body's smoothness

They uncover a hidden conduitfor the transfusion

of empathies that circumventthe mind's intrusion

In love we are set free

Objective boneand flesh no longer insulate us

to ourselves aloneWe are released

and flow into each other's cupOur two frail vials pierced

drink each other up

*******

LOVE by Roy Croft

I love you,Not only for what you are,


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But for what I am

When I am with you.

I love you,Not only for what

You have made of yourself,But for what

You are making of me.

I love youFor the part of me

That you bring out;I love you

For putting your handInto my heaped-up heart

And passing overAll the foolish, weak things

That you can't helpDimly seeing there,

And for drawing outInto the light

All the beautiful belongingsThat no one else had looked

Quite far enough to find.

I love you because youAre helping me to make

Of the lumber of my lifeNot a tavern

But a temple;Out of the works

Of my every dayNot a reproach

But a song.

I love youBecause you have done

More than any creed

Could have doneTo make me good,And more than any fate

To make me happy.

You have done itWithout a touch,


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Without a word,

Without a sign.You have done it

By being yourself.

*******

LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,And the rivers with the ocean;

The winds of heaven mix foreverWith a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single:All things by a law divine

In another's being mingle--Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,

And the waves clasp one another;No sister flower could be forgiven

If it disdained its brother;And the sunlight clasps the earth,

And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--What are all these kissings worth,

If thou kiss not me?

*******

MY LOVE by Linda Lee Elrod

When I met you, I had no ideahow much my life

was about to be changed...but then, how could I have known?

A love like ours happens

once in a lifetime.

You were a miracle to me,the one who was everythingI had ever dreamed of,

the one I thought existedonly in my imagination.

And when you came into my life,


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I realized that what I

had always thoughtwas happiness

couldn't compare to the joyloving you brought me.

You are a part of everything

I think and do and feel,and with you by my side,

I believe that anything is possible.(this day) gives me a chance

to thank you for the miracle of you...you are, and always will be,

the love of my life.

*******

MY TRUE LOVE bySir Phillip Sydney

My true love hath my heart and I have his,By just exchange one for another given

I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,There never was a better bargain driven

My true love hath my heart and I have his.

His heart in me keeps him and me in one,My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides

He loves my heart, for once it was his own,I cherish his because in me it bides


*******

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE byChristopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love,And we will all the pleasures prove

That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,

Woods, or steepy mountain yields.And we will sit upon rocks,Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,

By shallow rivers to whose fallsMelodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses


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And a thousand fragrant poises,

A cap of flowers, and a kirtleEmbroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool

Which from our pretty lambs we pull;Fair lined slippers for the cold,

With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,With coral clasps and amber studs;

And if these pleasures may thee move,Come live with me, and be my love.

The shepherd's swains shall dance and sing

For thy delight each May morning:If these delights thy mind may move,

Then live with me and be my love.

*******

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY by Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the nightOf cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and brightMeet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow'd to that tender lightWhich heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair'd the nameless graceWhich waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,The smiles that win, the tints that glow,But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,A heart whose love is innocent!


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*******

somewhere i have never travelled bye.e. cummingssomewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

any experience, your eyes have their silence:in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i andmy life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imaginesthe snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility:whose texturecompels me with the colour of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closesand opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

*******

i carry your heart with me bye.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i wantno world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meantand whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud


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and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

*******

TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON (LAST STANZA) by Richard Lovelace

Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage;Minds innocent and quiet take

That for an hermitage;If I have freedom in my love,

And in my soul am free,Angels alone that soar above,

Enjoy such liberty.

*******

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL by Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courageexiles from delight

live coiled in shells of lonelinessuntil love leaves its high holy temple

and comes into our sightto liberate us into life.

Love arrives

and in its train come ecstasiesold memories of pleasure

ancient histories of pain.

Yet if we are bold,love strikes away the chains of fearfrom our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity

In the flush of love's lightwe dare be brave


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And suddenly we see

that love costs all we areand will ever be.

Yet it is only lovewhich sets us free.

*******

TRUE LOVE ~ Author Unknown

True love is a sacred flame

That burns eternally,And none can dim its special glow

Or change its destiny.True love speaks in tender tones

And hears with gentle ear,True love gives with open heart

And true love conquers fear.True love makes no harsh demands

It neither rules nor binds,And true love holds with gentle hands

The hearts that it entwines.

*******

UNTITLED by Christina Rossetti

What is the beginning? Love.What the course. Love still.

What the goal. The goal is Love.On a happy hill

Is there nothing then but Love?Search we sky or earth

There is nothing out of LoveHath perpetual worth;

All things flag but only Love,All things fail and flee;

There is nothing left but Love

Worthy you and me.

*******

UNTITLED from Walt Whitman's Song of the Open Road

I do not offer the old smooth prizes,


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But offer rough new prizes,

These are the days that must happen to you:You shall not heap up what is called riches,

You shall scatter with lavish hand all that you earn or achieve.However sweet the laid-up stores,

However convenient the dwellings,You shall not remain there.

