Welcome to the world of love and poetry, where words weave magic into your special day. Including a short love poem in your wedding ceremony can add a touch of elegance, romance and profound meaning, making your celebration even more memorable. Whether you’re looking for classic charm or modern flair, these carefully selected short love poems will surely resonate with your heart and soul.

The Power of Short Love Poems in Weddings

Short love poems are gems of emotion, encapsulating vast feelings in just a few lines. Their brevity makes them perfect for a wedding ceremony, where every moment is precious. These poems can be used in various parts of your ceremony, from vows to readings and even in your wedding programs or decorations, adding a romantic essence that speaks volumes.

Classic Love Poems

1. How Do I Love Thee? – 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 sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With 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.

This poem is a beautiful expression of deep and enduring love, making it a timeless choice for inclusion in a wedding ceremony.

2. Sonnet 116 – William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That 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 cheeks
Within 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.

This sonnet beautifully captures the essence of unchanging, enduring love, making it a popular choice for weddings. The poem speaks to love’s ability to withstand any challenges, affirming the timeless and unshakeable nature of true love.

3. A Red, Red Rose – Robert Burns

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

This poem is often admired for its romantic and enduring depiction of love. The use of vivid imagery and the promise of eternal love make it an especially touching selection for a wedding ceremony. Burns’ words beautifully encapsulate the depth and commitment of true love.

Contemporary Love Poems

4. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock – T.S. Eliot

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question…
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

This poem is a dramatic monologue that delves into the thoughts and emotions of the titular character, J. Alfred Prufrock. It’s known for its stream-of-consciousness style and its exploration of the complexities of modern life and existential angst. While not a traditional love poem, it’s a seminal work in the canon of English literature, often appreciated for its depth and eloquence.

5. I Carry Your Heart With Me

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I 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 want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and 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
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than 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)

This poem is celebrated for its expression of deep, enduring love and the profound connection between two people. Its lyrical and heartfelt language makes it a popular choice for weddings and romantic occasions, encapsulating the idea of two people being inextricably linked in heart and soul.

6. Valentine – Carol Ann Duffy

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

This poem is known for its striking metaphor of an onion as a Valentine’s Day gift, representing the complex layers and sometimes tear-inducing nature of love. Duffy’s work is celebrated for its originality and depth, challenging traditional notions of romantic gestures.

For those who appreciate the beauty of unique expressions, you might find inspiration in our collection crafted to reflect the uniqueness of your love story. Explore our curated keepsakes, designed to create lasting memories for your journey together.

Haiku and Short Verses

7. Love is a Place – E.E. Cummings

love is a place
& through this place of
love move
(with brightness of peace)
all places

yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skilfully curled)
all worlds

This poem, like much of Cummings’ work, is known for its unique formatting and profound simplicity. It explores the concept of love as a physical and emotional space, suggesting a serene and all-encompassing nature of love.

8. Traditional Japanese Haiku

Whispers of spring breeze,
Two hearts dancing under blooms,
Endless love whispers.

This haiku is crafted in the traditional style, embodying the essence of love and nature’s beauty, making it suitable for a romantic occasion like a wedding.

9. Love’s Philosophy – Percy Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle.
Why not I with thine?—

See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?

This poem beautifully explores the interconnectedness of natural elements as a metaphor for human love and union, making it a particularly romantic and fitting choice for a wedding ceremony. Shelley’s use of nature imagery to illustrate the necessity and beauty of love resonates with the idea of two people coming together in harmony.

Romantic Love Poems

10. She Walks in Beauty – 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 grace
Which 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!

This poem is celebrated for its lyrical beauty and the way it captures the ethereal and sublime nature of a woman’s beauty. It’s often interpreted as a celebration of not just physical beauty, but also of inner goodness and purity, making it a popular choice for readings at weddings and romantic occasions.

11. Bright Star – John Keats

Bright star, would I were stedfast 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 task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

This sonnet is noted for its romantic and vivid imagery, expressing a deep yearning for stability and constancy in love, symbolised by the steadfastness of a bright star. It’s a beautiful expression of the desire for an eternal, unchanging love, making it a poignant choice for a wedding ceremony or romantic dedication.

12. Annabel Lee – Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

This poem is renowned for its haunting beauty and the intensity of its emotion. It speaks of a love so strong that not even death can diminish it, making it a poignant and deeply moving choice for those who resonate with themes of eternal love and enduring connection.

Inclusive Love Poems

13. Sonnets to Orpheus, Part Two, XII – Rainer Maria Rilke

Want the Change. Be inspired by the flame
Where everything shines as it disappears.
The artist, when sketching, loves nothing so much
as the curve of the body as it turns away.

What locks itself in sameness has congealed.
Is it safer to be gray and numb?
What turns hard becomes rigid
and is easily shattered.

Pour yourself like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.

Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive. And Daphne, becoming a laurel,
dares you to become the wind.

14. One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII – Pablo Neruda

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as one loves certain obscure things,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries
the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,
and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose
from the earth lives dimly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,
except in this form in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

15. Wild Nights – Wild Nights! – Emily Dickinson

Wild Nights – Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile – the winds –
To a heart in port –
Done with the compass –
Done with the chart!

Rowing in Eden –
Ah, the sea!
Might I but moor – tonight –
In thee!

This poem is known for its passionate and intense imagery, conveying a sense of longing and desire. Dickinson’s characteristic style of short lines and dashes creates a rhythm that enhances the poem’s emotive power, making it a memorable and striking piece suitable for contexts that embrace deep, passionate love.

How to Choose the Right Poem

Selecting the right poem for your wedding ceremony is a personal journey. Consider the overall tone of your wedding, your personal love story and the emotions you wish to evoke. Whether you choose a classic sonnet or a contemporary verse, let the words resonate with your heart.

Cherishing Moments, Creating Memories: Elevating Your Wedding Ceremony with Short Love Poems

Incorporating a short love poem into your wedding ceremony is a beautiful way to celebrate your union. These poems, each with their unique voice and style, offer a range of expressions fitting for the kaleidoscope of love. May they add an extra layer of beauty and meaning to your special day.

If you’re envisioning the perfect backdrop for your union, explore our guide on Unique Wedding Ceremony Locations Unveiled. It covers everything from style and costs to permits and ensuring guest comfort, helping you create a truly memorable celebration.