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Disappearing Act
A visit to an old friend at a nursing home reminds me of the true value to be found in friendship. Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians ...

Finding the Right Words For a Letter of Condolence
Grieving family members get great comfort from receiving heartfelt letters and notes acknowledging their loss. But often finding those sincere and perfect words can be a struggle. The best condolence or sympathy letters are like conversations you would ...

Guard Your Heart
A study of God's instructions that we should guard our hearts. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Let’s look at the word “spring”. The King James Version of the Bible uses the word ‘are’ ...


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Literary Readings Make Weddings Special
 
Selections of wedding readings can run the gamut of available literature; from writings as old as Biblical passages to the more modern works of authors and poets like Amy Tan and Maya Angelou. Any piece that relates a theme of love, devotion, or commitment can be appropriate as a wedding reading. The choice, really, is up to the couple as far as what they'd like to have as a wedding reading. Following are some traditional, modern, and more unusual wedding readings.
Love Poems/Prose:
Poetry and prose about love and devotion make for wonderful wedding readings and it is selections from this category that you will hear most often. Favorites here include Shakespearean sonnets, the famous How Do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and selections from The Prophet by Kahil Gibran, but can, again, include virtually anything that the couple would like to include. Thoughtful, insightful, and moving passages are the key to having your wedding reading stand out in the minds of your guests.
Inspirational Readings:
A favorite of religious wedding services, inspirational wedding readings are also quite common. The Bible is a fantastic source for these types of


readings and certain passages have become standard fare in many church wedding services. Most familiar here is the instantly recognized "Love is patient and kind..." reading from I Corinthians and the "husbands love your wives" passage from the fifth chapter of Ephesians. Inspirational poetry can be used here as well as quotations from inspirational speakers. Anything that is spiritually uplifting and appropriate for the occasion will work here.
Out of the Ordinary Wedding Readings:
Some wedding readings can be very creative, while others are just plain odd. I attended a wedding between two aspiring actors. Both the bride and the groom as well as several members of the wedding party were active in community theater. They used their wedding ceremony as an opportunity to perform for their guests and actually acted out the famous balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, complete with Elizabethan costumes. Another wedding experience featured the bride and groom reciting the lyrics to Meat Loaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light which, while certainly an inappropriate selection for most weddings, seemed to fit their personalities and got quite a laugh from the guests. Clearly readings like this are not going to work for every wedding, but the examples do serve to show that the choices in wedding reading selection are really unlimited. The choice of whether to include a wedding reading in your ceremony, as well as what material to use, lies entirely with you.
About the Author
Kirsten Hawkins is an event planner from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.wedding411.net/ for more event planning tips, strategies, and resources.

News



Poetry: A poet's poise in the face of evil
OregonLive.com
By Special to The Oregonian Poets who write the poetry of poise have an interest in the clarity of discovery, a desire to be immersed in the lyric values of the past in order to communicate with the future, and also a belief that the role of the poet ...


DAWN.com

When militants become poets
DAWN.com
But her poetry won many hearts. It forced Allama Iqbal to confer on her the title of Khatoon-i-Ajam (Woman of the East) and to place her in the company of Mansur Al-Hallaj and Ghalib. The book I am holding in my hands – “Poetry of the Taliban” – may ...
Poetry of the Taliban - reviewThe Guardian
Taliban poetry, mourn the dead boy, curse the naked “daughter of the west”Reuters Blogs (blog)
Taliban Reveal Their Human Side in a Controversial Collection of Afghanistan ...PolicyMic

all 4 news articles »

Affrilacian poet address Transylvania graduates
Lexington Herald Leader
Affrilachian poet Bianca Spriggs, a 2003 Transylvania graduate, performed a poetry reading accompanied by graduating senior Caleb Ritchie on keyboard. Spriggs talked to the students about measuring time in non-traditional ways, such as remembering how ...


National Post

Cadence Weapon: A Poet Hones A Musical Personality
WBAA
By editor Rollie Pemberton is a poet — in fact, he was poet laureate of his hometown, Edmonton, Alberta, for a couple of years. That meant he was expected to write three poems a year about events in a town sometimes nicknamed "Dirt City.
Cadence Weapon uses his poetic licence on Hope in Dirt CityNational Post

all 29 news articles »

Boston.com

Acclaimed literary scholar and author Paul Fussell dies at 88
Bend Bulletin
“Great War and Modern Memory” used the work of English poets and authors to demonstrate how war is romanticized and idealized, turned into moral and religious parable, and what happens when the reality of war overwhelms the dream of it.
Paul Fussell, curmudgeonly essayist and scholar, dies at 88Washington Post
Paul Fussell, 88, author and Penn professor emeritusPhiladelphia Inquirer

all 172 news articles »