However sheltered the port,And however calm the waters,

You shall not anchor there.However welcome the hospitality that welcomes you

You are permitted to receive it but a little whileAfoot and lighthearted, take to the open road,

Healthy, free, the world before you,The long brown path before you,

leading wherever you choose.Say only to one another:

Camerado, I give you my hand!I give you my love, more precious than money,

I give you myself before preaching or law:Will you give me yourself?

Will you come travel with me?Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

*******

WHAT IS LOVE? ~ Author Unknown

Sooner or later we begin to understand that love is more than verses on valentines and romance

in the movies. We begin to know that love is here and now, real and true, the most importantthing in our lives. For love is the creator of our favourite memories and the foundation of our

fondest dreams. Love is a promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent, a seedthat can flourish in even the most unlikely of places. And this radiance that never fades, this

mysterious and magical joy, is the greatest treasure of all - one known only by those who love.

*******

UNTITLED ~ Author Unknown

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought youtogether. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your

connection deserves. When frustration, difficult and fear assail your relationship - as theythreaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between

you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when cloudshide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a


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moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life

together, it will be marked by abundance and delight."

*******

UNTITLED ~ Author Unknown

You can give without loving,but you can never love without giving.

The great acts of love are done by thosewho are habitually performing small acts of kindness.

We pardon to the extent that we love.Love is knowing that even when you are alone,

you will never be lonely again.And great happiness of life is the conviction

that we are loved.Loved for ourselves.

And even loved in spite of ourselves.

*******

TITLE UNKNOWN byCarl Sandburg

I love you for what you are, but I love you yet more for what you are going to be. I love you notso much for your realities as for your ideals. I pray for your desires that they may be great, rather

than for your satisfactions, which may be so hazardously little. A satisfied flower is one whosepetals are about to fall. The most beautiful rose is one hardly more than a bud wherein the pangs

and ecstasies of desire are working for a larger and finer growth. Not always shall you be whatyou are now. You are going forward toward something great. I am on the way with you and

therefore I love you.

*******

SOUND OF SILENCE byRaymond J. Baughan

Here in the space between us and the worldlies human meaning.

Into the vast uncertainty we call.

The echoes make our music,sharp equations which can hold the stars,and marvelous mythologies we trust.

This may be all we needto lift our love against indifference and pain.

Here in the space between us and each other


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lies all the future

of the fragment of the universe

*******

GIVE ALL TO LOVE by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Give all to love;

Obey thy heart;

Friends, kindred, days,Estate, good-fame,

Plans, credit and the Muse,Nothing refuse.

'Tis a brave master;

Let it have scope:Follow it utterly,

Hope beyond hope:High and more high

It dives into noon,With wing unspent,

Untold intent;But it is a god,

Knows its own pathAnd the outlets of the sky.

It was never for the mean;It requireth courage stout.

Souls above doubt,Valor unbending,

It will reward,They shall return

More than they were,And ever ascending.

Leave all for love;

Yet, hear me, yet,One word more thy heart behoved,

One pulse more of firm endeavor,Keep thee to-day,

To-morrow, forever,Free as an Arab

Of thy beloved.


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Cling with life to the maid;

But when the surprise,First vague shadow of surmise

Flits across her bosom young,Of a joy apart from thee,

Free be she, fancy-free;Nor thou detain her vesture's hem,

Nor the palest rose she flungFrom her summer diadem.

Though thou loved her as thyself,

As a self of purer clay,Though her parting dims the day,

Stealing grace from all alive;Heartily know,

When half-gods goThe gods arrive.

*******

THE BIBLE, RUTH 1: 16-17

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, [or] to return from following after thee: for whither

thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thyGod my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me,

and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

*******HYMN OF THE GREAT PLAINS INDIANS TO THE SUN

O Morning Star! When you look down upon us, give us peace and refreshing sleep. Great

Spirit! Bless our children, friends and visitors through a happy life. May our trails lie straightand level before us. Let us live to be old. We are all your children and ask these things with

good hearts.

*******

ON LOVE by Thomas a Kempis

Love is a mighty power,a great and complete good.


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Love alone lightens every burden, and makes rough places smooth.

It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and rendersall bitterness sweet and acceptable.

Nothing is sweeter than love,

Nothing stronger,Nothing higher,

Nothing wider,Nothing more pleasant,

Nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God.

Love flies, runs and leaps for joy.It is free and unrestrained.

Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds.Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil,

attempts things beyond its strength.

Love sees nothing as impossible,for it feels able to achieve all things.

It is strange and effective,while those who lack love faint and fail.

Love is not fickle and sentimental,

nor is it intent on vanities.Like a living flame and a burning torch,

it surges upward and surely surmounts every obstacle.

*******

NEVER MARRY BUT FOR LOVE by William Penn

Never marry but for love; but see that thou lovest what is lovely. If love be not the chiefestmotive, thou wilt soon grow weary of a married state and stray from thy promise, to search out

thy pleasures in forbidden places...Between a man and his wife nothing ought to rule but love ... As love ought to bring them

together, so it is the best way to keep them well together.A husband and wife that love and value one another show their children... that they should do so

too. Others visibly lose authority in their families by their contempt of one another, and teach

their children to be unnatural by their own examples.Let not enjoyment lessen, but augment, affection; it being the basest of passions to like when wehave not, what we slight when we possess.

