: Re: Need a bit of verse in my prose I am an (aspiring) fiction writer. I write prose. However, every so often, I run into a need for poetry. I might need a prophecy, or a ritual blessing, or

@Odierno164

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Steal it!
For a ritual setting, the poetry is plausibly old stuff, so find some very old poetry in the public domain, and look for passages you can steal. You don't have to attribute it to anybody.
If you have studied enough, you can change some words, paying attention to rhythm and rhyme, and perhaps change a piece of old poetry to your own uses. Wedding vows might be lifted from many a love poem.
Tell, don't show: Fake it!
Or similarly, skip over the actual recitation, and describe the poetry, mentioning a few highlights of some poem you found, one that compared love to the cuddling of birds and the purity and sanctity of the white blossoms of orange trees.
But don't quote it, just describe what he said, and to be fair what your MC remembers of what was said, which may be just some poetic bits and pieces, not the whole thing verbatim. Perhaps the first and last lines verbatim, which is often what people remember from such addresses.

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