Wedding reading
Wild Geese
Mary Oliver
“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver 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, and Oliver’s estate licenses tightly. It is in Dream Work (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986) — print it from there, or from the Academy of American Poets page below, which carries it with permission. Give the reader time with the last three lines; that is where the poem turns and where a rushed reading loses 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.
What it is about
Opens by letting everyone off the hook, and ends on belonging. A room settles under it.
Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: letting yourself off the hook · belonging · nature · a second marriage · a modern favourite.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Wild Geese” take to read aloud?
“Wild Geese” 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 “Wild Geese”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Wild Geese” 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 “Wild Geese” 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, and Oliver’s estate licenses tightly. It is in Dream Work (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1986) — print it from there, or from the Academy of American Poets page below, which carries it with permission. Give the reader time with the last three lines; that is where the poem turns and where a rushed reading loses it.
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.