Here it is we ought to search out our pleasure, where the field is large and full of variety, and ofan enduring nature; sickness, poverty or disgrace being not able to shake it because it is not

under the moving influences of worldly contingencies.


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Nothing can be more entire and without reserve; nothing more zealous, affectionate and sincere;

nothing more contented than such a couple, nor greater temporal felicity than to be one of them.

*******

THE MOST WONDERFUL OF ALL THINGS IN LIFE by Sir Hugh Walpole

The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whomone's relationship has a growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner

progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing; it cannot be foundby looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is a sort of divine accident, and the most

wonderful of all things in life.

*******

LOVE IS A GREAT THING by Thomas a Kempis

Love is a great thing, yea, a great and thorough good,By itself it makes that is heavy light;

And it bears evenly all that is uneven.

It carries a burden which is no burden; it will not be kept back by anything low and mean; itdesires to be free from all wordly affections, and not to be entangled by any outward prosperity,

or by any adversity subdued.Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no

excuse of impossibility. It is therefore able to undertake all things, and it completes many things,and warrants them to take effect, where he who does not love would faint and lie down.

Though weary, it is not tired; though pressed it is not straitened; though alarmed, it is notconfounded; but as a living flame it forces itself upwards and securely passes through all.

Love is active and sincere, courageous, patient, faithful, prudent and manly.

*******

MARRIAGE JOINS TWO PEOPLE IN THE CIRCLE OF ITS LOVE by Edmund O'Neill

Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. Itoffers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical

and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.

Within the circle of its love, marriage encompasses all of life's most important relationships. Awife and a husband are each other's best friend, confidant, lover, teacher, listener, and critic. And

there may come times when one partner is heartbroken or ailing, and the love of the other mayresemble the tender caring of a parent for a child.

Marriage deepens and enriches every facet of life. Happiness is fuller, memories are fresher,


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commitment is stronger, even anger is felt more strongly, and passes away more quickly.

Marriage understands and forgives the mistakes life is unable to avoid. It encourages and

nurtures new life, new experiences, and new ways of expressing a love that is deeper than life.

When two people pledge their love and care for each other in marriage, they create a spiritunique unto themselves which binds them closer than any spoken or written words. Marriage is a

promise, a potential made in the hearts of two people who love each other and takes a lifetime tofulfill.

*******

LOVE ~ Author Unknown

Love is a friendship that has caught fire.

It is quiet understanding,mutual confidence,

sharing and forgiving.It is loyalty through good and bad.

It settles for less than perfection,and makes allowances for human weakness.

Love is content with the present.It hopes for the future and it doesnt brood over the past.

Its the day-in and day-out chronicle of irritations, problems, compromises,small disappointments, big victories, and working toward common goals.

If you have love in your life,

it can make up for a great many things you lack.If you dont have it,

no matter what else there is,it is not enough,

so search for it, ask God for it,and share it!

*******

I PROMISE by Dorothy Colgan

I promise to give you the best of myselfand to ask of you no more than you can give.

I promise to respect you as your own personand to realise that your interests, desires and needs

are no less important than my own.


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I promise to share with you my time and my attention

and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.

I promise to keep myself open to you,to let you see through the window of my world into my innermost fears

and feelings, secrets and dreams.

I promise to grow along with you,to be willing to face changes in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting.

I promise to love you in good times and in bad,

with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how.Completely and forever.

*******

I CHING ~ Excerpt

When two people are at one

in their inmost hearts,they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze.

And when two people understand each otherin their inmost hearts,

their words are sweet and strong,like the fragrance of orchids.

*******

FOUNDATIONS OF MARRIAGE byRegina Hill

Love, trust, and forgiveness are the foundations of marriage. In marriage, many days will bring

happiness, while other days may be sad. But together, two hearts can overcome everything...Inmarriage, all of the moments won't be exciting or romantic, and sometimes worries and anxiety

will be overwhelming. But together, two hearts that accept will find comfort together.Recollections of past joys, pains, and shared feelings will be the glue that holds everything

together during even the worst and most insecure moments. Reaching out to each other as afriend, and becoming the confidant and companion that the other one needs, is the true magic and

beauty of any two people together. It's inspiring in each other a dream or a feeling, and having

faith in each other and not giving up... even when all the odds say to quit. It's allowing each otherto be vulnerable, to be himself or herself, even when the opinions or thoughts aren't in totalagreement or exactly what you'd like them to be. It's getting involved and showing interest in

each other, really listening and being available, the way any best friend should be. Exactly threethings need to be remembered in a marriage if it is to be a mutual bond of sharing, caring, and

loving throughout life: love, trust, and forgiveness.


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********

EXCERPT FROM "A SONG FOR HIAWATHA"

Come join us in celebration, those who love sunshine on meadow

Who love shadow of the forest,love the wind among the branches and the palacades of pine trees,

and the thunder in the mountains whose innumerable echoes flap like eagles in their eries.

