34 Christmas Poems for Cards, Family and Friends

Christmas poems are short verses for cards, gift tags, toasts and quiet moments in December. This page has 34: 31 original poems written for this site, from two-line card verses to funny poems for adults and heartfelt ones about hope, plus three classics by Longfellow, Hardy and Christina Rossetti, checked against early printed editions.

Copy a poem as it is, or add a name and one real detail to make it theirs. If none fits, our free AI poem generator works as a Christmas poem generator: give it a name, a tone and a memory.

On this page:

• Short Christmas poems for cards
• Christmas poems for family
• Christmas poems for friends
• Funny Christmas poems for adults
• Christmas love poems for your partner
• Heartfelt Christmas poems about hope, peace and missing someone
• Christmas poems for kids
• Religious Christmas poems
• Classic Christmas poems and readings
• How to choose and personalize a Christmas poem
• FAQs

Short Christmas poems for cards

These short Christmas poems are two to four lines long, so they fit inside a card, on a gift tag or in a text. Most suit anyone: neighbors, coworkers, the family down the road.

1. From Our House to Yours

From our small house and crooked tree
To yours, wherever you may be:
A merry Christmas, warm and bright,
And someone near to hold you tight.

2. A Kind January

Merry Christmas, and a year
Of easy days and people dear;
May January start out kind
And leave the hard things all behind.

3. The Same Star

However far apart we are,
We're looking at the same bright star.

4. A Guest Called Peace

May peace come knocking at your door
And stay a week, or maybe more;
May joy pull up a kitchen chair,
And may you find your people there.

5. The Porch Light

We'll leave the porch light burning bright
And keep your plate warm, late tonight;
However long the drive may be,
Your stocking's up. Your chair is free.

6. Christmas Card Haiku

a card in the mail,
the handwriting I know well:
the miles fall away

"A Kind January" doubles as a Christmas and New Year greeting. Want a card verse with their name in it?

Write your own Christmas poem, free

Christmas poems for family

The best Christmas poems about family mention things only your family does: the same box of decorations every year, the parent who does the lights, the fight over the wishbone. Change one detail in these to match yours.

7. The Ornament Box

The box comes down from attic shelves,
The same old ornaments inside:
The paper star we made ourselves,
The glass bell Grandma hung with pride.

We crowd around a table set
For six, though there are nine of us,
And no one's finished talking yet,
And no one minds the noise or fuss.

Whatever else the year has brought,
Whoever's left or come or grown,
This is the gift that can't be bought:
A noisy house we call our own.

8. Christmas Poem for Mom

For years I thought the magic came
By reindeer, sleigh and chimney flue,
But now I know it had your name
And wore your slippers, Mom. It's you.

You found the tape, you hid the tags,
You wrapped till two, you rose at six,
You saved the bows and paper bags,
And never told us all your tricks.

So put your feet up, Mom, this year;
I've watched you long enough to learn.
The magic's in good hands right here:
It's time that someone took a turn.

Writing to your mum? Swap "Mom" for "Mum"; the rhythm stays the same.

9. For Dad, Who Does the Lights

Each year you climb the ladder, Dad,
With lights you packed away so neat,
Then find the knot, the bulb gone bad,
And mutter words I won't repeat.

But then you flip the switch, and wow:
The whole house glows, the neighbors cheer,
And I am six again, right now,
And sure you'll hang the moon next year.

10. Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

The cookie tin holds buttons,
the way it always has.
The clock in the hall still runs five minutes fast,
and nobody fixes it.

Grandpa does the crossword in pen
and asks us all for help.
Grandma sends us home
with more food than we brought
and a scarf she's sure we need.

Nothing here has changed,
and that is the present.

11. To My Brother or Sister

We fought for wishbones, fought for pie,
And fought for floor space by the tree,
And still, each Christmas, here am I,
So glad that you got stuck with me.

Christmas poems for friends

Christmas poems for friends can be a little sillier than family ones. These cover the friend you only talk to at Christmas, the friends who spend the holiday together, and the best friend who gets a text instead of a card. For the rest of the year, see our friendship poems.

12. Once a Year

We don't talk much from spring to fall;
Life's loud, and work gets in the way.
But come December, there's your call,
And we pick up from yesterday.

The same old jokes, the same long chat,
The same "We'll visit! Pick a date!"
So merry Christmas, friend. For that
One call, I'd gladly wait and wait.

13. Our Friendsmas Table

There are plates that don't match and a chair from next door,
And a pie someone bought, and the dog's on the floor,
And the turkey is dry, and the gravy is thin,
But the best part of Christmas is who we let in.

We were never assigned to each other by birth,
But you're family still, for whatever it's worth,
So I'll raise a cracked glass to the whole merry crew:
Merry Christmas, my friends. I would choose all of you.

14. A Christmas Text for Your Best Friend

Merry Christmas, best friend! Same plan as last year?
Pajamas, bad movies and too much good cheer.

15. Short Card Verse for a Friend

I looked for gifts as good as you;
The stores were out. This card will do.

