In these lines, the speaker sketches a man named Sandy Star who meets uncertainty with laughter. He is caught between seeing life as something solid or as mere romance, and he sometimes frowns as if defying all the facts and science humanity has assembled. But the mood never stays heavy. A hearty laugh and a shrug follow, and the people around him borrow something from his imagination: a faith in death that gives them more courage to live. The tone is warm and lightly philosophical rather than gloomy. Doubt is not solved; it is laughed at, softened into a kind of bravery. The poem leaves an impression of a charming, free-spirited figure who makes big questions feel less frightening.
Sandy Star: Laughing It Out — Summary
He had a whim and laughed it out Upon the exit of a chance; He floundered in a sea of doubt-- If life was real--or just romance.
Sometimes upon his brow would come A little pucker of defiance; He totalled in a word the sum Of all man made of facts and science.
And then a hearty laugh would break, A reassuring shrug of shoulder; And we would from his fancy take A faith in death which made life bolder.