...to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free....

01 January, 2012

a poem for the new year




(...with thanks to my dear friend Jane, who reminded me of this wonderful poem)

Ring Out, Wild Bells

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky.
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right.
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land.
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Tennyson published this poem in 1850.   It could just as well have been written today.

4 comments:

  1. What an apt poem - thank you. Here in New Zealand (as in many parts of the world), it's been a tough old year of earthquakes, floods and other trials. So I love the vigour of the poem and the ringing out of the old, and bringing in what is most loving and benign. Happy new year!

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  2. What a wonderful poem. Come to think of it....I sure have a lot to still "ring out":)

    Happy new year to you. I hope it is filled with a lot of new things to ring in!!!!!
    hugs

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  3. Beautiful comforting words everyone should take to heart. Happy New Year Mike!

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