The garden at Westcott House
To start my series of poems leading up to the Royal Wedding, here is a sonnet I wrote for Maggie for our wedding on St. Mary Magdalene’s day in 1984. We had chosen ‘the wedding at Cana’ as our reading, our reception was in the beautiful cloister garden of Westcott House in Cambridge. As always you can hear the sonnet either by pressing the ‘play’ button, if it appears in your browser, or else by clicking on the title of the poem.
Join hands with me and step into the ring
Shining in white with flowers in your hair.
The word Himself will give us songs to sing
And move the hidden voices of the air.
Here in his garden, where He laid His treasure
And came Himself before the day was dawning,
Here where he gave a gift beyond our measure,
And Mary’s footfall echoed in the morning,
Here He will raise us up and quench our thirst,
Setting upon our happiness his sign,
As, at His bidding in the wedding feast,
Waters of cleansing reddened into wine.
Then we shall turn to him with joy and sing
Whose love surrounds us in a golden ring.
