Wedding reading
The Owl and the Pussy-cat
Edward Lear
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” by Edward Lear is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about two minutes read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money Wrapped up in a five-pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!" Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl! How charmingly sweet you sing! O let us be married! too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a ring?" They sailed away, for a year and a day, To the land where the Bong-tree grows And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood With a ring at the end of his nose, His nose, His nose, With a ring at the end of his nose. "Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will." So they took it away, and were married next day By the Turkey who lives on the hill. They dinèd on mince, and slices of quince, Which they ate with a runcible spoon; And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Nonsense verse the whole room half-remembers, and the one piece here nobody has ever objected to. Made for a child reader.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: the owl and the pussy-cat · a runcible spoon · a beautiful pea-green boat · nonsense verse · a child reader · married by the turkey who lives on the hill · danced by the light of the moon · silly and universally loved · children present.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “The Owl and the Pussy-cat” take to read aloud?
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” takes about two minutes 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 Owl and the Pussy-cat”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “The Owl and the Pussy-cat” runs about two minutes, 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 Owl and the Pussy-cat” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
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.