Whether the subject is a June bride or the culmination of a May – December romance, there is nothing like a wedding to inspire verse.

The occasion of marriage has been the inspiration for many a poet’s pen; wedding poems have, in fact, been a part of literature since recorded time.

One of the earliest recorded poets, Sappho (615 B.C. – unknown), was moved to write a poem on the subject of marriage. Epithalamium, or Happy Bridegroom, was probably, like most of Sappho’s poetry, meant to be sung as a lyric:

Many years later, the celebrated English poet and essayist Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586) also celebrated marriage with his wedding poem “A Ditty.” It is interesting to note that while female poet Sappho wrote of marriage for the bridegroom, Sidney writes of the wedding from the viewpoint of the bride in “A Ditty:”

Another English poet, Robert Herrick (1591-1674), wrote “To Silvia, To Wed” as a marriage proposal from the bridegroom to the bride:

While Christopher Marlowe’s (1564-1593) “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” is often thought of as a wedding poem, the actual nature of the passionate shepherd may have been, well, baser:

Those considering using Marlowe’s verses as a wedding poem should consider Sir Walter Raleigh’s (1552-1618) reply, “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd:”

Wedding poems are often used in the marriage ceremony to allow a poet to express feelings that the couple to be wed perhaps cannot. However, as Raleigh’s reply to Marlowe suggests, one should choose a wedding poem carefully – it may belie or portend the occasion!