Love and Laughter

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a primordial time when Love and Laughter were inseparable companions, creating a world of perpetual "golden weather." This idyllic state, however, is shattered by an existential question: "What will be when life is done?" This single query introduces a shadow, a foreboding that Love and Laughter can no longer exist in pure, unadulterated harmony. Laughter attempts to counter this dawning dread with songs of "mirth and joy undying," but its efforts are futile. The only response it elicits is "Echo all a-sighing," suggesting that even the most fervent attempts at joy cannot escape the underlying melancholy. The persistent "undertone" of mortality and the inevitable question "What will be when life is done?" underscore a fundamental tension that Laughter cannot resolve. The core of the lyrics lies in the tragic consequence of this existential awareness: Love and Laughter are permanently separated. The narrator states, "For bright as is the summer's prime / Winter pale will follow after." This contrast highlights the inherent impermanence of joy and the inevitability of sorrow. Love, now burdened by the knowledge of life's finite nature, "henceforth must dwell with sighs," while pure Joy is relegated to a lost "Paradise."