When a new baby comes into our lives, it’s a time to celebrate and welcome the little one to the world. If you’re looking for the perfect meaningful words for a naming ceremony reading, look no further. We’ve curated some of the most moving and beautiful poems suitable for naming ceremonies.
‘For my niece’ by Kate Tempest
I hold you in my arms,
your age is told in months.
There’s things I hope you’ll learn.
Things I’m sure I learned once.
But there’s nothing I can teach you.
You’ll find all that you need.
No flower bends its head to offer
teaching to a seed.
The seed will grow and blossom
once the flower’s ground to dust.
But even so, if nothing else,
one thing I’ll entrust:
Doing what you please
is not the same
as doing what you must
From Hold Your Own by Kate Tempest
‘Sweet and Low’ by Lord Alfred Tennyson
Sweet and low, sweet and low,
Wind of the western sea,
Low, low, breathe and blow,
Wind of the western sea!
Over the rolling waters go,
Come from the dying moon, and blow,
Blow him again to me;
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.
Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,
Father will come to thee soon;
Rest, rest, on mother's breast,
Father will come to thee soon;
Father will come to his babe in the nest,
Silver sails all out of the west,
Under the silver moon:
Sleep, my little one, sleep, my pretty one, sleep.
‘A Baby’s Feet’ by Algernon Charles Swinburne
A baby's feet, like sea shells pink,
Might tempt, should heaven see meet
An angel's lips to kiss, we think,
A baby's feet.
Like rose-hued sea flowers toward the heat
They stretch and spread and wink
Their ten soft buds that part and meet.
No flower bells that expand and shrink
Gleam half so heavenly sweet,
As shine on life's untrodden brink
A baby's feet.
‘Infant Joy’ by William Blake
‘I have no name:
‘I am but two days old.’
What shall I call thee?
‘I happy am
Joy is my name.’
Sweet joy befall thee!
Pretty joy!
Sweet joy but two days old,
Sweet joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile,
I sing the while,
Sweet joy befall thee!
From A Poem for Every Day of the Year
‘Human Affection’ by Stevie Smith
Mother, I love you so.
Said the child, I love you more than I know.
She laid her head on her mother’s arm,
And the love between them kept them warm.
From A Poem for Every Day of the Year
‘Love’ by Kate Clanchy
I hadn’t met his kind before.
His misericord face – really,
like a joke on his father – blurred
as if from years of polish;
his hands like curled dry leaves;
the profligate heat he gave
out, gave out, his shallow,
careful breaths: I thought
his filaments would blow,
I thought he was an emperor,
dying on silk cushions.
I didn’t know how to keep
him wrapped, I didn’t know
how to give him suck, I had
no idea about him. At night
I tried to remember the feel
of his head on my neck, the skull
small as a cat’s, the soft spot
hot as a smelted coin,
and the hair, the down, fine
as the innermost, vellum layer
of some rare snowcreature’s
aureole of fur, if you could meet
such a beast, if you could
get so near. I started there.
From Selected Poems by Kate Clanchy
‘I’d Love to be a Fairy’s Child’ by Robert Graves
Children born of fairy stock
Never need for shirt or frock,
Never want for food or fire,
Always get their heart’s desire:
Jingle pockets full of gold,
Marry when they’re seven years old,
Every fairy child may keep
Two strong ponies and ten sheep;
All have houses, each his own,
Built of brick or granite stone;
They live on cherries, they run wild -
I’d love to be a Fairy’s child.
From A Poem for Every Day of the Year
On children from The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
From A Poem for Every Day of the Year
‘Love you more’ by James Carter
Do I love you
to the moon and back?
No I love you
more than that
I love you to the desert sands
the mountains, stars
the planets and
I love you to the deepest sea
and deeper still
through history
Before beyond I love you then
I love you now
I’ll love you when
The sun’s gone out
the moon’s gone home
and all the stars are fully grown
When I no longer say these words
I’ll give them to the wind, the birds
so that they will still be heard
I love you
From A Poem for Every Night of the Year
Based on the mythical figure of Tiresias, this ambitious four-part work holds a mirror up to contemporary life as it follows the character through transformations from child to man, woman to blind prophet.
Drawing together Kate Clanchy’s three prize-winning collections, Slattern, Samarkand and Newborn, this is the perfect introduction to those who are new to Clanchy’s witty, lyrical and accessible work, as well as a must-have for long-term fans.
This collection, full of 366 poems, is bursting at the seams with poetry to share on every day of the year. From perfect seasonal poems to verses for important dates and key events, this beautiful gift book is one you’ll dip into time and time again.
A beautiful collection, with a poem to share for every night of the year, this is a must-have for poetry lovers. From familiar favourites to contemporary voices, this collection is perfect for reading aloud and sharing with family and friends.
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