Listen to this song of marriage. How, from another tribe and country came a young man, give meas my wife this maiden, and our hands be clasped more closely, and our hearts be more united.

Thus it is, our daughters leave us, those we love and those who love us. When a youth with

flaunting feathers beckons to the fairest maiden.

From the sky the sun benignant looked upon them through the branches, Saying to them, oh, mychildren life is checkered shade and sunshine.

The two figures man and woman Standing hand in hand together, with their hands so clasped

together that they seem in one united. And the words thus represented are, I see your heartwithin you.

Sing them songs of love and longing

Now, let's feast and be more joyous.

*******ESKIMO LOVE SONG ~ Author Unknown

You are my husband

My feet shall run because of youMy feet dance because of you

My heart shall beat because of youMy eyes see because of you

My mind thinks because of youAnd I shall love because of you.

*******

EXCERPT FROM "THE COUNTRY OF MARRIAGE" by Wendell Berry

...our life reminds me of a forest

in which there is a graceful clearingand in that opening a house,

an orchard and garden,comfortable shades, and flowers,


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red and yellow in the sun,

a pattern made in the lightfor the light to return to.

The forest is mostly dark,its ways to be made a new

day after day,the dark richer than the light

and more blessed,provided we stay brave

enough to keep on going in.

*******

NATIVE AMERICAN WEDDING CEREMONY

Now you will feel no rain,For each of you will be shelter for the other.

Now you will feel no cold,

For each of you will be warmth to the other

Now you will feel no loneliness.

Now you are two persons.But, there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling to enter

Into the days of your life together.

And may your days be good,And long upon the earth.

*******

CHEROKEE PRAYER

God in heaven above, please protect the ones we love.We honor all you created as we pledge our hearts and lives together.

We honor mother-earth - and ask for our marriage to be abundantand grow stronger through the seasons;

We honor fire - and ask that our union be warmand glowing with love in our hearts;

We honor wind - and ask we sail though life


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safe and calm as in our father's arms;

We honor water - to clean and soothe our relationship

- that it may never thirsts for love;

With all the forces of the universe you created, we pray for harmony and true happiness as weforever grow young together. Amen.

*******

APACHE MARRIAGE BLESSING

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be the shelter for each other. Now you will feel

no cold, for each of you will be the warmth for the other. Now you are two persons, but there isonly one life before. Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your life together.

And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

*******

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you

together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that yourconnection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship - as they

threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right betweenyou, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds

hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for amoment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life

together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

*******

EXCERPT FROM THE BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER byRichard Bach

A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feelsafe 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're pretending to be. Eachunveils 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 soulmate 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 soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.

*******

THE ART OF MARRIAGE by Wilferd A. Peterson (Long Version)


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Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.A good marriage must be created.

In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted;the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,

it should continue through all the years.It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is standing together facing the world.It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitudeof duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciationand demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not looking for perfection in each other.It is cultivating flexibility, patience,

understanding and a sense of humour.It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal,

dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.It is not only marrying the right partner, it is beingthe right partner.

It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best.

THE ART OF MARRIAGE by Wilferd A. Peterson (Short Version)

A good marriage must be created.In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once each day.

It is never going to sleep angry.It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is speaking words of appreciation anddemonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.It is finding room for the things of the spirit.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.


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It is not only marrying the right partner...

It is beingthe right partner.

A MARRIAGE by Michael Blumenthal

You are holding up a ceiling with both arms. It is very heavy, but you must hold it up, or else itwill fall down on you. Your arms are tired, terribly tired, and, as the day goes on, it feels as if

either your arms or the ceiling will soon collapse.

But then, unexpectedly, something wonderful happens:Someone, a man or a woman, walks into the room and holds their arms up to the ceiling beside

you.

So you finally get to take down your arms. You feel the relief of respite, the blood flowing backto your fingers and arms. And when your partner's arms tire, you hold up your own

to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this for many years without the house falling.

*******

A HISTORY OF LOVE by Diane Ackerman

Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful it has altered the flow of

history, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush,consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals,bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can love's spaciousness be

conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable?...Love is an ancient delirium, a desire olderthan civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.....

The heart is a living museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit,preserved forever like wondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving and being liked.

*******

EXCERPT FROM "THE GIFT FROM THE SEA" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from

moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactlywhat most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of

relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it willnever return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity


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possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are

free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, mot in

hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, norforward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and

accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what theyare here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and

continually visited and abandoned by the tides.

*******

SEE CLEARLY FROM THE COUPLES TAO TE CHING by William Martin

Your love is a great mystery.It is like an eternal lake

whose waters are always still and clear like glass.Looking into it you can see

the truth about your life.

It is like a deep wellwhose waters are cool and pure.

drinking from it you can be reborn.

You do not have to stire watersor dig the well.

Merely see yourself clearlyand drink deeply.

*******

Always Return FROM THE COUPLES TAO TE CHING by William Martin

It is good to know your strength

but always return to your flexibility.If you can cradle your beloved in your arms

in nurturing gentleness,love will flow through you.

