Love is a transformative force in The Indian to His Love, so this beautiful poem by Irish scribe W.B. Yeats is a ceremony reading for the hopeless romantic. Love is what drives the titular Indian towards his beloved and in turn changes him into something greater than himself. The images drawn from nature are mystical, lush and evocative - perfect for a destination wedding in sunny climes. Take a read but also check out our other readings by famous Irish writers here.

The Indian to His Love by W.B. Yeats

The island dreams under the dawn
And great boughs drop tranquillity;
The peahens dance on a smooth lawn,
A parrot sways upon a tree,
Raging at his own image in the enamelled sea.
Here we will moor our lonely ship
And wander ever with woven hands,
Murmuring softly lip to lip,
Along the grass, along the sands,
Murmuring how far away are the unquiet lands:
How we alone of mortals are
Hid under quiet boughs apart,
While our love grows an Indian star,
A meteor of the burning heart,
One with the tide that gleams,
The wings that gleam and dart,
The heavy boughs, the burnished dove
That moans and sighs a hundred days:
How when we die our shades will rove,
When eve has hushed the feathered ways,
With vapoury footsole by the water’s drowsy blaze.

Still looking for the perfect wedding ceremony reading? See our Essential List of Ceremony Readings which are broken down into categories to make it easy. Be sure to sign up to the One Fab Day newsletter and follow us on Instagram for more!