When Joy Becomes Life Itself
Sara Teasdale’s Joy captures that rare moment when love ignites the soul so fully that life and death lose their boundaries.
Joy
Sara Teasdale
I am wild, I will sing to the trees,
I will sing to the stars in the sky,
I love, I am loved, he is mine,
Now at last I can die!
I am sandaled with wind and with flame,
I have heart-fire and singing to give,
I can tread on the grass or the stars,
Now at last I can live!
In Joy, Sara Teasdale speaks with the voice of someone utterly alive — not because of wealth, status, or circumstance, but because love has taken root and bloomed in the heart. Her lines move like a windstorm and burn like a flame, reminding us that joy is not a quiet comfort but a wild, fierce presence that shakes the soul awake. There’s an intoxicating freedom in her words, the kind that makes even death lose its power. She shows us that to truly live is not just to exist, but to be filled with a force so luminous that every step feels like walking on grass or stars. Teasdale’s vision is a challenge: to find, embrace, and fiercely guard whatever brings you that kind of untamed, unstoppable joy.
Questions to Dive Deeper
- How does Teasdale’s imagery of nature and the elements deepen the sense of vitality in the poem?
- What does the poem suggest about the relationship between love, joy, and mortality?
- Have you experienced a moment when joy made you feel more fully alive than ever before?