It is good to achieve thingsbut always return to anonymity.Your beloved does not need your achievements

but needs your uncomplicated soul.

It is good to work for change,but always return to what is.


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If you accept all things whether painful or joyful,

you will always knowthat you belong to each other

and to the Tao.

*******

A SACRED SPACE FROM THE COUPLES TAO TE CHING by William Martin

Your love requires space in which to grow.This space must be safe enough

to allow your hearts to be revealed.It must offer refreshment for your spirits

and renewal for your minds.It must be a space made sacred

by the quality of your honesty,attention, love and compassion.

It may be anywhere,inside or out,

but it must exist.

*******

TRANSFORMING POWER FROM THE COUPLES TAO TE CHINGby William Martin

Your love contains the power

of a thousand suns.It unfolds as naturally and effortlessly

as does a flower,and graces the world with its blooming.

Its beauty radiates a transforming energythat enlivens all who see it.

Because of you, compassion and joyare added to the world.

That is why the stars sing togetherbecause of your love.

*******

IN LOVE THAT LONGby Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks)

I am here, this moment, inside the beauty,

the gift God has given,Our love: This gold and circular sign


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means we are free of any duty:

out of eternityI turn my face to you, and into eternity:

We have been in love that long.

*******

HE WILL PRAISE HIS LADY by Guido Guinizzelli Rossetti

Yea, let me praise my lady whom I love:Likening her unto the lily and rose:

Brighter than morning start her visage glows;She is beneath even as her Saint above;

She is as the air in summer which God wove

Of purple and of vermilion glorious;As gold and jewels richer than man knows.

Loves self, being love for her, must holier prove.Ever as she walks she hath a sober grace,

Making bold men abashed and good men glad;

If she delight thee not, thy heart must err.No man dare look on her, his thoughts being base:

Nay, let me say even more than I have said; --No man could think base thoughts who looked on her.

*******

MARRIED LOVE by Kuan Tao-Sheng (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)

You and IHave so much love,

That itBurns like a fire,

In which we bake a lump of clayMolded into a figure of you

And a figure of me.Then we take both of them,

And break them into pieces,

And mix the pieces with water,And mold again a figure of you,And a figure of me.

I am in your clay.You are in my clay.

In life we share a single quilt.In death we shall share one coffin.


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*******

MY TRUTH LOVE HATH MY HEART by Sir Philip Sidney

My true love hath my heart and I have his,By just exchange, one for another given;

I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss;There never was a better bargain driven.

My heart in me keeps him and me in one;My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides;

He loves my heart, for once it was his own;I cherish his, because in me it bides.


*******

THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD TO HIS LOVE by Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me, and be my love,

And we will all the pleasures prove,That Valleys, groves, hills and fields,

Woods, or steep mountain yields.And we will sit upon the Rocks,

Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks,By shallow Rivers, to whose falls,

Melodious birds sing Madrigals.And I will make thee beds of Roses,

And a thousand fragrant posies,A cap of flowers, and a kirtle,

Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle.A gown made of the finest wool,

Which from our pretty lambs we pull,Fair lined slippers for the cold:

With buckles of the purest gold.A belt of straw, and ivy buds,

With Coral clasps and Amber studs,

And if these pleasures may thee move,Come live with me, and be my love.The Shepherds Swains shall dance and sing,

For thy delight each May-morning.If these delights thy mind may move;

Then live with me, and be my love.


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*******

SO WELL I LOVE THEEby Michael Drayton

So well I love thee as without thee I

Love nothing; if I might choose, Id rather die

Than be one day debarred thy company.

Since beasts and plants do grow and live and move,Beasts are those men that such a life approve:

He only lives that deadly is in love.

The corn, that in the ground is sown, first dies,

And of one seed do many ears arise;Love, this worlds corn, by dying multiplies

The seeds of love first by thy eyes were thrown

Into a ground untilled, a heart unknownTo bear such fruit, til by thy hands twas sown.

Look as your looking-glass by chance may fall,

Divide, and break in many pieces small,And yet shows forth the selfsame face in all,

Proportions, features, graces, just the same,And in the smallest piece as well the name

Of fairest one deserves as in the richest frame;

So all my thoughts are pieces but of you,Which put together makes a glass so true

As I therein no others face but yours can view.

*******

FULFILLMENTby William Cavendish

There is no happier life

But in a wife;The comforts are so sweet

When two do meet.'Tis plenty, peace, a calm

Like dropping balm;Love's weather is so fair,

Like perfumed air.


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Each word such pleasure brings

Like soft-touched stirrings;Love's passion moves the heart

On either part;Such harmony together,

So pleased in either.No discords; concords still;

Sealed with one will.By love, God made man one,

Yet not alone.Like stamps of king and queen

It may be seen:Two figures on one coin,

So do they join,Only they not embrace.

We, face to face.

*******

TO MY DEAR AND LOVING HUSBANDby Anne Bradstreet

If ever two were one, then surely we.If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole mines of goldOr all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that rivers connot quench,Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay,The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.Then while we live, in love let's so persevere

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

*******

BRIGHT STAR by John Keats

Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art-Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night

And watching, with eternal lids apart,Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,

The moving waters at their priestlike taskOf pure ablution round earth's human shores,

Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask


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Of snow upon the mountains, and the moors-

No-yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,

To fed for ever its soft fall and swell,Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,

Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,An so live ever-or else swoon to death.

