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40 Poems About Laughter: Short, Funny & Joyful Poems

Introduction

Poems about laughter do more than describe a sound. They show how joy moves through a room, how children play, how friends gather, how nature feels alive, and how humor can soften heavy days. A good laughter poem may be cheerful, silly, thoughtful, or even a little bittersweet. That is why searches like poems about laughter, laughter poems, poems about laughing, short poems about laughter, funny poems about laughter, poems about laughter and joy, poems about smiles and laughter, and laughter poems with meaning all belong together.

This collection uses real classic poets and trusted source links. It brings together poems about laughter, mirth, smiles, happiness, children laughing, joyful singing, and nonsense verse that makes readers smile. Readers looking for more light-hearted collections can also explore Funny Poems.

Some older poems use the exact words laugh, laughter, mirth, or smile. Others create laughter through nonsense, playful exaggeration, comic animals, and short rhyming surprises. The mix below is designed for readers, teachers, students, and parents who want famous poems about laughter, classic poems about laughter, short laughter poems, poems about laughter for kids, and funny poems about laughter with simple meanings.

Poetry & Meaning

Poems About Laughter

Funny Poems

Laughing Song

By William Blake

When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy,
And the dimpling stream runs laughing by;
When the air does laugh with our merry wit,
And the green hill laughs with the noise of it;

When the meadows laugh with lively green,
And the grasshopper laughs in the merry scene;
When Mary and Susan and Emily
With their sweet round mouths sing “Ha, ha he!”

When the painted birds laugh in the shade,
Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread:
Come live, and be merry, and join with me,
To sing the sweet chorus of “Ha, ha, he!”

Overview Short Summary

This is one of the clearest classic poems about laughter. Blake imagines the woods, stream, air, hill, meadow, birds, and children all joining one cheerful chorus.

Use Case Best For
  • Poems about laughter: The poem uses repeated laughter imagery throughout.
  • Poems about laughter and joy: Nature and children share a joyful mood.
  • Poems about laughter for kids: Short, rhythmic, and easy to read aloud.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood

Bright, cheerful, musical, and innocent.

Poetry Craft Poetic Devices
  • Personification: Woods, streams, air, hills, meadows, and birds seem to laugh.
  • Repetition: The word “laugh” creates a chorus effect.
  • Sound: “Ha, ha, he” makes the poem feel like a song.
Search Intent Keyword Connection

Targets poems about laughter, laughter poems, poems about laughter and joy, poems about laughing, and short poems about laughter.

Source: Project Gutenberg

Rights: Public domain. Source cited for reference and commentary.

Solitude

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all,—
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Overview Short Summary

This famous poem begins with one of the best-known lines about laughter. It contrasts laughter and weeping, joy and pain, company and loneliness.

Use Case Best For
  • Famous poems about laughter: The opening line is widely recognized.
  • Poems about laughter and tears: The poem directly contrasts laughing and weeping.
  • Laughter poems with meaning: It gives a serious social meaning to laughter.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood

Wise, reflective, emotional, and memorable.

Poetry Craft Poetic Devices
  • Contrast: Laughter is paired with weeping, singing with sighing, and joy with grief.
  • Parallel structure: Each stanza balances opposite emotional states.
  • Social observation: The poem notices how people gather around joy but avoid sorrow.
Search Intent Keyword Connection

Targets poems about laughter, famous poems about laughter, poems about laughter and tears, poems about laughter with meaning, and laughter poems with meaning.

Source: Poetry Foundation

Rights: Public domain. Source cited for reference and commentary.

The Echoing Green

By William Blake

The Sun does arise,
And make happy the skies.
The merry bells ring
To welcome the Spring.
The sky-lark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around,
To the bells’ cheerful sound.
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.

Old John, with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say,
“Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In our youth-time were seen
On the Echoing Green.”

Till the little ones weary,
No more can be merry:
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brothers,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest;
And sport no more seen
On the darkening Green.

Overview Short Summary

Blake connects children’s play, spring, old age, and laughter. The older people laugh away care while watching children play.

Use Case Best For
  • Poems about children laughing: The poem centers on play and shared joy.
  • Poems about laughter and memories: Old people remember their own youth.
  • Poems about joy and laughter: Spring, music, and play create happiness.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood

Gentle, nostalgic, cheerful, and tender.

Poetry Craft Poetic Devices
  • Seasonal imagery: Spring and birds create a bright setting.
  • Generational contrast: Children play while elders remember.
  • Phrase: “Laugh away care” makes laughter a healing force.
Search Intent Keyword Connection

Targets poems about children laughing, poems about laughter and memories, poems about joy and laughter, and poems about laughter with meaning.

Source: Project Gutenberg

Rights: Public domain. Source cited for reference and commentary.

Nurse’s Song

By William Blake

When the voices of children are heard on the green,
And laughing is heard on the hill,
My heart is at rest within my breast,
And everything else is still.

“Then come home, my children, the sun is gone down
And the dews of night arise;
Come, come, leave off play, and let us away
Till the morning appears in the skies.”

“No, no, let us play, for it is yet day,
And we cannot go to sleep;
Besides, in the sky the little birds fly,
And the hills are all covered with sheep.”

“Well, well, go and play till the light fades away,
And then go home to bed.”
The little ones leaped and shouted and laughed
And all the hills echoed.

Overview Short Summary

This poem is a strong fit for laughter-and-children searches. The children’s laughing brings peace to the nurse and fills the hills with sound.

Use Case Best For
  • Poems about laughter for kids: Children’s laughter is central.
  • Poems about a child’s laughter: Shows how children’s joy comforts adults.
  • Short poems about laughter: Easy for students to read.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood

Peaceful, childlike, musical, and joyful.

Poetry Craft Poetic Devices
  • Sound imagery: Voices, laughing, shouting, and echoes fill the poem.
  • Dialogue: The nurse and children speak to each other.
  • Setting: The green hill becomes a place of shared joy.
Search Intent Keyword Connection

Targets poems about laughter for kids, poems about laughing for kids, poems about children laughing, poem about a child’s laughter, and short poems about laughter.

Source: Project Gutenberg

Rights: Public domain. Source cited for reference and commentary.

Eternity

By William Blake

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
He who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.

Overview Short Summary

This four-line poem does not mention laughter directly, but it gives a clear meaning for joy: enjoy it lightly, without trying to trap it.

Use Case Best For
  • Short poems about joy and laughter: Very short and meaningful.
  • Poems about happiness and laughter: Focuses on how to hold joy.
  • Poems about laughter with meaning: Useful as a reflective section.
Emotional Effect Tone and Mood

Wise, brief, bright, and spiritual.

Poetry Craft Poetic Devices
  • Metaphor: Joy becomes a winged thing.
  • Contrast: Binding joy destroys it; kissing it lets it live.
  • Compression: The poem gives a full idea in four lines.
Search Intent Keyword Connection

Targets short poems about joy and laughter, poems about happiness and laughter, poems about laughter with meaning, and 4 line poems about laughter.

Source: Poets.org

Rights: Public domain. Source cited for reference and commentary.

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