Question

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/John Masefield/Public Domain)

Which of these is the main idea of the poem?



A. Fighting doesn't resolve problems.
B. Take pride in being a human being.
C. Life is short; laugh and be merry.
D. Music makes people happy.

Answer 1

The correct option is C: life is short ("for the time is brief") so you should be happy

Answer 2

What we're looking for is the leading theme of the poem, and not something that is mentioned only once. Song and pride are mentioned only once each , so although they are present in the poem, they are not the main theme - we can reject options B and D because of that.

The part of the poem does not mention fighting at all, so we can also reject the option A.

The correct option is C: life is short ("for the time is brief") so you should be happy