*******

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTYby George Gordon, Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless graceWhich waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o'er her face:Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling place.And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

A mind at peace with all below,A heart whose love is innocent!

*******

BELOVED, MY BELOVEDby Elizabeth Barrett

Beloved, My Beloved Beloved,when I thinkThat thou wast in the world a year ago,

What time I sat alone here in the snowAnd saw no footprint, heard the silence sink

No momentat thy voice, but, link by link,Went counting all my chains as if that so

They never could fall off at any blowStruck by thy possible hand,-why, thus I drink

Of life's great cup of wonder! Wonderful,Never to feel thee thrill the day or night

With personal act or speech,-nor ever cull


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Some prescience of thee with the blossoms white

Thou sawest growing! Atheists are as dull,Who cannot guess God's presence out of sight.

*******

WHEN YOU ARE OLDby William Butler Yeats

When you are old and gray and full of sleep,

And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read, and dream of the soft look

Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;How many loved your moments of glad grace,

And loved your beauty with love false or true;But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,

And loved the sorrows of your changing face.And bending down beside the glowing bars

Murmur, a little sadly, how love fledAnd paced upon the mountains overhead

And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

*******

LOVE'S PHILOSOPHYby Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river,And the rivers with the ocean;

The winds of heaven mix forever,With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;All things by a law divineIn one another's being mingle: -

Why not I with thine?See! the montains kiss high heaven,

And the waves clasp one another;

No sister flower would be forgivenIf it disdained its brother;And the sunlight clasps the earth,

And the moonbeams kiss the sea: -What are all these kissings worth,

If thou kiss not me?


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*******

THE BEST IS YET TO BEby Joanna Fuchs

On your joyful wedding day,

You begin a brand new life.Friends and family give their gifts

To joyful husband, blissful wife.But the greatest gift you'll ever get,

A gift from heaven above,Is love forever, ending never,

Everlasting love.You'll share life's joy and pleasure;

You'll have plenty of that, it's true.But love is the real treasure

For your new spouse and you.And if life hands you challenges,

As it does to one and all,Your love will hold you steady

And never let you fall.Your wedding day is full of joy;

Tomorrow you cannot see.But one thing's sure for the two of you:

The best is yet to be.

*******

MARRIAGE GLOWby Joanna Fuchs

Your wedding day is just the startOf a lifetime full of love and fun.

It just begins as you take your vows,When the two of you are joined as one;

We wish for you sweet happiness;Through the years, may your love grow,

To warm you both from day to day,In your marriages satisfying glow.

*******

THE FINEST THINGby Joanna Fuchs

Among the finest things in life,

a good marriageis the most satisfying and rewarding,


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the deepest and best of pleasures.

That blessed relationshipuplifts, enriches, encourages

and strengthens both husband and wife.A loving marriage

overcomes any obstaclesthe world may put in its way,

strengthening the special marital bondwith every challenge conquered.

Your weddingis the start of something better

than you can imagine.May your marriage

be all that you dream of and more.

*******

DOOR TO HAPPINESSby Joanna Fuchs

A wedding is a door to happiness,When two decide to share their lives as one.

Your marriage is an adventure bright and new;The pleasures and delights have just begun.

I/We wish for you a lifetime full of love;May you always keep that magical attraction.

Let your bond and your commitment grow with time,So that all your days are filled with satisfaction.

*******

UNSHAKEABLE BONDby Joanna Fuchs

A wedding of two people

of quality and character,so obviously right for each other,

is a joy and a blessing to the world.May your fondest hopes, wishes and dreams

all come true,

as you grow closer togetherin an unshakeable, loving bond.May your marriage be filled

with sunshine and rainbowsand every kind of happiness

you two so richly deserve.Congratulations, and every good wish


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for the best things life has to offer you.

*******

WONDERFUL LIFEby Karl Fuchs

Congratulations on your marriage,

Have a wonderful life!You are two terrific people,

Now teamed as man and wife.A team with blessings like yours

Will live a life you'll cherish;Youll find happiness everywhere,

For your love will never perish.

*******

MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED, RED ROSE by Robert Burns

My love is like a red, red rose

Thats newly sprung in June;

My love is like the melodyThats sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass

So deep in love am I;And I will love thee still, my dear,

Till all the seas gone dry.

Till all the seas gone dry, my dear,And the rocks melt with the sun:And I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands of life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only love

And fare thee well, a while!

And I will come again, my love,Tho it were ten thousand mile.

*******

THE NEWLY-WEDDED by Winthrop Mackworth Praed

NOW the rite is duly done,Now the word is spoken,


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And the spell has made us one

Which may neer be broken;Rest we, dearest, in our home,

Roam we oer the heather:We shall rest, and we shall roam,

Shall we not? together.

From this hour the summer roseSweeter breathes to charm us;

From this hour the winter snowsLighter fall to harm us:

Fair or foulon land or seaCome the wind or weather,

Best and worst, whateer they be,We shall share together.

