18 of the Best Poems for Babies
Whether you’re searching for the right words for a baby shower card, or the perfect prose to express your love to your own new baby, this collection of the best poems for babies are sure to inspire.
I come from a family who loves the written word (clearly, seeing as how I’m now a writer myself). I love poetry, and I grew up with a father who actually wrote beautiful love poems for my mom.
I think that’s why poetry has become a go-to for me when I’m searching for the right words. Many times I’ll insert a poem into a card, especially for big life moments like a new baby. Becoming a parent and welcoming your own bundle of joy is one of the greatest joys in life!
Babies bring so much joy to our lives, with their adorable tiny feet and little hands. They’re also constantly changing. If you look at some of the most famous poems and top poems about babies and children, you’ll see that the themes are really diverse. And that’s a wonderful thing, because oh baby do we need beautiful poems that help us capture the magic (and craziness) of this time.
Whether you’re celebrating the arrival of a first child, or just sending a little bit of sunshine to express how yu feel, a beautiful poem might help. Baby poems are also a great addition to a new baby card. Pair one with a picture book of nursery rhymes for a great gift!
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Adorable Poems About Babies
The below collection of poems for babies include some famous ones you’ll recognize, as well as a few others I’ve personally fallen in love with over the years that hold a special place in my own heart.
I’ve created some shareable graphics for a few of these beautiful poems about babies and newborn children. If you share one of these on social media, please tag me @simply.siobhan, as I would love to see!
Infant Joy by William Blake
I have no name
I am but two days old.—
What shall I call thee?
I happy am
Joy is my name, —
Sweet joy befall thee!
Pretty joy!
Sweet joy but two days old,
Sweet joy I call thee;
Thou dost smile.
I sing the while
Sweet joy befall thee.
Mama by Jess Urlichs
Mama,
I can’t see past you right now, I’m so small and everything’s a little blurry.
All I see is you.
When you feel alone, like the walls are closing in, remember I’m here too. I know your world has changed and the days feel a little lonely. But they aren’t lonely for me.
You are my everything.
When you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re making it look easy to me. Even though we’re still getting to know each other, you know me better than anyone.
I trust you.
When you think some nights you’ll never sleep again, you will. We both will. But I’m scared right now. I promise I’m not manipulating you. I just need your smell and comfort. Do you feel that tug in your heart when we’re apart? I do too.
I miss you.
When you feel as if you’ve achieved nothing, please know, my cup has never been so full.
The days that get away on you will be some of my best memories of us playing together on the ground.
I love you.
When you feel like you don’t know who you are anymore, when you turn away from the mirror. That face will be the one I look to when I achieve something, the one I search for in a crowd. The reason for my first smile.
You’re perfect to me.
When you feel like the weight of it all is heavy in your heart, please know I’ve never felt lighter. Can I lay here with you a little longer?
I won’t always need you like this.
But I need you right now.
When you feel as if you have nothing left to give, when I see your hands outstretched at me, pleading. When we’re both crying. I wish I could talk, but I can’t.
If I could I would tell you,
There’s a reason I chose you.
I can’t see past you right now mama, because you are my world.
It will get bigger, soon enough.
But for now,
All I see is you.
My House Creaks in the Rain by Sara Lewis Holmes
My house creaks in the rain,
a porch-skirted grandmother
shifting her lap.
Sing to me, Grandmother.
Comfort me, house.
You are used to
the nattering of raindrops,
used to their prickly breath,
used to cold knees
as they crawl down
your neck to your breast.
Sing to me, Grandmother.
Comfort me, house.
My nipples are cracked
from milk wetness.
My womb shudders
in sharp gusts. I’m rocked
by this baby, this raw-fisted
baby, flooded
by this baby who clings
like rain to the eaves
of my chest.
Grandmother!
House!
Cradle Song by Alfred Lord Tennyson
What does little birdie say
In her nest at peep of day?
Let me fly, says little birdie,
Mother, let me fly away.
Birdie, rest a little longer,
Till thy little wings are stronger.
