Wedding reading
Habitation
Margaret Atwood
“Habitation” by Margaret Atwood is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 30 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is still in copyright, so the words are not reprinted here — the reader brings a printed copy.
Why the words are not printed here
Still in copyright — Atwood is living. The page below reprints it by permission from Selected Poems 1965–1975; print the reader a copy from that. It is nine lines and it is not cosy, so read it to the couple before you put it in the running order.
Pieces still in copyright are listed by title and author only — we name them and tell you where to get them, but we do not reproduce the words. Public-domain text is printed in your script in full.
What it is about
Nine lines, none of them cosy. For a couple who would rather have it said straight.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: what marriage is instead of a home · starting from nothing · building something together · unsentimental · a second marriage · very short · literary.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Habitation” take to read aloud?
“Habitation” takes about 30 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Habitation”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Habitation” runs about 30 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “Habitation” be printed in a ceremony script?
Not by us. It is still in copyright, so we name it and point you at a copy rather than reprinting the words. Still in copyright — Atwood is living. The page below reprints it by permission from Selected Poems 1965–1975; print the reader a copy from that. It is nine lines and it is not cosy, so read it to the couple before you put it in the running order.
Where to find it
No text is reproduced here, so there is nothing to verify — bring a copy from a published edition.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the vows, the ring exchange, the pronouncement — and the timing that holds them together. Answer some questions about the couple and get the whole ceremony, written out, with this reading in its place.