Песня смеха | Если сладкий смех веселит леса

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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

Translation Singable translation © by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020)

When the green woods laugh with the...

Language: English

Available translation(s): CHI RUS

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!"

About the headline (FAQ)

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 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Elaine Louise Bearer (b. 1947), "The laughing song", 1974 [ SAB chorus a cappella ], from Three Settings from William Blake's Songs of Innocence, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Maximilian Beckschäfer (b. 1952), "Laughing song", 1978 [ voice and instrumental ensemble ], from Songs after William Blake, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Phillip Thomas Bezanson (1916 - 1975), "Laughing song", published 1959, from Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Maurice Blower (1894 - 1982), "Laughing song", published c1961 [ 2-part junior or women's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Jacques (Jacob) Blumenthal (1829 - 1908), "Laughing song", published 1878? [ SATB chorus ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "Laughing song", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Laughing song", 1915, published c1917 [ SSA trio and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Busch (1901 - 1945), "Laughing song", 1943, published 1944 [sung text not yet checked]
by James Henry Baseden Butt (b. 1929), "Laughing song", op. 60 no. 1, published 1980, from Five William Blake Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Vincent Henry Palmer Caillard, Sir (1856 - 1930), "Laughing song", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from The Songs of Innocence of William Blake, no. 10, London : Novello, Ewer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Howard Carr (b. 1880), "Laughing song", published c1913 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Stephen Chatman (b. 1950), "Song of the laughing green woods", 1984 [ SATB chorus and oboe (or flute, or violin, or clarinet) ], from There is sweet music here, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Elizabeth Penn Sprague Coolidge (Mrs. Frederick Shurtleff Coolidge) (1864 - 1953), "Laughing song", 19--? [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Norman Curtis (b. 1933), "Laughing song", c1959 [ voice and piano ], from William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Hopkins Densmore (1880 - 1943), "Laughing song", published c1909 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Songs, no. 3, NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Laughing song", published c1974 [ SSATB chorus with optional piano four-hands ], Delaware Water Gap : Shawnee Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Angela Diller (1877 - 1968), "When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy", published c1910 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : M. Witmark [sung text not yet checked]
by Quenten Doolittle (b. 1925), "Laughing song", c1979 [ soprano and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Enns (b. 1948), "Laughing song", 1974, published c1983, rev. 1978, first performed 1979 [ SATB chorus, piano, and optional flute ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 4, Waterloo, Ont. : Waterloo Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by David Andross Farquhar (1928 - 2007), "Laughing song", 1947-9 [ voice and piano ], from Blake Songs, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Nicolas Flagello (b. 1928), "Laughing song", 1966, published c1967 [ youth chorus in one and 2 parts ], NY : Juilliard Repertory Project [sung text not yet checked]
by Percy Eastman Fletcher (1879 - 1932), "Laughing song", published c1926 [ SS chorus with piano ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by (Charles William) Eric Fogg (1903 - 1939), "Laughing song", published c1925 [ high voice and piano ], from Two Songs, no. 2, London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
by John Frandsen (b. 1956), "Laughing song", 1984 [ soprano and guitar ], from Songs of Innocence I, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Earl Robert George (b. 1924), "Laughing song", published c1956 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 5, Evanston, IL : Summy-Birchard Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "Song 2nd by a young shepherd", op. 27c no. 6 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Three Shepherd Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Allan Greenway Harrison (1885 - 1963), "When the green woods laugh", 1908, published c1909 [ SSC chorus and piano ], London : J. Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by Christian Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901 - 1947), "Laughing song", published c1932 [ women's chorus or boys' chorus and piano or strings ], from The Echoing Green and Other Songs, from Blake's Songs of Innocence, no. 3, London : Elkin & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Scott Henderson , "Laughing song", c1977 [ SSA trio, 2 horns in F, and harp ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Hinton (1869 - 1941), "Laughing song" [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, 2nd Set, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Holbrooke (1878 - 1958), "Laughing song ", op. 130 no. 7 (1934), published 1934, from Songs of Innocence, no. 7, London : Modern Music Library [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary Ruth Brink Berger Inwood (b. 1928), "When the green woods laugh", published 1978 [ soprano, oboe, and harpsichord ], from Cheerful and Tender Songs, no. 3, Boston : L'Art de Musique [sung text not yet checked]
