Laughing song

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!"

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "Laughing song", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 10, published 1789

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Phillip Thomas Bezanson (1916-1975) , "Laughing song", published 1959, from Songs of Innocence, no. 4.
by Maurice Blower (1894-1982) , "Laughing song", published c1961. [two-part junior or women's chorus]
by Jacques (Jacob) Blumenthal (1829-1908) , "Laughing song", published 1878? [four-part song for SATB chorus], from Songs of Innocence, no. 3.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "Laughing song", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Innocence, no. 7.
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876-1972) , "Laughing song", 1915, published c1917. [three-part song for female voices (SSA) and piano]
by William Busch (1901-1945) , "Laughing song", 1943, published 1944.
by James Henry Baseden Butt (1929-) , "Laughing song", op. 60 no. 1, published 1980, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 1.
by Howard Carr (1880-) , "Laughing song", published c1913. [SATB a cappella]
by Stephen Chatman (1950-) , "Song of the laughing green woods", 1984 [SATB choir and oboe (or flute, or violin, or clarinet)], from There is sweet music here, no. 2.
by Elizabeth Penn Sprague Coolidge (Mrs. Frederick Shurtleff Coolidge) (1864-1953) , "Laughing song", 19--? [medium voice and piano]
by Julius Albert Jahn , "Laughing song", published c1914 [part-song for three women's voices], Dallas, Bush & Gertz Piano Co.
by Huub de Lange (1955-) , "Laughing song", published 2007 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Four Blake Songs, no. 3.
by Sven Lekberg (1899-1984) , "When the green woods laugh", published c1968 [SATB chorus a cappella], New York, G. Schirmer
by Otto Luening (1900-1996) , "Laughing Song", 1984, first performed 1984. [tenor, baritone, and baritone or counter-tenor a cappella]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Laughing song", op. 132 no. 3 (2001) [speaker and tape], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 3.
by David Evan Thomas (1958-) , "Laughing song", 1995. [medium voice and piano]

RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)

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Pesnja smekha

Jesli sladkij smekh veselit lesa,
Jesli radostno likujut nebesa,
Jesli khokhotom grokhochet vodopad,
A zeljonyj kholm nashim shutkam rad,

Jesli poteshajetsja luzhok,
I kuznechik, sovershiv pryzhok,
I nevesta, vidja zhenikha,
Nezhno napevajet: "Kha, kha, kha!"

Jesli pticy l'jut chudesnyj smekh
Nad mojim stolom, gde vishnja i orekh,
Nu-ka, vmeste, ne bojas' grekha,
Grjanem strojnym khorom: "Kha, kha, kha!"

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Pesnja smekha", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

a text in English by William Blake (1757-1827) , "Laughing song", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 10, published 1789

Date added to the website: 2008-01-17.