Poems


On Marriage by Kahlil Gibran

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of marriage, Master?"
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the 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 Heaven 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 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.


Blessing for a Marriage by Unity Poet James Dillet Freeman

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a
marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience,
tolerance, and understanding.

May you always need one another, not so much to fill
your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness.

May you entice one another, but not compel one another.
May you embrace one another, but not encircle one another.

May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one
another's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and
near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are
in separate rooms or even distant cities.

May you find happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.
May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.

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