Iread a book about birds. what is the verb

Need ! how is richard characterized by alger in this excerpt from the passage? "to complete his costume he wore a coat too long for him, dating back, if one might judge from its general appearance, to a remote antiquity." he is exciting. he is intelligent. he is comical. he is happy.

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?

Reread lines 6-7 "the survivor." determine how the tone of these differs from the preceding lines (1-5)