So she rests a little longer,
Then she flies away.
What does little baby say,
In her bed at peep of day?
Baby says, like little birdie,
Let me rise and fly away.
Baby, sleep a little longer,
Till thy little limbs are stronger.
If she sleeps a little longer,
Baby too shall fly away.
‘A Baby’s Feet’ by Algernon Charles Swinburne
A baby’s feet, like sea shells pink,
Might tempt, should heaven see meet
An angel’s lips to kiss, we think,
A baby’s feet.
Like rose-hued sea flowers toward the heat
They stretch and spread and wink
Their ten soft buds that part and meet.
No flower bells that expand and shrink
Gleam half so heavenly sweet,
As shine on life’s untrodden brink
A baby’s feet.
If You Were a Love Note by Jess Urlichs
If time were made of colour
you’d be my golden hour
If love was just a seed
you’d be each and every flower
If the sky could whisper secrets
you’d be its wind and summer rain
If the morning sun had arms
you’d be held again, again, again
If my heartbeat was a language
you’d be its love love letter at dawn
If stardust formed a trail on earth
It would take me to when you were born
On children from The Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Song for Baby-O, Unborn by Diane Di Prima
Sweetheart
when you break thru
you’ll find
a poet here
not quite what one would choose.
I won’t promise
you’ll never go hungry
or that you won’t be sad
on this gutted
breaking
globe
but I can show you
baby
enough to love
to break your heart
forever
God Bless You, Little One by Ilona M. Blake
A baby is a gift, a blessing that makes our lives worthwhile,
As they complete us, give us purpose and always manage to make us smile.
Their cuddles, snuggles, and soft kisses can brighten up any day.
And it’s amazing that even just watching them sleep can make all our problems simply fade away.
When they gently clasp your finger or you gaze down at their cute little feet,
We are reminded every day just how precious they are, so perfect and oh so sweet.
We have come together with our family and friends on this absolutely perfect day
To ask God if he could look after this princess as she goes on her way.
We pray that He will keep her healthy and safe and always be her guide,
And that he will be there for her when she needs him to be right by her side.
As we watch her grow and learn, I hope she always learns right from wrong.
May she be little warrior, brave and fearless, but at the same time, kind, gentle yet strong.
May she never stop following her dreams and reach for the highest stars in the sky.
Help her believe and achieve and let her spirits always fly high.
We hope that she will be respectful, humble, honest and true.
A life filled with pure happiness is what we all wish for you.
May she always be surrounded by laughter and her heart always filled with love.
And from this moment, we pray that she will be forever faithful to the Lord above.
God bless you, little angel; may you never stop wearing a golden halo,
And my wish for you is that your life will always be like a rainbow.
Perfect in every single way and just so beautiful to see,
A life that will be intriguing and as colorful as can be.
God Bless you Little One
I Know a Baby, Such a Baby by Christina Rossetti
I know a baby, such a baby, –
Round blue eyes and cheeks of pink,
Such an elbow furrowed with dimples,
Such a wrist where creases sink.
‘Cuddle and love me, cuddle and love me, ’
Crows the mouth of coral pink:
Oh, the bald head, and, oh, the sweet lips,
And, oh, the sleepy eyes that wink!
‘Love you more’ by James Carter
Do I love you
to the moon and back?
No I love you
more than that
I love you to the desert sands
the mountains, stars
the planets and
I love you to the deepest sea
and deeper still
through history
Before beyond I love you then
I love you now
I’ll love you when
The sun’s gone out
the moon’s gone home
and all the stars are fully grown
When I no longer say these words
I’ll give them to the wind, the birds
so that they will still be heard
I love you
Lullaby of an Infant Chief by Sir Walter Scott
O, hush thee, my babie, thy sire was a knight,
Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright;
The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see,
They are all belonging, dear babie, to thee.
O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo.
O, fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows,
It calls but the warders that guard thy repose;
Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red,
Ere the step of a foeman draws near to thy bed.
O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo.
