If there is one piece of Seamus Heaney poetry that you might pick for a ceremony reading at your wedding it would have to be this, Scaffolding which was actually written by the poet to his soon to be wife, Marie Devlin before they married in the late 1960s. While deeply romantic it also avoids cliche completely and instead offers sound advice on how patient, everyday connection is the real foundation required to sustain love.

Using the architectural metaphor of builders checking their temporary supports - or "scaffolding", this text beautifully explains how deep relationships grow. The "scaffolding" represents the early, vulnerable phases of love and as time passes, this framework is replaced by a "solid stone" wall of unbreakable trust. Even when "old bridges break," couples are reminded that their minor arguments and quiet spells are completely natural, offering comfort that friction cannot destroy a truly deep foundation.

This poem is also beautiful when read in Irish - we saw this in a recent real wedding and swooned - and we've created a handy printable which you can access here. You can also read the lines below.

Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney

Masons, when they start upon a building,
Are careful to test out the scaffolding;

Make sure that planks won’t slip at busy points,
Secure all ladders, tighten bolted joints.

And yet all this comes down when the job’s done
Showing off walls of sure and solid stone.

So if, my dear, there sometimes seem to be
Old bridges breaking between you and me

Never fear. We may let the scaffolds fall
Confident that we have built our wall.

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