Ring Out the False, Ring in the True
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 God that is to be.
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Happy new year to you all!
4 Comments:
Oh, I'm ringin' baby.
Ringin' hard cold mackin' Cleveland Heights Roldo pimp style.
In the house.
Namaste.
Happy new year, Chris. Thanks for visiting all the way from New England.
Thank you for bringing us this melodic poem, John. It rings a bell with me, too. I wrote a paper about Tennyson's long poem of grieving called In Memoriam in grad. school. Seems like a distant memory...but Tennyson's insights live on...
It struck me too, Maria. I'll have to check out In Memoriam as well. Can't say I was that familiar with Tennyson before, but judging by this poem, I've been missing something.
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