It can be a thoughtful gift to include some words or poetry written inside a card - a simple way to make the recipient feel special.
Why not try your hand at writing a few lines of verse for a friend or relative - you can make it personal and special to them. It's a free gift but one that shows extra care and thought.
If you're not feeling the muses inspiration, you might like this birthday poem, that was written by Christina Rossetti.
A Birthday Christina Rossetti
A birthday My heart is like a singing bird Whose heart is in a watered shoot: My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That Paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these Because my love is come to me. Raise me dais of silk and down; Hang it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; Because the birthday of my life Is come, my love is come to me
Christina also wrote some great poetry for her daughter, it's a beautiful expression of her love - check it out on the daughters page.
A Prayer for a Mother's Birthday Henry Van Dyke
Lord Jesus, Thou hast known A mother's love and tender care: And Thou wilt hear, while for my own Mother most dear I make this birthday prayer.
Protect her life, I pray, Who gave the gift of life to me; And may she know, from day to day, The deepening glow of Life that comes from Thee.
As once upon her breast Fearless and well content I lay, So let her heart, on Thee at rest, Feel fears depart and troubles fade away.
Her every wish fulfill; And even if Thou must refuse In anything, let Thy wise will A comfort bring such as kind mothers use.
Ah, hold her by the hand, As once her hand held mine; And though she may not understand Life's winding way, lead her in peace divine.
I cannot pay my debt For all the love that she has given; But Thou, love's Lord, wilt not forget Her due reward,--bless her in earth and heaven.
Let Us Make Each Day Our Birthday
Let us make each day our birthday, As with each new dawn we rise, To the glory and the gladness Of God's calm, o'erbending skies; To the soul-uplifting anthems Of Creation's swelling strains, Chanted by the towering mountains, Surging sea, and sweeping plains.
Let us make each day our birthday-- Every morning life is new, With the splendors of the sunrise, And the baptism of the dew; With the glisten of the woodlands, And the radiance of the flowers, And the birds' exultant matins, In the young day's wakening hours.
Let us make each day our birthday, To a newer, holier life, Rousing to some high endeavor, Arming for a nobler strife, Toiling upward, looking Godward, Lest our poor lives be as discords, In Heaven's symphony of love.
And here's something that's kind of funny and sad, ideal for someone who is getting on in years:-
When You are Old Willam Butler Yeats
When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true; But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face.
And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead, And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Please email with your poem ideas for a happy birthday.