A Wedding Poem by Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore.
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 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 others' 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 crypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

~Kahlil Gibran, excerpt from his book The Prophet

Wedding Poem: "Apache Blessing"

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

         ~Elliot Arnold

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History of Wedding Poem: "Apache Blessing"

The blessing was written for the 1950 Western novel Blood Brother
by Elliott Arnold.  The blessing entered popular consciousness when
it made its way into the film adaptation of the novel Broken Arrow, scripted by Albert Maltz,
and has no known connection to the traditions of the Apache or any other Native American group.
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Expansion of "Apache blessing"

This is sometimes added to the "Apache Blessing:"

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 your connection deserves.

When frustration, difficult and fear assail your relationship--
as they threaten 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 clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives,
remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a 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.

    ~Unknown Author

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Wedding Poem: Cherokee Wedding Prayer

We honour all you created
as we pledge our hearts and lives together.
We honour all you created
as we pledge our hearts and lives together.

We honour mother-earth
and ask for our marriage to be abundant
and grow stronger through the seasons
We honour fire
and ask that our union be warm
and glowing with love in our hearts.

We honour wind
and ask we sail though life safe and calm
as in our father's arms;
We honour water
to clean and soothe our relationship
that it may never thirst for love

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

~Author Unknown



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