Funny Christmas poems for adults

These funny Christmas poems for adults cover the parts of the season nobody puts on a card: the office gift exchange, the wrapping, the gift that keeps coming back. All are clean enough for the dinner table, and our funny poems page has more to read at Christmas dinner.

16. The Candle That Came Home

I was given a candle by Claire,
Which I gave to my boss with some flair.
She re-wrapped it for Ted,
Who passed it to Fred,
And on Christmas, Fred gave it to Claire.

This one is a limerick: five lines rhyming AABBA, with a bouncy da-da-DUM beat. Our guide to writing a limerick shows how to build one.

17. Secret Santa at Work

I drew a name for Secret Santa,
A person from the second floor.
I've never heard them say a word,
So what on earth do they adore?

I checked their desk for any clue:
A cactus and a mug of tea.
So: cactus mug. And if it's you,
Please act surprised. Love, Secret Me.

18. My Christmas List, Now

When I was small, I asked for toys:
A bike, a train, a magic kit.
Now all I want's a parking space
And twenty minutes just to sit.

And, Santa, if there's room to spare,
A secret cheese board, just for me,
A nap that no one interrupts,
And quiet. Just one hour. Or three.

19. Wrapped With Love (and Tape)

I wrapped your present all by hand
With every bit of tape I own.
Good luck. I'll check on you in March.
(The scissors are beside the phone.)

20. Short Funny Card Verse

I made you fudge, just as I said.
I ate it, so here's a card instead.

Christmas love poems for your partner

Christmas poems about love work best when they are specific. The first is written for him, and the other two suit any partner. For more romantic poems, see our love poems for her and him.

21. For Him, at Christmas

You hauled a tree in, far too tall,
And trimmed the top with kitchen shears;
You hid my present down the hall
The way you've done for all these years.

You sing the carols all off-key
And hog the blanket and the chair,
But you're the gift that's meant for me,
And I'm just glad to find you there.

22. Christmas Eve, After the Wrapping

The wrapping's done at last,
The tree lights blinking low;
Another year gone past,
And this is all I know:

You're still the one I'd choose
On any night like this,
With cocoa, then a snooze,
And one more Christmas kiss.

23. Short Card Verse for Your Partner

Who needs the mistletoe? Not me.
I'll kiss you here, beside the tree.

Heartfelt Christmas poems about hope, peace and missing someone

Not every Christmas is an easy one. These heartfelt Christmas poems are for a hard year, a first Christmas without someone, and the people who spend the day at work so the rest of us can stay home.

24. Such a Little Thing

This year was long, and some of it
Was harder than we say,
But here's a candle, newly lit,
And here's another day.

There's someone singing down the hall,
A card from an old friend,
And proof, if we need proof at all,
That hard years also end.

So hang the lights and set a place,
And let the carols ring.
Hope doesn't take up too much space;
It's such a little thing.

25. Your Recipe

I found your recipe today,
In your own hand, the ink half gray:
"A pinch of this," and "bake till done."
You never measured. Not a one.

The first tray burned. The second spread.
"She'd laugh at this," somebody said,
And for a moment, it was true:
The kitchen smelled, and felt, like you.

For a first Christmas without a mother or grandmother. Change "She'd" to "He'd" and it works for him too.

26. A Cinquain for Christmas Peace

Christmas,
snow on the cars,
a whole street holding still
as if the world had all agreed
to rest.

A cinquain is a five-line poem that builds up and then drops to a short last line. This one counts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 2 syllables. For snow and winter poems that are not about Christmas, see our winter poems.

27. For Everyone Working on Christmas

While we unwrap our gifts at nine,
A nurse is checking someone's line;
A driver steers an empty bus
Through streets lit up for all of us;
A cook is up before the sun
So someone's Christmas meal gets done.
We'll save a plate and leave a light
For those who work through Christmas night.

Christmas poems for kids

Kids' Christmas poems have their own page on this site. Here are two short ones children can read aloud or copy into a card for a parent.

28. Advent Calendar

Twenty-four doors on the calendar wall,
One every morning (I'd open them all!).
I'm counting and counting, I can't wait much more:
Is it Christmas yet? No. It's day number four.

29. I Made You Something

I made your present by myself
With glitter, string and glue.
It's drying on the kitchen shelf
(And so's the dog. And you.)

For read-aloud rhymes, class performance poems and a Christmas acrostic activity, see our Christmas poems for kids.

Religious Christmas poems

Poems about Jesus and the nativity have their own page too. These three are short enough for a Christmas card, a church bulletin or saying grace at the table.

30. The First Carol

The angels sang it first, at night,
To shepherds on a hill:
"Good will, and peace on earth." Each year,
We find we're singing still.

31. A Christmas Dinner Grace

For food, for every smiling face,
For hands that cooked and served,
For Christ, who came to bring us grace
Beyond what we deserved,
We thank You, Lord, this Christmas Day,
And ask Your blessing as we pray.

