M.G.Vidyamandir’s S.P.H. Mahila Mahavidyalaya Malegaon

Dr. Premal Ramesh Deore

Dept. Of English

FYBCom : Additional English

Laugh and be Merry –�John Mansfield

• John Edward Mansfield, 1 June1878-12 May1967
• He was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the united kingdom
• Author of the classic children’s novels- The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights,
• Four stanzas
• Each stanza has four lines.

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Laugh and be merry

• Introduction : The poet, John Mansfield suggests that we should have a positive attitude in life. Life is short so we must enjoy the fruits of happiness. Every moment of our life should be enjoyed and cheered. The poet compares the world with an inn where all human beings are temporary guests. We should enjoy life till it lasts and till the music of life ends.

Text: 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 people 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 seeping 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 game is played; and be you merry, my friends.

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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.

• In these lines, the poet says that we should lead a cheerful and carefree life. Laugh and be merry should be the motto of our life. We can make the world better to live in by our joyous laughter. We can relieve ourselves from pains of life by giving a blow in their face. The poet suggests that life is very short. So, we should enjoy each and every minute of it. Man is the loftiest creation of God. We should feel proud that we belong to this race

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.

• The lines quoted above have been taken from John Mansfield’s poem ‘Laugh and Be Merry’. The title itself indicates the central theme of the poem. The poet says that life is short so we should enjoy each and every minute of it. The principal of our life should be to laugh and make merry. Sufferings are a part of our life but we can subdue them by a smile on our face. This poem makes a passionate plea to enjoy life to the maximum.The poet says that God created us. He also created this world for our enjoyment like the enjoyment of listening to a song. The world is like a vessel. And God filled this vessel with strong and red wine of happiness and joy. God also created the sky and the earth for our enjoyment. So we should feel and enjoy the beauty of allthese beautiful natural objects.

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.

• The poet says that life is short, so we should enjoy each and every moment of it. Laugh and be merry should be the motto of our life. Sufferings are a part of our life, but we can subdue them by a smile on our face. This poem makes a passionate plea to enjoy the life to the maximum. In these lines the poet says that God created this world for our enjoyment. He says that sky is lie a cup. He filled this cup with the wine of happines and delight. We must drink from this cup, i.e., we must enjoy the beauty of the of the twinkling stars and moonlit sky. We must enjoy the beautiful procession of satrs moving across the sky. We should fight the battle of life with a smile on our face. Everything that we see on this green earth is made by God for the joy of mankind.

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

• The poet says that to laugh and be merry should be the principal of our life. Life is very short, so we should enjoy each and every moment of it. The poet says that sufferings are a part of our life, but we can subdue them by a smile on our face. This poem makes a passionate plea to enjoy life to the maximum. The poet says that God created us all; so, we are like brothers. So we should laugh and make merry together like brothers. The poet says that this world is like a beautiful inn. We all are guests in the room of inn for sometime. This means life is short-lived, like the stay in an inn. So we should sing and dance and enjoy every minute of this short life. Life is a kind of game. We should play it happily till the end. It means we should enjoy our life till our death.

• The poem is philosophical which suggests the idea that life is a combination of happiness and sorrow and we should face the every challenge with strong courage. The poem suggests the need of positive attitude in life. The time span is very limited and we should take advantage of life as much as possible. It also says that we should enjoy the life to it’s fullest . We should enjoy the life till the music of life ends. Nature is very beautiful and God had created the moon and stars for the pleasures of human beings. We should be proud that we belong to the history of human beings.

• Thank You