Death, who friend from friend can part,

Brother rend from brother,Shall but link us, heart and heart,

Closer to each other:We will call his anger play,

Deem his dart a feather,

When we meet him on our wayHand in hand together.

*******

I WILL TELL THEE WHAT IT IS TO LOVE by Charles Swain

Love? I will tell thee what it is to love!It is to build with human thoughts a shrine,

Where Hope sits brooding like a beauteous dove;Where Time seems young, and Life a thing divine.

All tastes, all pleasures, all desires combineTo consecrate this sanctuary of bliss.

Above, the stars in cloudless beauty shine;Around, the streams their flowery margins kiss;

And if there's heaven on earth, that heaven is surely this.

Yes, this is love, the steadfast and the true,

The immortal glory which hath never set;The best, the brightest boon the heart e'er knew:

Of all life's sweets the very sweetest yet!O' who but can recall the eve they met


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To breathe, in some green walk, their first young vow?

While summer flowers with moonlight dews were wet,And winds sighed soft around the mountain's brow,

And all was rapture then which is but memory now!

*******

THOUGHTS IN A GARDEN by R. Gerhardt

This is a special place, a place where people have brought beautiful living plants, here toestablish them, to nurture and care for them, that they may forever surround us with the beauty

we now see. And into this place where we stand, you have brought something beautiful -- therelationship that is becoming your marriage. Here you are declaring it and pledging it, promising

to establish and nurture it. We are aware of the special beauty between the two of you, just as weare aware of the special beauty of this place. We are with you now in this appropriate place to

celebrate your relationship as it is and as it is yet to be, and in doing so, we ask only that youremember how your life together will have the same seasons and needs as this garden. There will

be growth like spring and loss like fall; there will be giving as the blossoming flower, and rest asthe seed beneath the snow. All the seasons will be yours, but remember, too, that gardens are not

must happenings. The more wonderful the garden, the more skilled the gardener. So you willhave to care deeply for the life that is yours together, and nurture it. You will have to appreciate

your differences and cultivate them. You will have to take care of yourself, if for no other reasonthan out of love for the other. And you will need the support of family and friends to reach full

growth. As you caringly chose this place to declare your marriage, so remember its lessons foryour life together through the seasons that are yours to share. And may those seasons bring you

and yours joy and happiness.*******

A HISTORY OF LOVE,by Diane Ackerman

Love. What a small word we use for an idea so immense and powerful. It has altered the flow ofhistory, calmed monsters, kindled works of art, cheered the forlorn, turned tough guys to mush,

consoled the enslaved, driven strong women mad, glorified the humble, fueled national scandals,bankrupted robber barons, and made mincemeat of kings. How can loves spaciousness be

conveyed in the narrow confines of one syllable? Love is an ancient delirium, a desire older thancivilization, with taproots spreading into deep and mysterious days. The heart is a living

museum. In each of its galleries, no matter how narrow or dimly lit, preserved forever likewondrous diatoms, are our moments of loving, and being loved.

*******


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A WALLED GARDEN Anonymous

"Your marriage", he said, "should have within it, a secret and protected place open to you alone.Imagine it to be a walled garden, entered by a door to which you only hold the key.

Within this garden you will cease to be a mother, father, employee, homemaker or any other ofthe roles which you fulfil in daily life.

Here you are yourselves two people who love each other.Here you can concentrate on one another's needs.

So take my hand and let us go back to our garden.The time we spend together is not wasted but invested.

Invested in our future and the nurture of our love.

*******

CHINESE POEM, 1st

Century AD

I want to be your friend forever and ever without break or decay.

When the hills are all flat and the rivers are all dry,When it lightens and thunders in winter,

When it rains and snows in summer,When Heaven and Earth mingle -

Not till then will I part from you.

I KNEW THAT I HAD BEEN TOUCHED BY LOVE Author unknown

I knew that I had been touched by love the first time I saw you,

and I felt your warmth, and I heard your laughter.I knew that I had been touched by love when I was hurting from

something that happened,and you came along and made the hurt go away.

I knew that I had been touched by love when I quit making plans with my friends,and started dreaming dreams with you.

I knew that I had been touched by love when suddenly I stoppedthinking in terms of 'me',

and started thinking in terms of 'we'.I knew that I had been touched by love when suddenly I couldn't

make any decisions by myself anymore,

and I had the strong desire to share everything with you.I knew that I had been touched by love the first time we spent alonetogether, and I knew that I wanted to stay with you forever because

I had never felt this touched by love.

*******


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THE KEY TO LOVE --1ST Century AD, Chinese

The key to love is understanding..

The ability to comprehend not only the spoken wordBut those unspoken gestures

The little things that say so much by themselves.The key to love is forgiveness..

To accept each others faults and pardon mistakesWithout forgetting, but with remembering

What you learn from them.The key to love is sharing..

Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, togetherBoth conquering problems, forever searching for ways

To intensify your happiness.The key to love is giving..

Without thought of returnBut with the hope of just a simple smile

And by giving in but never giving up.The key to love is respect..

