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Laugh and Be Merry by John Masefield

Poetry Speaks

Laugh And Be Merry

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.
Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.

Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.
God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,
Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of
His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.

So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,
Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,
Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.

Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,
Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,
Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.

-John Masefield

Explanation

Laugh and be Merry, a poem written by John Masefield conveys the message that we should be cheerful and happy. We should enjoy our life to the fullest. He says we can make this world a better world to live in by being happy and also fight against injustice boldly. Our time in this world is short, just as the length of a thread, and we must be proud to belong to this splendid human race!

He says God created the earth and the heaven in the olden time. When he created these, he was very happy. The joy was equal to the rich red wine which was reflected in the sparkling stars and the mother earth.

So, he says we must laugh and enjoy the beautiful earth and the gently moving stars. We must battle and work when it is necessary and at the same time thank God and enjoy the green earth which is the sign of the joy of the lord.

He wants us to be merry together, like brothers of a family staying, in a beautiful inn, and be glad till the dancing of life stops and the music of our breath ends and be happy till the game is played.

Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,
Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.

The poet asks the people to laugh and be happy. He asks them to make the world better with a happy song and to stand up for the right. He also asks them to fight against injustice.




Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span.
Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man.

He says a man's life is brief, just like the length of a thread and asks him to laugh and feel proud to be a part of the splendid human race.




Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time.
God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme,

He asks man to laugh and be happy and remember the time when God made heaven and earth and felt very happy.




Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of
His mirth
The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth.

He filled them with his mirth which is like the strong red sparkling wine, and filled the sky with stars and the earth with nature.




So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky,
Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by,

So, he says, we must laugh and enjoy the deep blue sky and join the joyful song of the stars as they move gently




Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured
In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord.

He asks us to laugh, battle, work, and be immersed in the wine of joy experienced on this dear green earth which is the sign of the joy of the Lord.




Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin,
Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn,

Let us laugh and be happy living together like brothers staying as guests in the room of a beautiful inn.




Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends.
Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends.

We should all be merry till the dance of life stops and the music of our breath ends, till the game of life is played.


Akin - Similar in nature
Inn - A public house
In the teeth of a wrong - Against injustice
Jubliant - Joyful
Lilt - A pleasent pattern of of rising and falling of sound.
Mirth - Laughter
Outpoured - Overflowing
Pageant of man - Splendid humn race
Rhyme - Short poem
Sweeping by - Moving gently



Q & A

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Comments

  1. Unknown8/14/2021 5:48 pm

    Learned this poem when I was at school aged 10. Taught by the sisters of mercy. Never forgotten it.

    ReplyDelete

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