Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1850 to 1892. Though Tennyson excelled in writing short verses like 'Break, Break, Break' and 'Crossing the Bar', he also wrote long verses based on classical mythological themes, such as 'Ulysses'.
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty night;
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;
Ting 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 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.
How does the speaker describe the last day of the year?
What are the things that we should ring out? Why?
Do you feel that the speaker is facing the new year with hope? Why do you think so?
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.
What kind of a person is the speaker? Does he like to dwell on past sorrows and failures or does he want to look ahead with hope? Give reasons for your answer.
Give the antonyms of the following words from the poem.