Happy New Year - 2022!
Another new year has arrived and this means something different to every person. Some remember the achievements and disappointments of the past year and look forward to a more successful one. Some don’t bother looking back but simply look ahead to 365 new days which hold unknown journeys.
In the poem that follows, Alfred, Lord Tennyson talks about “the darkness of the land” which he hopes will have cleared by New Year’s Day. He wants to “ring out” all the negatives and “ring in” everything positive.
In Memoriam,
[Ring Out, Wild Bells]
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
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.
[This poem is in the public domain.]
As this new year begins—AWOG’s 74th— let’s all stay healthy and, surrounded by family and friends, continue to live full lives while staying true and living up to the mission of AWOG–helping those in need.
May 2022 be a remarkable year for us all!