15+ Must-Read Poems about Celebration

Scott's poem also gives voice to a rapt celebration of life that revolves around its complexity and variation. The "mystic twist" symbolizes the mystery that ultimately obscures human experience, lending it uncertainty but also an immense possibility. The speaker ultimately urges the reader to embrace life in all its fullness—the good and the bad. "Twist ye, twine ye!" is not a despairing cry but a call to celebrate the full scope of life, however unpredictable or contradictory it may be.

Twist ye, twine ye! even so,

Mingle shades of joy and woe,

Hope, and fear, and peace, and strife,

In the thread of human life.

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The Lighthouse

by Gillian Clarke

‘The Lighthouse’ celebrates the lighthouse as a symbol of guiding knowledge with historical and mythic significance.

Clarke's speaker evokes the tone of one who celebrates the existence and history of lighthouses as much as the human discovery that birthed them. In recalling how "it took a man's sleeve / bursting to flame" to realize the power of concentrated sunlight, the poem upholds the accidental epiphany as a symbol of the roots of technological achievement. This moment of enlightenment is contoured and heightened by the comparison to a child’s magnifying glass, transforming a simple moment of curiosity into something mythic with the reference to "Excalibur."

In the clean house on the rock

where sleepy headlands drink the evening sea

and floors are cut to fit horizons,

the great fish-eye revolves

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won’t you celebrate with me

by Lucille Clifton

‘won’t you celebrate with me’ by Lucille Clifton addresses racism and inherent gender inequality. The speaker has overcome every hurdle and modeled herself in her own image.

The poem is an invitation to celebrate the speaker's life and accomplishments, despite the challenges she has faced. It is a reminder of the importance of celebrating and uplifting one another, particularly in the face of adversity.

won't you celebrate with me

what i have shaped into

a kind of life? i had no model.

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From Blossoms

by Li-Young Lee

‘From Blossoms’ describes the simple joys of summer. It uses peaches to explore the vivid interconnectedness of the world.

This poem is a profoundly joyous and celebratory piece of verse. It is about the moments in life where people do not think of any bad things but simply move "from joy to joy to joy." The speaker celebrates peaches, the joy they bring, and the complex process that produces them. He also celebrates his own place in the world and his connection to other things around him.

From blossoms comes

this brown paper bag of peaches

we bought from the boy

at the bend in the road where we turned toward

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The Building of the Ship

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

‘The Building of the Ship’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow encapsulates the nation’s resilience and unity amid adversity, sailing onward with courage.

'The Building of the Ship' celebrates the culmination of human effort and craftsmanship in constructing a vessel that defies the challenges of the sea. The poem exudes a sense of triumph and accomplishment as the ship is completed and launched. Through vivid descriptions and joyful imagery, it conveys the theme of celebration, honoring the achievement of creating something of enduring strength and beauty.

"Build me straight, O worthy Master!

Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel,

That shall laugh at all disaster,

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"

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Indian Weavers

by Sarojini Naidu

‘Indian Weavers’ explores the inevitability of death while celebrating the cycles of human existence and experience.

The poem celebrates the variety and vibrancy of human life, from birth until death

Weavers, weaving at break of day,

Why do you weave a garment so gay? . . .

Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,

We weave the robes of a new-born child.

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A Rhyme for Halloween

by Maurice Kilwein Guevara

‘A Rhyme for Halloween’ by Maurice Kilwein Guevara captures the macabre side of the fun Halloween holiday.

At its core, Guevara's poem is a holistic celebration of Halloween, one that encompasses both familiar and eerie elements of the holiday. The poem's magical realism renders everything supernatural, from trick-or-treaters to drunk men in costumes. The result is a poem that descends with each stanza into more supernatural eddies that both enchant and terrify.

Tonight I light the candles of my eyes in the lee

And swing down this branch full of red leaves.

Yellow moon, skull and spine of the hare,

Arrow me to town on the neck of the air.

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America

by Walt Whitman

‘America’ by Walt Whitman is a short but impactful poem that expresses the poet’s pride and joy for his fellow countrymen.

As is often the case, celebration is a major theme found within this poem by Walt Whitman. Here, the poet expresses his grand pride and hope for his country and the people who call it home. It is a patriotism defined by the poet's great desire for equality and freedom to be enjoyed by every individual.