32. Love Came Down at Christmas

Poet: Christina Rossetti
Published: 1885, untitled, in Time Flies: A Reading Diary; revised as "Christmastide" in Verses (1893)

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

Rossetti starts most lines with the same word, "Love", so by the last stanza the answer to her question is obvious: the way to mark Christmas is to love God and other people. The text above is from Verses. It is also sung as a carol. For more poems about Jesus and the nativity, for church programs and Christmas cards, see our religious Christmas poems.

Classic Christmas poems and readings

Two public-domain classics for a Christmas reading: one about peace in wartime, one about the faith we had as children. Both are printed exactly as in early editions.

33. Christmas Bells

Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Published: 1865; text from Flower-de-Luce (1867)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Longfellow wrote this during the American Civil War. His wife, Fanny, had died in 1861, and in November 1863 their son Charles was wounded serving in the Union army. The poem moves from the old carols, through despair ("There is no peace on earth"), to the bells' answer that right will win. It became the carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"; hymnals usually leave out stanzas four and five, the ones about the war.

34. The Oxen

Poet: Thomas Hardy
Published: December 1915 in The Times; collected in Moments of Vision (1917)

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
"Now they are all on their knees,"
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
"Come; see the oxen kneel

"In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
Our childhood used to know,"
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.

Hardy remembers an old country belief that at midnight on Christmas Eve the oxen kneel in their stalls. As children, he and his friends never doubted it. As a grown man he no longer believes, but if someone invited him to go and look, he would still go. A barton is a farmyard, and a coomb (or combe) is a small valley. It is a 16-line poem for anyone who misses the Christmas they believed in as a child.

Modern Christmas poems to look up

These modern poems are still in copyright, so we describe them instead of printing them.

• "Amazing Peace" by Maya Angelou (2005). Angelou wrote it for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House and read it there on December 1, 2005. It is a poem about peace for people of every faith and of none, published as a small book, Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem (Random House).
• "Making the House Ready for the Lord" by Mary Oliver (2006). The speaker has cleaned the house for the Lord, but mice, a raccoon, a fox and other cold, hungry animals keep coming in, and she cannot turn them away. In the end, welcoming them is her way of welcoming him. It is in her collection Thirst (Beacon Press, 2006) and makes a good Advent reading.
• "First Coming" by Madeleine L'Engle. A short poem about Christ arriving in a broken world instead of waiting for it to be ready, so there is no need to wait before rejoicing. It is in The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L'Engle (2005).

How to choose and personalize a Christmas poem

Start with the person, then pick the tone and the length. This table matches the poems on this page to the people you are likely writing to.

Who it's for	Tone	Length	Try
Neighbors, coworkers, the whole card list	Warm, neutral	2 to 4 lines	"A Guest Called Peace", "From Our House to Yours"
Parents and grandparents	Warm, specific	8 to 12 lines	"Christmas Poem for Mom", "The Ornament Box"
Brothers, sisters and friends	Teasing, then kind	2 to 8 lines	"To My Brother or Sister", "Once a Year"
Your partner	Romantic	2 to 8 lines	"For Him, at Christmas", "Christmas Eve, After the Wrapping"
The office or a gift exchange	Light, safe for everyone	4 to 8 lines	"Secret Santa at Work", "The Candle That Came Home"
Someone having a hard Christmas	Gentle	4 to 12 lines	"Such a Little Thing", "Your Recipe"

What to write in a Christmas card

1. Add one real detail. Swap a line for something only you share: the burnt fudge, the dog, the street you grew up on.
2. Use their name. Put it in the first or last line, or write it down the side of the card and make an acrostic poem, where each line starts with the next letter.
3. Fit the poem to the card. Two to four lines fit a standard card or gift tag. Save longer poems for a letter or a toast.
4. Sign off in your own words. Under the poem, add one plain line, like "Merry Christmas, Sam. Same time next year?"
5. Printing them? Paste short Christmas poems into a document, use a large font, and print on card stock folded in half.

Reading a Christmas poem aloud

For a toast, a family gathering or a Christmas reading, choose a poem of 8 to 16 lines. Read it through once beforehand, go slower than you think you need to, and pause at each stanza break. Say one sentence first about why you chose it. "Our Friendsmas Table" works as a toast, and "The Oxen" suits a quieter moment.

Write a Christmas poem with their name

FAQs

What is a good short Christmas poem for a card?

A two- to four-line rhyme with one warm wish. "A Guest Called Peace" and "From Our House to Yours" fit almost any card, and "The Same Star" suits someone who lives far away.

Which Christmas poem says "not even a mouse"?

That is "A Visit from St. Nicholas", better known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas". It was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel of Troy, New York, on December 23, 1823. It was later credited to Clement Clarke Moore, though some argue Henry Livingston Jr. wrote it. You can read its opening lines and the authorship story in our guide to narrative poems.

Is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" a poem?

Yes. It comes from Longfellow's poem "Christmas Bells", first printed in 1865. The full seven stanzas are above, including the two about the Civil War that hymnals usually leave out.

Can I use these poems in my Christmas cards?

Yes. The original poems on this page were written for this site, so you are welcome to copy them into a card, a text or a toast. The three classics are in the public domain.