Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONG OF THE NEW YEAR, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I heard the bells at midnight Last Line: "will in peace be ushered in." Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Bells; Future; Holidays; New Year | ||||||||
I heard the bells at midnight Ring in the dawning year; And above the clanging chorus Of the song, I seemed to hear A choir of mystic voices Flinging echoes, ringing clear, From a band of angels winging Through the haunted atmosphere: "Ring out the shame and sorrow, And the misery and sin, That the dawning of the morrow May in peace be ushered in." And I thought of all the trials The departed years had cost, And the blooming hopes and pleasures That are withered now and lost; And with joy I drank the music Stealing o'er the feeling there As the spirit song came pealing On the silence everywhere: "Ring out the shame and sorrow, And the misery and sin, That the dawning of the morrow May in peace be ushered in." And I listened as a lover To an utterance that flows In syllables like dewdrops From the red lips of a rose, Till the anthem, fainter growing, Climbing higher, chiming on Up the rounds of happy rhyming, Slowly vanished in the dawn: "Ring out the shame and sorrow, And the misery and sin, That the dawning of the morrow May in peace be ushered in." Then I raised my eyes to Heaven, And with trembling lips I pled For a blessing for the living And a pardon for the dead; And like a ghost of music Slowly whispered -- lowly sung -- Came the echo pure and holy In the happy angel tongue: "Ring out the shame and sorrow, And the misery and sin, And the dawn of every morrow Will in peace be ushered in." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NEW YEAR'S POEM by MARGARET AVISON A SPEED OF HISTORY by MARGARET AVISON NEW YEAR'S DAY by DAVID LEHMAN LINES FOR THE NEW YEAR by JULIE CARR I AM RUNNING INTO A NEW YEAR by LUCILLE CLIFTON FOR THE NEW YEAR (2) by ROBERT CREELEY A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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