PoemLaugh and be Merry
Author / PoetJohn Masefield
TagsBrotherhood, Celebration, Joy, Resilience

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
John Masefield
1 Jun 1878 - 12 May 1967
Region: Northern Europe
Period: Modernist
Movement: Georgian Poetry
Awards: Order of Merit

more poems by John Masefield

Poem NameTopic
Trade WindsCaribbean, Dance, Island
The Yarn of the Loch AchrayNautical, Sailor, Ship
The WandererClipper, Sea, Ship
The LemmingsInstinct, Lost Hope, Migration
The West WindHomecoming, Nature, Nostalgia
The Tarry BuccaneerAdventure, Pirate, Sea
The Island of SkyrosDeath, Graves, Memory
The Everlasting MercyRebellion, Reflection, Regret
Sea FeverAdventure, Freedom, Longing
RoadwaysBeauty, Journey, Sailor

all poems by John Masefield

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