Infant Joy — Summary

A newborn, only two days old, seems to answer the question of what to call it. The baby’s voice, imagined as pure and untainted, declares that it has no given name but insists “Joy is my name.” The speaker, likely a parent, accepts this with tenderness, echoing the name back in blessing: “Sweet joy befall thee!” There’s no anxiety here, only a quiet, almost sacred delight. The poem feels like a soft conversation, a lullaby, where the infant’s simple existence is enough to fill the room with happiness. The repetition of “sweet joy” and the gentle, singsong rhythm create a mood of innocent wonder—a moment of pure connection, untouched by the world’s weight. It’s a celebration of new life not as a blank slate, but as joy itself, already fully present and naming itself.