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!"
Cheerful and Tender Songs
Song Cycle by Mary Ruth Brink Berger Inwood (b. 1928)
3. When the green woods laugh  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Laughing song", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 10, first published 1789
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Песня смеха", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Total word count: 101