Wedding reading
i carry your heart with me
E. E. Cummings
“i carry your heart with me” by E. E. Cummings is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 45 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. Print it from a licensed edition — and check the reader is comfortable with the punctuation, which is deliberate and easy to stumble over.
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
Short and much loved. The punctuation trips readers — rehearse it.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: carrying someone with you · unusual punctuation · short · modern.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “i carry your heart with me” take to read aloud?
“i carry your heart with me” takes about 45 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 “i carry your heart with me”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “i carry your heart with me” runs about 45 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 “i carry your heart with me” 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. Print it from a licensed edition — and check the reader is comfortable with the punctuation, which is deliberate and easy to stumble over.
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.