On Getting Married (The Grammar of Love)

Who is this for? Brides and grooms

What’s the tone? Joyful

When to use it? At a wedding. Best read out loud to all the guests. Could be a lovely wedding present, framed and hung on the wall of their new home.

Weddings are such wonderful affairs, I wanted a poem that was a bit mysterious, a bit funny and a bit irreverent. My daughter was planning her wedding and wanted me to write her a poem and recite it in front of all her guests. One of the most useful pieces of advice I have ever been given is that “love is an active verb”. Knowing that my daughter’s education included very little English grammar, as a kind of tease, I wrote this poem about parts of speech: verbs and nouns and adverbs, just to test her. Some brides and grooms of her generation might find it a bit of a challenge, but the sentiment, when you see her and her husband together, is spot on. The message is you have to work at it, but it’s worth it. I hope that resonates with you.