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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