The following poems about happiness explore what it is to be happy in lots of forms, for lots of reasons – whether it’s brimming, bubbling happiness, quiet contentment, or something a little more complicated and bittersweet. There are poems that explore happiness in relationships, the fun of celebrations, the fierce happiness that we find when we discover our own power, the quiet contentment of fully experiencing the world around you, and the joy of playing with language. I hope that, however you’re feeling, they brighten your day.
Poems About Happiness
A Birthday by Christina Rossetti
Excerpt: My heart is like a singing birdWhose nest is in a water’d shoot;My heart is like an apple-treeWhose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Excerpt: Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s sizeBut when I start to tell them,They think I’m telling lies.
Happy Eid Fitr! by Sukasah Syahdan
Strawberries by Edwin Morgan
Excerpt: There were never strawberrieslike the ones we hadthat sultry afternoonsitting on the stepof the open french windowfacing each otheryour knees held in mine
Ah, Ah by Joy Harjo
Excerpt: Ah, ah cries the crow arching toward the heavy sky over the marina.Lands on the crown of the palm tree. Ah, ah slaps the urgent cove of ocean swimming through the slips.We carry canoes to the edge of the salt.
Happiness (Reconsidered) by Judith Viorst
Excerpt: HappinessIs a clean bill of health from the doctor,And the kids shouldn’t move back home formore than a year,And not being audited, overdrawn, in Wilkes-Barre,in a lawsuit or in traction.
Unbeatable Serena by Bridget Minamore
In this piece, performance poet Bridget Minamore explores the joy inspired by a champion.
Christmas by John Clare
Christmas is come and every hearthMakes room to give him welcome nowE’en want will dry its tears in mirthAnd crown him wi’ a holly boughTho tramping ‘neath a winters skyO’er snow track paths and rhymey stilesThe huswife sets her spining byeAnd bids him welcome wi’ her smilesEach house is swept the day beforeAnd windows stuck wi’ evergreensThe snow is beesom’d from the doorAnd comfort crowns the cottage scenesGilt holly wi’ its thorny pricksAnd yew and box wi’ berrys smallThese deck the unus’d candlesticksAnd pictures hanging by the wall This is just a sample of John Clare’s poem, as it’s pretty long – check out the full version here.
Dis Poetry by Benjamin Zephaniah
Sometimes by Sheenagh Pugh
Excerpt: Sometimes things don’t go, after all,from bad to worse. Some years, muscadelfaces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail,sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.
How happy is the little Stone by Emily Dickinson
Excerpt: How happy is the little StoneThat rambles in the Road alone,And doesn’t care about CareersAnd Exigencies never fears —
Hill Rolling by Andrew Taylor
Excerpt: I kind of exploded inside,and joy shot out of me.I began my roll down the grassy hill.I bent my knees up small, took a deep breathand I was off.
Nessie by Rachel Plummer
Honey, I Love by Eloise Greenfield
Excerpt: I loveI love a lot of things, a whole lot of thingsLikeMy cousin comes to visit and you know he’s from the South‘Cause every word he says just kind of slides out of his mouthI like the way he whistles and I like the way he walksBut honey, let me tell you that I LOVE the way he talksI love the way my cousin talks
Cats by Jim Howell
Excerpt: Catshave eyes that yawn,greenas a halt sign For the happiness (and everything else!) that comes with love, read 58 Absolutely Beautiful Love Poems. If you’re looking for happy prose, try 100 Must-Read Books About Happiness.
