Laughing Song
~ 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!"
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!"
***
How adorable is it to hear your youngest child laugh in loud, fully formed guffaws, and cackles and with honest-to-goodness, side-splitting glee? Not so much the childish giggling of a toddler but more the expansive and knowing laughter of middle childhood. She gets the jokes now. She's got a breezy sense of humour and a sweet sense of irony. I can tell she's going to have fabulous adult laughter. She'll reward people with those deep and hearty chuckles that make strangers smile in agreement and friends feel their story-telling is charmed. Plus she makes quite the most magnificent hats for 'crazy hat day' at school. With two patty cake containers and a scrap of fabric from the collage materials bin at Afters and a bit of sticky tape.