by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "A laughing song", 1910 [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Percy Jackman , "Laughing song", published c1898 [ SSC vocal trio a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob (1895 - 1984), "Laughing song ", 1922, published 1926 [ soprano and string trio ], from Three Songs of Innocence, no. 3, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Albert Jahn , "Laughing song", published c1914 [ vocal trio of female voices ], partsong; Dallas, Bush & Gertz Piano Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
by Sharon E. Kanach (b. 1957), "Laughing song ", 1977 [ baritone and instrumental ensemble (nine instruments) ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Mary Margaret Kelly (b. 1957), "Laughing song", 1984-5 [ SA chorus and piano ], from Six Songs for School Chorus, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Matthew King (b. 1967), "Laughing song", 2006 [ soprano, mezzo-soprano soli, chorus, and orchestra ], from The Season of Singing, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Theron Kirk (1919 - 1999), "Laughing song ", published c1971 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], Park Ridge, IL : General Words & Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Bamford Lane (1933 - 2004), "Laughing song ", 1974, first performed 1974 [ SSA chorus and strings ], from Some Songs of Innocence, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Laughing song", published 2007 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Blake Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by André Laporte (b. 1931), "Laughing song ", 1979, published c1983 [ SSSS chorus a cappella ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 8, Kontich, Belgium : De notenboom [sung text not yet checked]
by Sven Lekberg (1899 - 1984), "When the green woods laugh", published c1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], New York, G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Joan Littlejohn (b. 1937), "Laughing song", 1967-70, first performed 1971 [ voice and piano ], from Blakes Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul, Part I : Songs of Innocence, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Basil Hugh Longmire (1902 - 1986), "Laughing song ", published c1936 [ unison chorus and piano ], York, England : Banks & Son [sung text not yet checked]
by Bertram Luard-Selby (1853 - 1918), "A laughing song", published 1880 [ SSA trio and piano ], London : Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Luening (1900 - 1996), "Laughing Song", 1984, first performed 1984 [ vocal trio for tenor, baritone, and baritone (or counter-tenor) a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles T. Maclary , "Laughing song ", published 1941 [ unison or 2-part treble chorus a cappella ], from Nine Happy Songs, from Songs of Innocence of William Blake, no. 5, Philadelphia : Elkan-Vogel Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Mann (b. 1920), "Laughing song ", c1951 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Three Songs from Blake's "Songs of Innocence", no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Kirke Mechem (b. 1925), "Laughing song ", op. 24 no. 3 (1964), published c1968 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Five Centuries of Spring, no. 3, Bryn Mawr, PA : Th. Presser Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Margery Moore , "Laughing song", published c1935 [ three-part women's chorus ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Havelock Nelson (1917 - 1996), "Summer", 1957, first performed 1958 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from The Course of the Year, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Harold Noble (1903 - 1998), "Laughing song", published c1967 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], London : Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew [sung text not yet checked]
by Theodore Paxon , "Laughing song", published c1949 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : C. Fischer [sung text not yet checked]
by Caroline Wilhelmina Perceval (1870 - 1965), "A laughing song", published c1906 [ duet for 2 treble voices with piano ], London : Leonard & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Leonard Rafter (1912 - 1964), "Laughing song", published c1963 [ 2-part treble chorus with optional tenor and bass parts, piano, strings, woodwinds, and percussion ], London : Bosworth ; words adapted ; also set in a German translation by E. Kristian with the title "Lachlied" [sung text not yet checked]
by Juliet Raphael , "Laughing song", published c1927, from Madrigal and Minstrelsy, New York : Albert & Charles Boni [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Raskin (1928 - 1984), "Laughing song", published 1966 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 10, Garden City, NY : Doubleday [sung text not yet checked]
