LAUGH AND BE MERRY BY JOHN MASEFIELD 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 rime, 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, Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends. Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends. SADNESS AND JOY BY WILLIAM H. DAVIES I pray you, Sadness, leave me soon, One hour with thee is sweet enough; We mourn the evil done. Thou art too slow to shape thy thoughts Thy sighs are gentle, sweet thy tears; Therefore, sweet Sadness, leave me soon, For she can make ten lovely songs TO A FRIEND WHOSE WORK HAS COME TO NOTHING BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Now all the truth is out, Because of all things known GLADNESS BY ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH The world has brought not anything |