Alfred Lord Tennyson (Aug 1809–Oct 1892) | English | Published: 1850
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light,
The year is dying in the night;
Rind 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 a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife,
Ring in the noble modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
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 old;
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 kinlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.