Wedding reading

The Country of Marriage

Wendell Berry

“The Country of Marriage” by Wendell Berry is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about a minute and a half read aloud, usually by a guest reader. We do not reprint the words here — the note below says why, and what to bring instead.

Why the words are not printed here

Still in copyright. Print it from a licensed collection. It is long — pick the section with the couple rather than reading all of it.

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.

Where it comes from

The Country of Marriage is the title poem of Wendell Berry’s 1973 collection from Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, reissued by Counterpoint in 2013.

What it says

Berry writes to his wife about marriage as land: a country the two of them entered together and are still exploring, with woods and dark places and ground that gives back what is put into it. He refuses the idea of marriage as a trade, where each partner hands over love and work in exchange for the other’s. What he describes instead is giving with no ledger, a faithfulness that is chosen again and again, and a love that has room for being lost and found. It is long, reflective, grounded in farming and seasons, and written by a man looking back on years of marriage.

For a couple who want something with more weight than the standards. Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: marriage as a place · farming · long marriage · literary.

Who it suits

Rural couples, gardeners and farmers, and readers who already love Berry. It suits couples marrying after a long relationship and anniversary or vow-renewal ceremonies especially well. For a young couple at a fast, light ceremony it can feel heavy, and read whole it is too long for most weddings.

Where it goes in the ceremony

The main reading, before the vows or before the officiant’s address, where its weight can set the tone. Choose one or two sections with the couple rather than the whole poem. A parent or a long-married friend reads it well.

Reading it aloud

Allow about a minute and a half at a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, from the reader’s first word to their last.

Decide on the sections early and print only those. Reading a long poem from a book and skipping pages on the day is how readers lose their place.
Berry’s sentences run long and over line breaks. Follow the sentence, not the line; pause at the punctuation, not at the end of each line.
Keep the tone conversational. This is a husband talking to his wife, not a public address, and it sounds best close to ordinary speech.

Questions about reading it aloud

How long does “The Country of Marriage” take to read aloud?

“The Country of Marriage” takes about a minute and a half 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 “The Country of Marriage”?

Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “The Country of Marriage” runs about a minute and a half, 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 “The Country of Marriage” be printed in a ceremony script?

Not by us. Still in copyright. Print it from a licensed collection. It is long — pick the section with the couple rather than reading all of it.

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.

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