The exact words
“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.”Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A. H. H. (1850), the section beginning “Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky”
✓ VerifiedFound in a primary source: the original book, speech transcript, letter or recording.
What people get wrong
Common reading
A cheerful party verse about the New Year.
A cheerful party verse about the New Year.
Closer to the original
It comes from a long poem of mourning. Its power is that a grieving man, after years of sorrow, chooses to hope: he even asks the bells to “ring out the grief that saps the mind.”
It comes from a long poem of mourning. Its power is that a grieving man, after years of sorrow, chooses to hope: he even asks the bells to “ring out the grief that saps the mind.”
Timeline
- 1833Tennyson's closest friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, dies suddenly at 22. Tennyson spends the next seventeen years writing short poems in his memory.
- 1850The poems are published together as In Memoriam A. H. H. In this section, set on New Year's Eve, the poet's grief begins to turn outward into hope for the world.
- TodayThe section is read at New Year services and has been set to music many times. “Ring out the old, ring in the new” has become a standard New Year phrase.
Use it in a speech
Tennyson wrote, ring out the old, ring in the new, ring out the false, ring in the true. Whatever this year took from us, let's ring in something better. Happy New Year.
~11 secondsto say aloud
Pauseafter “ring in the true”
Best spotjust before midnight
Tennyson's “Ring out the old, ring in the new” sounds like a party slogan, but it was written by a man who had spent seventeen years mourning his best friend.
~9 secondsto say aloud
Pausenone needed in writing
Best spotopening sentence
Questions people ask
Who wrote “Ring out the old, ring in the new”?
Alfred Tennyson, in his long poem In Memoriam A. H. H., published in 1850.
What is the poem about?
In Memoriam mourns Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam. The New Year section turns that grief into hope for a better world.
How does the section begin?
“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.”
Cite this quote
These cite the original source directly, so you can use them in an essay or paper. Always check your teacher's required style.
MLATennyson, Alfred, Lord. “In Memoriam A. H. H..” Section 106. 1850. Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70950.
APATennyson, A. L. (1850). In Memoriam A. H. H.. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/70950
CHICAGOAlfred, Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam A. H. H.,” Section 106, 1850.
IN TEXT (APA)(Tennyson, 1850)