by Desmond Hayward Ratcliffe (1917 - 2001), "Laughing song ", published 1950 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "A Laughing Song", op. 295 (1951) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Richard Roderick-Jones (b. 1947), "Laughing song ", 1967-8 [ soprano, SSA chorus, and orchestra ], from cantata Songs of Innocence, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Spencer Schwartz , "Laughing song ", c1921 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by David Ferguson Shaw (b. 1926), "Laughing song ", 1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Blake Poems, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Laughing song", op. 132 no. 3 (2001) [ speaker and tape ], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Leo Smith (1881 - 1952), "Laughing song ", published c1912 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from Five songs, no. 2, Winnipeg and Toronto : Whaley, Royce & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Johannes Somary (b. 1935), "Laughing song ", 1973, first performed 1974 [ duet for soprano and baritone with piano ], from Six Songs of Innocence, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "A laughing song", published c1907 [ vocal duet for 2 equal voices ], partsong; London : J. Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Steel (b. 1939), "Laughing song ", published c1965 [ unison chorus and piano ], from Two Songs of William Blake, no. 2, London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Ronald Stevenson (b. 1928), "Laughing song", 1948-50, rev. 1965 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 10, another version exists for voice, flute, and string quintet (composed 1966-71) [sung text not yet checked]
by Dorothy Wauchope Stewart , "When the green woods laugh", published c1926 [ unison and 2-part treble chorus ], from Eight Songs of Innocence, no. 6, London : H. W. F. Deane & Sons, The Year Book Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Anthony Strilko (b. 1931), "Laughing song", 1960? [ high voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Edith Swepstone (flourished 1887-1915), "Laughing song ", published 1911 [ SA chorus and piano ], London : Weekes & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "Laughing song", 1935-6, first performed 1975 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
by Phyllis Margaret Duncan Tate (1911 - 1987), "Laughing song ", published c1942 [ unison chorus and piano ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
by Henry Stanley Taylor , "Laughing song", published c1958 [ SS chorus and piano ], London : J. Curwen ; NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Joseph Thomas (1894 - ?), "When the green woods laugh", published c1942 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], New Florence, KY : Willis Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by David Evan Thomas (b. 1958), "Laughing song", 1995 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "Laughing song ", published c1917 [ vocal trio for female voices ], Boston : Boston Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken (1858 - 1929), "Laughing song", op. 37 no. 1, published c1908 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Choruses for Mixed Voices a cappella, no. 1, NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
by Persis Anne Vehar (b. 1937), "Joy", 1980, first performed 1981 [ soprano and string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernest Walker (1870 - 1949), "Laughing song", op. 7 no. 6, published 1898 [ SS chorus or SA chorus and piano ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 6, London : J. Williams [sung text not yet checked]
by Philip George Wilkinson (b. 1929), "Laughing song ", published c1953 [ 2-part chorus for treble voices and piano ], London : E. Arnold & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Willemson , "Laughing song ", published 1901 [ SA chorus ], London : J. Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
by Grace Mary Williams (1906 - 1977), "When the green woods laugh", published 1963, first performed 1960 [ soprano, SSA chorus, and piano or chamber orchestra ], from All Seasons Shall Be Sweet, no. 3, Cardiff : University of Wales Press [sung text not yet checked]
by James Walter Wilson (b. 1922), "Laughing song ", 1966, first performed 1967 [ duet for contralto and baritone with piano ], from Trefoil, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ruth Shaw Wylie (b. 1916), "Laughing song", op. 13 no. 5 (1950, c1974), published 1977 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Five Madrigals to Poems by William Blake, from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. 5, West Babylon, NY : Branch [sung text not yet checked]
by Dalhousie James Young (1866 - 1921), "Laughing song ", published 1894 [ high voice and piano ], London : Weekes & Co. [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Lloyd Alvin Pfautsch (b. 1921), "Laughing song", published c1976 [ SSAA chorus and flute ], New York : Lawson-Gould (Cherry Lane Music)
- View the full text. [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Welsh (Cymraeg), a translation by Caerwyn (Owen Ellis Roberts) ; composed by Haydn Morris.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]

Other 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

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 101

Песня смеха

Language: Russian (Русский) after the English

Если сладкий смех веселит леса,
Если радостно ликуют небеса,
Если хохотом грохочет водопад,
А зелёный холм нашим шуткам рад,

Если потешается лужок,
И кузнечик, совершив прыжок,
И невеста, видя жениха,
Нежно напевает: ъХа, ха, ха!ъ

Если птицы льют чудесный смех
Над моим столом, где вишня и орех,
Ну-ка, вместе, не боясь греха,
Грянем стройным хором: ъХа, ха, ха!ъ

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Note on Transliterations

Text Authorship:

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "Песня смеха", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in English by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "Laughing song", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Innocence, no. 10, first published 1789
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this page: Richard Shaw

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-17
Line count: 12
Word count: 58

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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.