Poet: Frank Dempster Sherman
It is my joy in life to find
At every turning of the road,
The strong arm of a comrade kind
To help me onward with my load:
And since I have no gold to give,
And love alone must make amends,
My only prayer is, while I live, -
God make me worthy of my friends!
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
A life well-lived, indeed!
Sparking smiles from everyone it sees.
Such kindness and compassion made it shine,
Sunshine and love to all entwined.
Helpful deeds did often come their way,
Joy was welcomed every day.
The world a brighter place they leave behind,
Their legacy of joy will surely come to mind.
A Life Well Lived Poem
Poet: Julie Hebert, © 2015
I wished upon a star tonight,
The one above my tree.
It brought me so much joy you see,
It brought it all to me.
So much joy flows through my veins,
It's almost spilling out.
It's time to share this joy with others,
This I have no doubt.
If joy is given out to me,
Through a wishing star.
It must be meant for more than me,
Can't be bottled in a jar.
Share it wide and share it tall,
Let everyone feel it.
Let's spread it like a wildfire,
Bringing life and love with it.
by David Swing
Let us learn to be content with what we have.
Let us get rid of our false estimates,
Set up all the higher ideals -
A quiet home; vines of our own planting;
A few books full of the inspiration of a genius;
A few friends worthy of being loved,
And able to love us in turn;
A hundred innocent pleasures that bring no pain or remorse;
A devotion to the right that will never swerve;
A simple religion empty of all bigotry,
Full of trust and hope and love -
And to such a philosophy this world will give up all the empty joy it has.
Poems About Contentment
Poet: 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!"
Simplicity Poem
Poet: Edgar A Guest
Sunshine and shadow, blue sky and gray,
Laughter and tears as we tread on our way;
Hearts that are heavy, then hearts that are light,
Eyes that are misty and eyes that are bright;
Losses and gains in the heat of the strife,
Each in proportion to round out his life.
Into the crucible, stirred by the years,
Go all our hopes and misgivings and fears;
Glad days and sad days, our pleasures and pains,
Worries and comforts, our losses and gains.
Out of the crucible shall there not come
Joy undefiled when we pour off the scum?
Out of the sadness and anguish and woe,
Out of the travail and burdens we know,
Out of the shadow that darkens the way,
Out of the failure that tries us to-day,
Have you a doubt that contentment will come
When you've purified life and discarded the scum?
Tinctured with sorrow and flavored with sighs,
Moistened with tears that have flowed from your eyes;
Perfumed with sweetness of loves that have died,
Leavened with failures, with grief sanctified,
Sacred and sweet is the joy that must come
From the furnace of life when you've poured off the scum.
Poet: Jean Ingelow
So take joy home.
And make a place in thy great heart for her.
And give her time to grow, and cherish her;
Then will she come, and oft will sing to thee,
When thou art working in the furrows; ay,
Or weeding in the sacred hour of dawn.
It is a comely fashion to be glad,
Joy is the grace we say to God
Christian Poems
Poet: Catherine Pulsifer
Joy within can be found
Deep rooted and forever sound.
When days of worry cause distress,
It lightens your heart and brings happiness.
Unrelenting no matter what life brings,
The feeling still lingers and sings.
A perpetual force which dreams of peace,
Provides hope that grows; a joy that never ceases.
Quotes About Joy
Poet Unknown
There's never a rose in all the world,
But makes some green spray sweeter;
There's never a wind in all the sky.
But makes some bird's wing fleeter.
There's never a star but brings to heaven
Some silver radiance tender,
And never a rosy cloud but helps
To crown the sunset splendor;
No robin but may thrill some heart,
His dawnlike gladness voicing.
God gives us all some small, sweet way,
To set the world rejoicing.
Poet: lla Wheeler Wilcox
My heart is like a little bird
That sits and sings for very gladness.
Sorrow is some forgotten word,
And so, except in rhyme, is sadness.
The world is very fair to me -
Such azure skies, such golden weather,
I'm like a long caged bird set free,
My heart is lighter than a feather.
I rise rejoicing in my life;
I live with love for God and neighbour;
My days flow on unmarred by strife,
And sweetened by my pleasant labour.
O youth! O spring! O happy days,
Ye are so passing sweet, and tender,
And while the fleeting season stays,
I revel care-free, in its splendour.
Poems of Encouragement
Poet Unknown
Joy is the sunshine of the soul.
