| Five Easy Steps to Finding the Right Birthday | | | | |
| Poem | | | | Of course, some instances of humor are best |
| | | | left untouched. If someone is particularly |
| So, it's a friend or family member's birthday | | | | touchy about their age, finding a poem that |
| and let's face it, those corny punch lines | | | | outlines the exact age and then makes comment |
| already printed on birthday cards just are | | | | on the advanced decrepit state of that age is |
| not going to cut it this year. A solid | | | | not the best idea. Be considerate even as you |
| birthday poem can really push a card over the | | | | seek a light and humorous way to celebrate |
| top, but only if you can find the right words | | | | that most important of days. |
| to express what you're hoping to say. No one | | | | |
| wants their birthday poem to be too overt. Of | | | | Step #4 - For that Special Someone |
| course, no one wants to give their friend a | | | | |
| dirty limerick for their birthday poem | | | | Birthday poems for a spouse or for a loved |
| either. | | | | one can be a chance to really shine and show |
| | | | how much you love them. They can also be a |
| Step #1 - Find the Right Tone | | | | chance to earn a few extra points with just |
| | | | the right lyrics. Christina Rosetti, a 19th |
| Birthday poems range in all sizes and shapes, | | | | century poet who spent a great deal of her |
| just like people. So, it stands to reason | | | | life in and out of depressive states, wrote |
| that there should be a perfectly suited poem | | | | many beautiful lyrics, including "A |
| available for nearly anyone you know. Step | | | | Birthday", a poem dedicated not just to a |
| one then is to find the right tone for your | | | | single birthday, but to the sensation and joy |
| birthday tone. Is it for your mother, your | | | | of a birthday as a metaphor for being in |
| wife, your husband, your son or daughter, or | | | | love: |
| maybe just a good friend or co-worker. Now, | | | | |
| what kind of a poem would that person | | | | Raise me a daïs of silk and down; Hang |
| appreciate? | | | | it with vair and purple dyes; Carve it in |
| | | | doves and pomegranates, And peacocks with a |
| Step #2 - Humor Goes a Long Way | | | | hundred eyes; Work it in gold and silver |
| | | | grapes, In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys; |
| Even for a spouse or family member, a funny | | | | Because the birthday of my life Is come, |
| birthday poem can be a light and distracting | | | | my love is come to me. |
| way to enjoy the annual reminder of how old | | | | |
| they are. Jonathan Swift, the author | | | | Step #5 - Delivering the Birthday Poem |
| Gulliver's Travels and one of the English | | | | |
| language's first satirists wrote "Stella's | | | | After choosing the right words, reading them |
| Birthday" for a woman with whom he frequently | | | | over and over again and knowing that they fit |
| corresponded. With the light touch of humor | | | | the birthday boy or girl perfectly, it is |
| that he imbued into everything he wrote, he | | | | time to decide how that birthday poem should |
| reminded her of exactly how old she was: | | | | be given to them. Humorous poems are best |
| | | | delivered in a card. They can be read over |
| Stella this day is thirty-four, (We shan't | | | | and over, shared with friends and hung upon |
| dispute a year or more:) However, Stella, | | | | the refrigerator for future laughs. Loving |
| be not troubled, Although thy size and | | | | and personal poems are often better delivered |
| years are doubled, Since first I saw thee | | | | in person, adding that intimate touch that |
| at sixteen, The brightest virgin on the | | | | can push a birthday poem over the top. |
| green; So little is thy form declin'd; | | | | However you decide to deliver it though, |
| Made up so largely in thy mind. | | | | poetry on a loved one's birthday is a |
| | | | wonderful gift. |
| Step #3 - Being Wary | | | | |