Complete Book of Wedding Vows (95 page)

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Authors: Diane Warner

Tags: #Family & Relationships, #Marriage, #test

BOOK: Complete Book of Wedding Vows
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Page 182
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love's sake, that evermore
Thou mayest love on, through love's eternity.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from
Sonnets from the Portuguese
...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?
Walt Whitman, from "Song of the Open Road"
If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were lov'd 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 gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that Rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompence.
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 persever,
That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Anne Bradstreet, from "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
 
Page 183
Epilogue
You may help yourself to any of the vows or phrasings in this book; they are yours for the taking to mix and match at will. Or you may want to combine some of the phrasings found here with other prose or poetry you have gleaned from a love note or card received from your intended, or from your favorite love song or poem.
If you're searching for classical ideas and you didn't find exactly what you're looking for in Chapter 9, you may wish to consider the other writings of Ehzabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, William Shakespeare, Kahlil Gibran, James Russell Lowell, John Ciardi, E.E. Cummings, Gerard Manley Hopkins Carl Sandburg, James Joyce, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Anne Bradstreet, Christopher Marlowe, Charles Dickens, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Walt Whitman, Wendell Berry, Philip Sidney, William Penn,
 
Page 184
Mark Twain, Henry Van Dyke, Robert Burns, John Donne, Martin Luther, Voltaire, Stephen Sondheim and, of course, the Bible.
As you compose your vows, however, whether they are contemporary or classical, consider these four questions:
How do we feel about our unique relationship to each other?
What are our hopes and dreams for our marriage?
What words can we use to express these thoughts?
Which format do we prefer? Monologue, dialogue or question and answer?
Your vows should reflect the deep emotional and spiritual bond between the two of you and the uniqueness of your own special relationship, which is like none other.
Have fun and God bless you as you create your own wedding vows!
I will be updating this book in the years to come and I would appreciate a copy of your original wedding vows, if you would agree to share them with me. Please write me in care of my publisher:
Diane Warner
c/o Career Press, Inc.
P. O. Box 687
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
 

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