Grief its showers.
The blending of the two in one
Makes perfect flowers.
Poet: James Rusell Lowell
Life is Joy, and love is power,
Death all fetters doth unbind,
Strength and wisdom only flower
When we toil for all our kind.
Hope is truth, - the future giveth
More than present takes away,
And the soul for ever liveth
Nearer God from day to day.
Poet: Unknown
When we see our dream-ships slipping
From the verge of youth's green slope -
Loosening from the transient moorings
At the golden shore of hope
Vanishing, like airy bubbles,
On the rough, tried sea of care,
Then the soul grows sick with longing
That is almost wild despair.
Far behind lies sunny childhood
Fields of flowers our feet have trod
When our vision-bounded Eden
Held no mystery but God;
When in dreams we spoke with angels,
When awake, with brooks and birds,
Reading in the breeze and sunshine
Love's unspoken, tender words.
When the stars were lighted candles
Shining through God's floor of blue,
And the moon was but a window
For the angels to look through;
Clouds took shape of wondrous seeming,
Fairies hid themselves in flowers;
Morning-rise and sunset glories
Were but doors to heaven's bowers.
Ah! the sweet conceits and fancies
With which sunny childhood teems!
'Tis not strange the sickened spirit
Clasps the shadows of such dreams;
That, when life is stern and real,
Hope is crowded out by fears,
Love grown wearied of her vigils,
Back we look with bitter tears.
Life is but a rugged hillside
When cool science puts to flight
Childhood's treasured love of dreaming
Tinted all with rosy light.
For though years may bring us wisdom,
Distrust poisons holy truth;
So we turn, soul-sick with yearning,
To the sweet beliefs of youth!
And sometimes we question sadly,
Wherefore all life's bitter pain?
Are our dreams of hope and gladness
Are our strivings all in vain?
Shall we find the scattered roses
That our careless hands have lost?
Wander to the thornless pathways
That our feet so thoughtless crossed?
And the answer, deep and solemn,
Seems to vibrate through all space:
Life is but a course of trial,
Childhood starts and ends the race.
For the harvests faithful gathered
Through the strife of toil and tears,
For the burdens borne in patience,
Joy will crown the endless years.
Poet: Unknown
O give me the joy of living
And some glorious work to do!
A spirit of thanksgiving,
With loyal heart and true;
Some pathway to make brighter,
Where tired feet now stray;
Some burden to make lighter,
While 'tis day.
Poems About Helping Others
Poet: Sllva Nichols
Let Joy come into your heart;
She is waiting just outside
With the tenderest hands and sweetest smile
That would push the portals wide.
She is longing to enter in
And be of your life a part;
Not a transient guest in your troubled breast,
But a dweller in your heart.
So she waits at the closed door,
And beside her sweet Peace stands;
While radiant Hope from a sunny slope
Is reaching beckoning hands.
As they sing like the birds at dawn,
Each striving to drown Care's din.
Oh, listen, and hear their glad songs near
And hasten to let them in.
Poet: Unknown
Joy is found in common things
That each passing season brings:
Winds that tip-toe through the grain;
Slanting lines of silver rain;
Poplar blooms that brush the sky,
Fireflies flitting softly by;
Hollyhocks beside the wall,
And the meadow lark's first cal;
Summer's green-gold loveliness.
Maple trees in autumn dress;
Winter's cosy firelight glow,
Moonlight on new fallen snow.
There is wealth in common things.
More than worldly wealth of kings.
Poems About Being Happy
Poet: Unknown
The summer vanishes, but soon shall come
The glad young days of yet another year.
So do not mourn the passing of a joy,
But rather wait the coming of a good,
And know God never takes a gift away
But He sends other gifts to take its place.
Poet: Daniel S. Warner
Can the spirit of a mortal
Live beyond the reach of trouble.
Knowing not a painful struggle,
Ever joyful in the Lord?
He who is our great salvation
And our high and strong munition
Is to us a full fruition
Of his peace and endless joy.
I no trouble and no sorrow
See today, nor will I borrow
Gloomy visions for the morrow;
In my Jesus all is bright.
To my soul all grace is given.
And all gloom afar is driven;
Walking in the light of heaven
All is everlasting peace.
Jesus bids be joyful ever;
He himself the wondrous Giver,
Flows within, a constant river,
And my spirit must rejoice.
