Ring Out, Wild Bells!

If you have been reading this column, you might have noticed that I love music and I love what might be called “classical poetry”. In honor of the New Year, I am going to explore a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson who lived in England from 1809-1992.

I first heard this poem in church services, in the form of a hymn called “Ring Out, Wild Bells”. Its such a mysterious, moody song, I wondered why we would even bother with it. But, I was young and the young don’t always look deeper. Now, in my older years and being more contemplative, I hear the song through different ears, and read the words with my heart rather than my eyes.

In Britain, the ringing of church bells for special occasions has been a tradition since the early Christian priests rang a handbell to call the faithful to meetings, about 450 a.d. Wild bells (with no particular pattern) would be rung in times of danger or joy. Ringing wild bells had a special pattern at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It is called the English Full Circle. The first half of the musical circle, the bells are rung muffled to indicated sadness for the death of the old year. The second half is rung with the bells unmuffled and loud to welcome in the New Year.

Here are his words. See if you find anything that touches your soul as it does mine.

“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”.

Take the opportunity to let things of the past go. It’s over and done. Time to move on.

“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”.

Do away with the false and focus on the true. Always good advice, and may reflect the tradition of New Year’s Resolutions.

“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”.

Seek redress for everyone who is grieving, rich or poor for grief is universal. Redress means to set right or remedy a situation. Jesus Christ said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).

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

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

Being moral and virtuous in our personal lives, and choosing moral and virtuous leaders, is the only path towards the restoration of a nobler, sweeter, kinder America, with 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.”

Psalm 100 says it best: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations”.

“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.”

It is not your nationality or ethnicity which matter, it is how you treat one another within the bounds of moral and civil law. As Christ said, when asked what is the greatest commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22: 37-40).

“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.

As wise men have said, “Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” If we want a thousand years of peace we must remember the lessons of history and throw away the mistakes.

“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.”

The New Year of 2026 is open to all possibilities, good and bad. Ultimately, it is how we govern our own lives that matters most. To be valiant and free, to show compassion to those we may encounter, these are the basic principles that will “ring out the darkness” and ring in the Light of Christ. Then we may experience the thousand years of peace which Tennyson longed for in his lifetime.

A conversation between Frodo and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings seems appropriate here. “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Happy New Year, One and All! It’s going to be a great adventure!

Karen Murray is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, experiencing life as a wife, mother, grandmother, family historian, author, and political activist.