Ring Out, Wild Bells
Written by Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1850
Music by Sara So Far, 2022

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

 

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