Wedding reading
A Birthday
Christina Rossetti
“A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about 30 seconds 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
My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a watered shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
A Birthday was printed in Christina Rossetti’s 1862 collection Goblin Market and Other Poems.
What it says
Every image in the first verse is a picture of happiness. Her heart is like a bird singing from a nest on a well-watered branch, like an apple tree weighed down with fruit, like a rainbow-colored shell floating on a calm sea. Then she tops all three: her heart is happier than any of them, because her love has come to her. The full poem goes on to a second verse about decorating a dais with silk, carved doves and gold for the day her life began, which is the “birthday” of the title. The verse read at weddings is the first one, and it is pure gladness without any argument or warning.
Pure gladness, and over in half a minute. Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: joy · my heart is like a singing bird · exuberant · short.
Who it suits
Spring and summer weddings, garden ceremonies and couples who want joy rather than solemnity. It suits a couple who waited a long time to find each other, since the whole poem turns on the moment love finally arrives. It reads well in a church or a civil ceremony. At about thirty seconds it is too slight for a couple who want the reading to say something about marriage itself, so pair it with a longer piece.
Where it goes in the ceremony
An opening reading, or the first of two. It also works as the reading just before the couple walk back down the aisle, as a burst of celebration at the end. A friend or a younger relative usually reads it; it is short and regular enough for a teenage reader.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 55 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about 25 seconds of reading.
- The first six lines are three matched pairs: heart like, whose. Keep the rhythm steady so the pattern is heard.
- Lift the energy on “My heart is gladder than all these”. It is the line the whole verse has been climbing toward.
- The final line is the reason for everything. Slow it down and let “come to me” land softly.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “A Birthday” take to read aloud?
“A Birthday” 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 “A Birthday”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “A Birthday” 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 “A Birthday” 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.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Song of Solomon 2:10–1340 secondsScripture’s own spring scene: rise up and come away
- A Red, Red Rose45 secondsAnother short, musical declaration of joy
- The stars about the fair moon15 secondsOne sentence of praise, for a second very short reading
- To My Dear and Loving Husband50 secondsAnne Bradstreet
- from Song of the Open Road25 secondsWalt Whitman
- Sonnet 130a minute and a halfWilliam Shakespeare