Poem/Hymn after Tennyson at the turning of the year for a country and a world that seems anything but Christian.

1 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 it die.

2 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 for humankind.

3 Ring out each slowly dying cause,
archaic forms of party strife;
Ring in a new regard for life,
with open borders, fairer laws.

4 Ring out false pride in birth and creed,
the civic slander and the spite;
ring in the love of truth and right
ring in the end of human need.

5 Ring out the curse of poverty.
Ring out the grasping lust of wealth.
Ring out those things that harm our health,
Ring out old wars, bring unity.

6 Ring in a time when all are free,
a time when none will fear to stand
when all are welcome in this land.
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) alt. Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
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