Sudden Light
I have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell;
I know the grass beyond the door,
The sweet keen smell,
The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.
You have been mine before,
How long ago I may not know:
But just when at that swallow’s soar
Your neck turned so,
Some veil did fall, – – I knew it all of yore.
Has this been thus before?
And shall not thus time’s eddying flight
Still with our lives our love restore
In death’s despite,
And day and night yield one delight once more?
Where it fits in the ceremony
In most ceremonies the readings follow the officiant’s welcome, before the vows; a second reading can come between the vows and the exchange of rings. In a civil ceremony, some registrars ask to see readings in advance to confirm they contain no religious content — this one will pass.
Pair it with
Two readings that balance this one:
- Dearly Beloved (Book of Common Prayer) — “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here” — the opening of the 1662 marriage service.
- The Little Boat — Tolstoy’s Levin discovers that marriage is like getting into a little boat: delightful, and difficult.