Poetry suggestions for a wedding

[cressetmama]

My DSis has asked me to help find poem for my nephew to read at his sister's civil wedding. The mission is to find something in the third person, with a proper rhyme scheme, that is not cheesy, religious or desperately cliched. So I thought MNetters were the obvious place to start. Any ideas? And thank you .

Er ... a poem. And DN is an actor, so not phased by difficult stuff!

How about W.H. Auden "O Tell Me the Truth about Love"

www.poemhunter.com/poem/o-tell-me-the-truth-about-love/

Not in third person but I think fits the other criteria.

Some other good suggestions here:

www.poetryfoundation.org/features/articles/detail/68621?gclid=CjwKEAjwxoG5BRCC7ezlzNmR8HUSJAAre36jn-FWtPcEK1ZYjIpiYJbtw4C5MbX5Y-3ch8d-sqP6_xoClE3w_wcB

We had 'Yes, I'll marry you my dear' by Pam Ayres

The Owl and the Pussycat
He wished for the cloths of Heaven - Yeats

There's one called He Never Leaves the Toilet Seat Up

I can't remember the one we used but it was first person I think anyway

Dr zeuss oh the places you'll go

Found it. It's called The Promise by Luke Wright

I love this if you wanted something a bit more serious :-
Ann Gray
Love Listen

Let's love, listen, take time
when time is all we have.
Let's be unafraid to be kind,
learn to disregard the bad
if the good outweighs it daily.
Let's make a gift of silence,
the day's hushing into dark,
and when we hold each other
let's always be astonished
we are where we want to be.
Let's hope to age together,
but if we can't, let's promise now
to remember how we shone
when we were at our best,
when we were most ourselves

www.itakeyou.co.uk/he-never-leaves-seat-wedding-reading/

It's quite long!

Us Two - AA Milne. We had it at ours, just verses 1,2 and 5

Thanks everyone... lots to consider here. Will read the ones I don't know and forward some suggestions.

This one? Not in the third person obviously.

These I Can Promise

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.

My 8 year old daughter read "The Lovely Love Story" at our wedding.

Don't think it fits any of your criteria though sorry!

Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss

YY to Yeats

he Wishes for The Cloths of Heaven

HAD I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Pablo Neruda's sonnets.. Beautiful and classy

Thank you one and all . At the moment, Dr Seuss is coming up as the favourite.