STANZA 1

LINES 1-2

Laugh, and the world laughs with you; / Weep, and you weep alone.

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World – synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa) for people.

The first line tells a reader that if one were to laugh then the world would laugh with you. Happiness within oneself creates happiness in others.

The second line adds a more complicated dimension to the relationship between humans and society. Here she describes the opposite emotion, sadness displayed through weeping. If you were to Weep, you would happen alone. People do not flock to the side of someone who is upset, human beings are not attracted to negativity, perhaps for fear it too may be shared.

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LINES 3-4

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, / But has trouble enough of its own.

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mirth – laughter caused by happiness.

The poet argues that the earth (which is personified) has so much trouble and sadness that it has enough of its own.

However, happiness mirth is rare, so the earth must borrow happiness from elsewhere. Wilcox implies that sadness is the natural state of the world.

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LINES 5-8

Sing, and the hills will answer; / Sigh, it is lost on the air. / The echoes bound to a joyful sound, / But shrink from voicing care.

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These lines convey the same idea as lines 1-4.

If you were to “sing” then the “hills” would “answer.” You will receive a response from the world or society, and happiness would be multiplied.

Bound – big, bouncing movements.

echoes – are personified as being happy, to bounce or skip in response to happy sounds. In contrast, if you were to “Sigh” (symbolic of problems) it would be “lost on the air.” The sound and the emotion dissipate without anyone acknowledging, or certainly repeating it.

shrink – pull back

shrink from voicing care – to avoid expressing sadness; the world will not share your problems/issues/cares

The first stanza concludes with the two emotions being translated into sounds. The sound of singing will “bound” like a joyful echo while the sigh will be ignored.

Wilcox implies that people share joy happily but prefer that suffering is not shared.

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STANZA 2

LINES 9-12

Rejoice, and men will seek you; / Grieve, and they turn and go. / They want full measure of all your pleasure, / But they do not need your woe.

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The speaker presents another five statements that outline how the world at large reacts to positivity and negativity. The first line says that if you rejoice then others will “seek you” out and want to spend time with you.

full measure – complete/all

She once again presents a contrast, that if you “Grieve” then the same people will “turn and go.” These people do not want “your woe” but are happy to take on “your pleasure.”

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LINES 13-16

Be glad, and your friends are many; / Be sad, and you lose them all. / There are none to decline your nectared wine, / But alone you must drink life's gall.

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The speaker gives the reader some advice in the next lines that if you want to have friends, then you need to be “glad.” If you are not, then you are going to “lose them all.”

life’s gall – sadness, poverty, loneliness – all things that make us bitter.

In the last two lines of this stanza, happiness is compared to “nectared wine” and sadness is compared to “life’s gall”. The poet uses this extended metaphor to explain how everyone wants to share as much of a person’s happiness as possible

(a “full measure” of “nectared wine”) but they will be forced to experience their sadness (“life’s gall”) alone.

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STANZA 3

LINES 17-18

Feast, and your halls are crowded; / Fast, and the world goes by.

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The speaker presents her final set of comparisons between a happy life and a sad one and the reactions they provoke.

She uses another comparison: a feast (celebration) can bring people together.

halls are crowded – emphasises that everyone will join in the celebrations.

Fast –not eating–fasting is private. People may not be aware that you are fasting, therefore the whole world would not take notice or join you.

These two examples are metaphors for everyday life. Welcoming community, companionship, and happiness are going to inspire even more of the same. The poet argues that if you do not participate in life and happiness (if you “fast”), people will ignore you, they will not want to spend time with you. (“Fast, and the world goes by”).

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LINES 19-20

Succeed and give, and it helps you live, / But no man can help you die.

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The speaker refers to life and death and the way that humans deal with pain.

If you are successful and give generously to others (not only material goods, but also if you give of yourself emotionally), you will live a good life (“it helps you live”).

no man – nobody. The poet says that literally, we all go through the process of death alone, but also implies that withdrawing from others is a metaphorical death and one that we always go through alone.

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LINES 21-24

There is room in the halls of pleasure / For a long and lordly train, / But one by one we must all file on / Through the narrow aisles of pain.

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the halls of pleasure – metaphorically, the spaces in your life that are filled with joy and happiness.

a large and lordly train – the procession of people that follow an aristocrat or royalty.

Happiness is metaphorically compared to a house with big rooms (“roomy halls”) that can hold many guests (“a large and lordly train”), where people enjoy having parties (“halls of pleasure”) while pain is compared to a “narrow aisle” which implies a corridor that people have to move through alone.

In these lines, the poet says that happy people attract others and have large and loyal groups of followers. This contrasts with the next two lines.

file on – walk into a place in a line, one behind the other.

aisles – a narrow passage between rows of seats.

The poet describes pain as a “narrow” aisle. This metaphor implies that people can only survive pain on their own. Others can only watch them, but cannot experience their pain with them.

we must all – implies that everyone will suffer pain, and that the journey through pain is ultimately one that everyone will have to make on their own.