Sonnet to the Bride and Groom

By Lael Woolsey Hill

Now radiance glows in your happy faces,
Where once was only glad expectancy –
As if you’d stepped inside eternity
One rapturous moment, and the heavenly places
Belonged at once to your united spirit;
As if all glory out of paradise
Had gathered ’round your hearts and in your eyes,
And life was bright, knowing you did not fear it. …

The vows are said, the ceremony done
That joined your lives for better or for worse –
A gold band rims around your universe,
Which yet is infinite — a boundless one;
And in your kiss there speaks a love so true
That surely only joy will come to you.

(1940)