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,

All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,

Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,

Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,

#10

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Be Drunk

by Charles Baudelaire

‘Be Drunk’ by Charles Baudelaire is a stirring poem meant to incite the reader to passion about life.

One thing that Baudelaire's poem does phenomenally well is capturing the exhilaration and love of life that's necessary too often to survive it. Its invocation of the phrase "be always drunk" is a literal and figurative representation of the celebration as a powerful guard against time's fleeting nature. To the speaker and Baudelaire, one could not possibly find a better way to spend their time on Earth than being totally enraptured by something.

You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it—it's the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.

#11

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In Possum Land

by Henry Lawson

‘In Possum Land’ yearns to leave behind the urban clamor in favor of the tranquil sanctuary afforded by a rural landscape.

The speaker of the poem celebrates their idyllic perception of the world beyond their city and the life it forces them to lead. For them, there is no other place like it, nowhere so beautifully or peacefully ideal than the countryside that extends in their imagination. In this way, "Possum Land" is praised for being both a symbol and a tangible escape from the drudgeries and vulgarities of modern living. The speaker's tone is reverential and grateful, upholding this realm under the "western stars" as the desired location of their night's rest.

In Possum Land the nights are fair,

The streams are fresh and clear;

No dust is in the moonlit air;

No traffic jars the ear.

#12

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She Walks in Beauty

by Lord Byron

‘She Walks in Beauty’ by Lord Byron glorifies the atypical beauty of a woman whom the speaker lovingly adores.

Taking the form of an ode, Byron's poem waxes lovingly over a woman who has enchanted them beyond hope of recovery. However, it is unclear whether or not these sentiments are truly romantic love and not just zealous appreciation. Either way, the poem very clearly celebrates the unconventional ways in which she embodies and presents her beauty, as interpreted by the speaker. Lauding praises of this "nameless grace," a "pure" soul both "eloquent" and possessing "smiles that win."

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

#13

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Sumer is icumen in

by W. de Wycombe

‘Sumer is icumen in’ is a song written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English. The brilliance of the composition lies in the use of a refrain that resonates with the consecutive cooing of the Cuckoo.

Summer has arrived,

Loudly sing, cuckoo!

The seed is growing

And the meadow is blooming,

#14

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That Music Always Round Me

by Walt Whitman

‘That Music Always Round Me’ by Walt Whitman is a beautiful poem that melds together the poet’s democratic worldview with a rapt appreciation for individual beauty.

So many of Walt Whitman's poems are voiced as celebrations of ideals and people that the poet sees worthy of reverence. Here in this poem, the speaker describes the music they hear as being comprised of many different voices and sounds. The purpose of which is to highlight the vast diversity of tones and pitches that appear in the course of the music, similar to the way a nation is comprised of many different people attempting to exist in harmony.

That music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning, yet long untaught I did not hear,

But now the chorus I hear and am elated,

#15

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The Silver Flask

by John Montague

‘The Silver Flask’ by John Montague recounts the poet’s family reunion and their journey to Ireland after twenty years to celebrate Christmas.

The fundamental objective behind the journey is to attend the ‘Midnight Mass’ and thus celebrate Christmas together after twenty long years. However, metaphorically, the journey celebrates the poet’s family reunion and their return to Ireland. Additionally, it also celebrates the beauty of the Irish countryside. The ambiance remains quite positive and elated. The celebratory mood resonates throughout the poem, from the father’s joyful singing to the passing around of ‘The Silver Flask’.

The family circle briefly restored

nearly twenty lonely years after

that last Christmas in Brooklyn,

15+ Must-Read Poems about Celebration

(15 to start, 300+ to explore)

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15+ Must-Read Poems about Celebration

(15 to start, 300+ to explore)

by George Santayana

by Sir Walter Scott

by Gillian Clarke

by Lucille Clifton

by Li-Young Lee

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

by Sarojini Naidu

by Maurice Kilwein Guevara

by Walt Whitman

by Charles Baudelaire

by Henry Lawson

by Lord Byron

by W. de Wycombe

by Walt Whitman

by John Montague

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