Wedding reading
Sonnet 116
William Shakespeare
“Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare is a poem read at a wedding ceremony. It takes about a minute and a half 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
Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no; it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests, and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
Where it comes from
Shakespeare’s Sonnets were first printed in 1609, in a quarto published by Thomas Thorpe, and the Folger Shakespeare Library notes that modern editors usually follow that edition.
What it says
The poem is an argument, and its opening, let me not admit impediments to the marriage of true minds, echoes the question about impediments asked in many wedding services. Love that changes when the other person changes, or that pulls back when the other pulls away, was never love. Real love is a fixed mark that storms cannot move, a star a lost ship steers by even though no one can measure what it is worth. Time will take youth and good looks, but love does not shrink to fit the hours and weeks; it holds out to the end. The last two lines bet everything on the claim: if this is wrong, then no one has ever written anything and no one has ever loved.
"Let me not to the marriage of true minds." Warn your reader: the last two lines need slowing down. Read at a wedding ceremony. Themes: constancy · love that does not alter · the classic wedding poem · formal · an ever-fixed mark.
Who it suits
Almost any wedding, religious or civil, and especially couples who want the classic. It suits a couple who have been through illness, distance or a long wait, because its subject is love that does not change when circumstances do. It is a good choice for older couples and second marriages, where everyone in the room knows what alteration means. Couples who want something light or surprising may find it too familiar.
Where it goes in the ceremony
Usually the main secular reading, after the welcome and before the vows, read by a friend or family member. It pairs well with a short scripture reading in a church service, or with a lighter poem such as Sonnet 130 for couples who want the room to smile as well. One reader is better than two; the argument needs a single voice.
Reading it aloud
The text on this page is 110 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about 50 seconds of reading.
- Pause at the end of the second line, after “Love is not love”. The sentence runs on to the next line, but the half-beat lets the room hear the claim.
- “O no; it is an ever-fixed mark” is the turn from what love is not to what it is. Lift your voice there.
- Slow right down for the final couplet. Read “I never writ, nor no man ever loved” as a dare, not a sigh, then look up.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Sonnet 116” take to read aloud?
“Sonnet 116” 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 “Sonnet 116”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Sonnet 116” 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 “Sonnet 116” 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
- Sonnet 1855 secondsShakespeare’s other well-known sonnet, about beauty outlasting time
- Sonnet 130a minute and a halfThe Shakespeare sonnet that teases the flowery ones
- 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a45 secondsThe scripture reading that makes the same argument about lasting love
- Sonnet 43a minute and a halfElizabeth Barrett Browning
- A Red, Red Rose45 secondsRobert Burns
- To My Dear and Loving Husband50 secondsAnne Bradstreet