This week’s choice is for all my friends but especially for Hazel, Kevin, Ian and Angela. It’s “Laugh and be merry” by John Masefield.
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 (1878—1967)
Poem 339. 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.
This is a lovely poem that I found while searching for inspiration this morning. As I am on holiday with my dear friends at the moment, and we are laughing and merry, it seemed just the right choice to celebrate our friendship, and it’s for all my other friends too.
Masefield is better known for his sea poems and “Salt Water Ballads” which I have covered before, but this poem celebrates good times and good companions. It is a carpe diem poem, urging us to make the most of our brief existence, enjoying the company of friends and laughing together.
The first stanza suggests that it is better to meet the world with a smile and a laugh than a grim face. He uses the word “better” in the sense of overcoming something—overcome the world with a song, lessening the hurt of injustices and injuries with cheerfulness, and remembering that while our time has a definite length, it should be spent doing things that make us happy.
The second stanza introduces the religious element and Masefield’s idea that God created the Universe with joy and built them with “the strong red wine of His mirth”—a phrase I rather admire along with “the splendid joy of the stars.”
The third stanza urges us to laugh and drink deeply of the good things that life brings, joining in with “the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by”—as we strive at our labours, we should take advantage of the gifts that we’re given every day.
Masefield employs several metaphors in the final stanza: family members enjoying a great party together, the idea of a brief stay at a welcoming hotel, celebrating and dancing while the music lasts and laughing until the game is played—all human activities that have a definite end to them but which we should enjoy until they come to a close.
I like this poem because although I find it hard to get the rhythm right, the sentiments it expresses of taking joy in whatever we do and enjoying the company of friends are ones we can all agree on. I am glad to be laughing and making merry with my friends while we are staying in “the rooms of a beautiful inn.”
Links
- Watch Dan from West Sussex Libraries perform the poem on YouTube.