"Ring Out, Wild Bells" by Tennyson - A Poem for the New Year

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with  Jennifer. Do you like poetry? I have a special  

poem to share with you, and I believe it's  appropriate for this time of the year. It's  

a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Tennyson was a  British poet, but not surprisingly, many Americans  

know and love his work. The poem is called "Ring  Out, Wild Bells." I'll read it once and help  

you understand it. Then I'll read it again so you  can appreciate it without interruption. I'm not a  

specialist in literature, but I'd like to explain  the wording and the ideas as I understand them.

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.

"Frosty" is the adjective. "Frost" is the noun.  

Frost is a thin layer of ice, so  anything frosty is cold and icy.

It's interesting that the poet  treats the year like a person.  

This is called personification. "The year  is dying let him die," says the poet.

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.

These ideas are familiar to us. A new year is a  beginning. We want to be optimistic and believe  

we can leave old things that we no longer need  behind. We could leave anything negative behind.

And a bell can be used to signal an alarm,  but here a bell rings in celebration.

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.

"Grief" is sadness. Grief can sap our strength;  

it can make us lose energy and  strength. "Feud" is a fight or argument.

"Redress" is like compensation. You make up  for something bad by offering something good.  

In short, we want to leave behind all the bad  

and hope that a lot of good  things happen for everyone.

There's also mention of people that we see  no more. They're gone. I believe that means  

that we're sad to have lost people  this year, but we need to carry on.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,/  And ancient forms of party strife;/  

Ring in the nobler modes of life,/  With sweeter manners, purer laws.

This almost sounds political, and maybe that  makes this poem all the more appropriate for 2020.

"Strife" is angry disagreement. "Noble"  means admirable. We can try to leave  

behind the angry arguments and behave in a  way that's kinder and worthy of admiration.

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.

"Faithless" is lack of belief, and "mournful"  is sad. A minstrel is a singer or some kind of  

musician, so sad songs need to be left behind, and  we can have better, fuller music in the new year.

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.

"Slander" is false talk, lies. I think  the poet means that we don't want lies  

and hurtful talk at home or in our society. We  need more truth and more love in all places.

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.

I'm not sure what the poet meant  when he wrote this, but in 2020,  

I believe the foul disease is the coronavirus.

"Lust" is desire, so I think the idea  here is to reduce our desire for money  

and war, and instead aim for 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.

"Valiant" is brave. In my opinion, Christ here  doesn't have to be a Christian concept. It's  

probably more about a savior. Right now our world  is suffering, and we need the kind of leaders,  

not just political, who will guide our  countries and our society out of dark times.

i'll read the poem once more  now from beginning to end. 

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.

That's all for now. Please like the video if  you found it useful and interesting. As always,  

thanks for watching and happy studies! And I  wish you a very happy and healthy New Year!

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