"LAUGH AND BE MERRY"
(spoken by the 'Clown Imperial' - a traditionally costumed jester)
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.
Words by John Masefield
(Poet Laureate 1947-1963)
[Reprise]
Now on Monday Jack set off to the market.
On Tuesday he forgot the way to go.
Oh, no!
On Wednesday he knew he wouldn't make it
So sitting up a tree he had a little doze 'til
He woke up
As the sun rose on a bright and sunny Thursday morning.
Turning back, Jack spent Friday on the track.
On Saturday he stepped through his front door.
On Sunday both his shoes fell off his feet
So he had to go to market for some more
[To be sung by all]
Jubilate! Laudate! Jubilate!