Realising that you are two separate people, with different ideasThat you dont belong to each other

That you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.The key to love is inside us all..

It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredientsThat will take you to its threshold

It is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work..But the rewards are more than worth the effort.

And that is the key to love.

*******

THESE I CAN PROMISE by Author Unknown

I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;

I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;I cannot promise you an easy pathway

That leads away from change or growing old.

But I can promise all my heart's devotion;A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;

A love that's ever true and ever growing;A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.

*******


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TRUE LOVE by Helen Steiner Rice

True love is a sacred flame

That burns eternally,And none can dim its special glow

Or change its destiny.

True love speaks in tender tonesAnd hears with gentle ear,

True love gives with open heartAnd true love conquers fear.

True love makes no harsh demandsIt neither rules nor binds,

And true love holds with gentle handsThe hearts that it entwines.

*******

THE PROMISES OF MARRIAGEby Bettie Meeks

Marriage is a promise of companionship, of having someone to share all of life's experiences.Marriage does not promise that there will not be any rough times, just the assurance that there will always

be someone who cares and will help you through to better times.Marriage does not promise eternal romance, just eternal love and commitment. Marriage can't prevent disappointments, disillusionment or grief, but it can offer hope, acceptance, andcomfort.Marriage can't protect you from making individual choices or shelter you from the world, but it will helpto reassure you that there is someone by your side who truly cares.

When the world hurts you and makes you feel vulnerable, marriage offers the promise that there will besomeone waiting to listen, to console, to inspire.Marriage is the joining of two people who share the promise that only marriage can make...to share thesunshine and the shadows, and to experience a richer, more fulfilling life because of it.*******

SOMEWHEREby Sir Edwin Arnold

Somewhere there waiteth in this world of ours

for one lone soul, another lonely soul -Each chasing each through all the weary hours,

And meeting strangely at one sudden goal;Then blend they - like green leaves with golden flowers,

Into one beautiful and perfect whole -


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And life's long night is ended, and the way

Lies open onward to eternal day.

*******

YES, I'LL MARRY YOU by Pam Ayres

Yes, I'll marry you, my dear,

And here's the reason why;So I can push you out of bed

When the baby starts to cry,And if we hear a knocking

And it's creepy and it's late,I hand you the torch you see,

And you investigate.

Yes I'll marry you, my dear,You may not apprehend it,

But when the tumble-drier goesIt's you that has to mend it,

You have to face the neighbourShould our labrador attack him,

And if a drunkard fondles meIt's you that has to whack him.

Yes, I'll marry you,

You're virile and you're lean,My house is like a pigsty

You can help to keep it clean.That sexy little dinner

Which you served by candlelight,As I do chipolatas,

You can cook it every night!

It's you who has to work the drilland put up curtain track,

And when I've got PMT it's you who gets the flak,I do see great advantages,

But none of them for you,And so before you see the light,

I do, I do, I do!

*******


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HAVE YOU EVERby Jody Beck

Have you ever just met a personWho made your head turn

Have you ever met a personWho made your heart burn

Have you ever met a personThat let you be you

Have you ever met a personThat made you feel love true Have you ever met a person

Who touched you so deepHave you ever met a person

Without whom you could not sleep

Have you ever met a person

that brightened your lifeHave you ever met a personThat made you want to be a wife

Have you ever met a personWhose eyes promise you'll never feel blue

I know you haveBecause that person is you.

*******

TO MY DEAR AND LOVING HUSBANDbyAnne BradstreetIf ever two were one, then surely we.If ever man were loved by wife, then thee.

If ever wife was happy in a man,Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole Mines of goldOr all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay.The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let's so persevereThat when we live no more, we may live ever.

*******

BECAUSE SHE WOULD ASK ME WHY I LOVEDHERby Christopher Brennan


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If questioning would make us wise

No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;If all our tale were told in speech

No mouths would wander each to each.

Were spirits free from mortal meshAnd love not bound in hearts of flesh

No aching breasts would yearn to meetAnd find their ecstasy complete.

For who is there that lives and knows

The secret powers by which he grows?Were knowledge all, what were our need

To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?.

Then seek not, sweet, the "If" and "Why"I love you now until I die.

For I must love because I liveAnd life in me is what you give.

*******

THE SERMON FROM RAJAGAHA

And the Buddha made this solemn utterance:"Do not deceive, do not despise

each other, anywhere.do not be angry, nor should you

bear secret resentment.For, as a mother risks her life

and watches over her child,so boundless, should be your love to all,

so tender, kind and mild!Indeed, cherish goodwill and dispense it right and left,

all around, early and late,and without hindrance, without stint,

free from envy and hate,while standing, walking, sitting down,

whatever you have in mind,the rule of life that is always best

is to be loving and kind.""Gifts are great, the founding of viharas is meritorious,

meditations and religious exercises pacify the heart,


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comprehension of the truth leads to Nirvana,

but greater then all is loving kindness.As the light of the moon is sixteen times stronger

than the light of all the stars, so loving-kindnessis sixteen times more efficacious in liberating the

heart than all other religious acco

Documents

Rev Wills Selected Wedding Readings