O, hush thee, my babie, the time soon will come,
When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;
Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may,
For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day.
O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo.
Ode to a Dove’s Lament by Maureen Doallas
You do not whisper coo-oo this
morning, your sound the signal
alarm—wings sharply whistling—
till I, twice pulled from slumber, run
my finger to the glass, imagining how
the limb on which you perch might be
shaken to one more vow of silence.
We do this often, you and I—call
and respond, me rubbing sleep’s eye
and you, my day-breaking game bird,
letting loose the same-syllable song
widows address in their dreams.
How could I know today would be
different, wing whirs replacing coo-
OO-oo, the racketeering Blue Jay
occupying the nest, its beak a bloom
of tiny shell chips, and you, in gray
dress, forever unstilled.
‘I’d Love to be a Fairy’s Child’ by Robert Graves
Children born of fairy stock
Never need for shirt or frock,
Never want for food or fire,
Always get their heart’s desire:
Jingle pockets full of gold,
Marry when they’re seven years old,
Every fairy child may keep
Two strong ponies and ten sheep;
All have houses, each his own,
Built of brick or granite stone;
They live on cherries, they run wild –
I’d love to be a Fairy’s child.
Baby Mine by Frederick Locker-Lampson
Baby mine, with the grave, grave face,
Where did you get that royal calm,
Too staid for joy, too still for grace?
I bend as I kiss your pink, soft palm.
Are you the first of a nobler race,
Baby mine?
You come from the region of long ago,
And gazing awhile where the seraphs dwell
Has given your face a glory and glow.
Of that brighter land have you aught to tell?
I seem to have known it; I more would know
Baby mine.
Your calm, blue eyes have a far-off reach.
Look at me now with those wondrous eyes
Why are we doomed to the gift of speech
While you are silent and sweet and wise?
You have much to learn; you have more to teach,
Baby mine.
All the time in the world by Shel Silverstein
Lay down
Let’s explore this tenderness between us
There ain’t no one around at all to see us
And baby would you mind
If maybe you and I
Took a little time to find each other?
Baby, We got all the time in the world
So why don’t we just take it nice and slow?
We got everything we need
To plant a lovin’ seed
And all the time we need to watch it grow.
Stay down
Stay at least until the fire stops burnin’
At least until the room has stopped it’s turnin’
And when the embers dyin’
We’re lyin’ in the afterglow
It’ll be as sweet as anything we’ve ever known
Baby, We got all the time in the world
So why don’t we just take it nice and slow?
We got everything we need
To plant a lovin’ seed
And all the time we need to watch it grow.
10 Tiny Fingers
Ten tiny fingers, and ten tiny toes
Two little ears and one little nose
Two little eyes that shine so bright,
And one little mouth to kiss mama goodnight.
Maternity by Robert Service
There once was a Square, such a square little Square,
And he loved a trim Triangle;
But she was a flirt and around her skirt
Vainly she made him dangle.
Oh he wanted to wed and he had no dread
Of domestic woes and wrangles;
For he thought that his fate was to procreate
Cute little Squares and Triangles.
Now it happened one day on that geometric way
There swaggered a big bold Cube,
With a haughty stare and he made that Square
Have the air of a perfect boob;
To his solid spell the Triangle fell,
And she thrilled with love’s sweet sickness,
For she took delight in his breadth and height—
But how she adored his thickness!
So that poor little Square just died of despair,
For his love he could not strangle;
While the bold Cube led to the bridal bed
That cute and acute Triangle.
The Square’s sad lot she has long forgot,
And his passionate pretensions …
For she dotes on her kids—Oh such cute Pyramids
In a world of three dimensions.
You might also enjoy these posts about babies:
13 Engaging Activities for Your 1 Month Old Baby
Easy Baby Costumes for Halloween
Babies are truly the basis of unconditional love. Each little boy and little girl born are a shining star. Which beautiful poem was your favorite?
I hope this collection brings a little extra sunshine to your day! Sending lots of love your way as you celebrate your new arrival.
