verbs - There is vs There are



I'm aware of (multitudinous) related, similar questions concerning this, but I still feel tentative for the following example. I also referenced http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oddness-when-you-start-a-sentence-with-there-is?page=1. Predicated on these, I'd guess that



"there are happiness and joy" is correct,
and "there is happiness and joy" is wrong.



Here, there is (I know why it's NOT there are here) a compound subject containing two nouns, thus the verb must be conjugated for a plural subject.
Yet Google Ngram contradicts this significantly? Why? I fear that I misconstrued something?



Answer



This is a reversed sentence. "Happiness and joy" is the subject, preceded by the verb, preceded by an adverb (there). To determine the proper form of the verb, place the sentence in subject / verb order, and it will become clear.


Either "is", or "are" may be correct, depending upon context, as "happiness and joy" may be a single compound subject, in which case "is" would be correct ("Happiness and joy is a common sign of a happy child"), or they may be two separate subjects, as in amalgamating two sentences "Happiness is to be found in the dictionary under the letter 'H', and joy is to be found under the letter 'J'." into "Happiness and joy are to be found under the letters H and J, respectively."


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