Poems for A Twenty-fifth Wedding Anniversary

The twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is one of the most important milestone anniversaries, one that marks a quarter century of marital togetherness.  And what better way to celebrate such an occasion than with poetry that speaks of lasting love and companionship. So whether you are making a speech at a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party or putting together a special gift for your beloved spouse, here are some poems celebrating a quarter century of marriage.

Twenty-five years of marriage imply a love that far exceeds the superficial attractions of youth and beauty. It is a bond between two hearts and something deeper, a connection between two souls which is why it can even survive death, a claim made most beautifully in a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
 

If thou must love me, let it be for naught
except for love's sake only. Do not say
"I love her for her smile...her look...her way of speaking
gently-
for a trick of thought
that falls in well with mine, and certes brought
a sense of pleasant ease on such a day."
for these things in themselves, beloved, may be changed, or
changed for thee--and love so wrought may be unwrought so.
Neither love me for thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry-
a creature might forget to weep, who bore their comfort long,
and lose
their love thereby
but love me for love's sake, that evermore thou mayst love on,
through love's eternity.

 

Yet another poem Epithalamium: a marriage poem by Major Henry Livingston, Jr. describes the mystical beauty of the marriage ritual and is perfect for a spouse recalling his or her own wedding twenty-five years ago.
 

'Twas summer, when softly the breezes were blowing,
and Hudson majestic so sweetly was flowing,
the groves rang with music & accents of pleasure
and nature in rapture beat time to the measure,
when Helen and Jonas, so true and so loving,
along the green lawn were seen arm in arm moving,
sweet daffodils, violets and roses spontaneous
wherever they wandered sprang up instantaneous.
The ascent the lovers at length were seen climbing
whose summit is grac'd by the temple of hymen:
the genius presiding no sooner perceived them
but, spreading his pinions, he flew to receive them;
with kindest of greetings pronounced them well come
while holidays clangor rang loud to the welkin.

I do, I will, I have by Ogden Nash is a tongue-in-cheek take on marriage which can be perfect if a friend of the couple is called upon to deliver a speech on their twenty-fifth anniversary party. Though the poem does not specifically talk about twenty-five years of togetherness or even an anniversary, it expresses the day-to-day bond between a husband and wife who have been married a long time.
 

How wise I am to have instructed the butler
to instruct the first footman to instruct the second
footman to instruct the doorman to order my carriage;
I am about to volunteer a definition of marriage.
Just as I know that there are two Hagens, Walter and Copen,
I know that marriage is a legal and religious alliance entered
into by a man who can't sleep with the window shut and a
woman who can't sleep with the window open.
Moreover, just as I am unsure of the difference between
flora and fauna and flotsam and jetsam,
I am quite sure that marriage is the alliance of two people
one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other
never forgetsam,
and he refuses to believe there is a leak in the water pipe or
the gas pipe and she is convinced she is about to asphyxiate
or drown,
and she says quick get up and get my hairbrushes off the
windowsill, it's raining in, and he replies oh they're all right,
it's only raining straight down.
That is why marriage is so much more interesting than divorce,
because it's the only known example of the happy meeting of
the immovable object and the irresistible force.
So I hope husbands and wives will continue to debate and
combat over everything debatable and combatable,
because I believe a little incompatibility is the spice of life,
particularly if he has income and she is pattable.
 

A guest called upon to make a toast or speech for a special couple on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration cannot go wrong with these words by the famous eighteenth century writer George Eliot from a poem titled “To be one with each other”.
 

What greater thing is there for two human souls
than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen
each other in all labor, to minister to each other in all sorrow,
to share with each other in all gladness,
to be one with each other in the
silent unspoken memories?

Finally a wonderful way to round off a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary would be to quote the following shorter version of "the art of marriage" by Wilferd a. Peterson:
 

A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once each day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is speaking words of appreciation and
demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is not only marrying the right partner...
It is being the right partner.