In Memoriam — “Ring Out, Wild Bells”

Ken Kalis
Dec 30, 2025
4 min read

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)A New Year Meditation on Loss, Hope, and RenewalIn Memoriam — “Ring Out, Wild Bells”In Memoriam — “Ring Out, Wild Bells”

The turning of the year is always bittersweet. We look back with gratitude, sometimes with sorrow — and we look forward with hope, sometimes with trembling. We stand between “what has been” and “what may yet be.”

Few poems capture that holy tension like Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Ring Out, Wild Bells.” It appears as Canto CVI in his long work In Memoriam, written over many years in the wake of the early death of his closest friend, Arthur Hallam.

The poem is not shallow sentiment — it is grief transformed into longing for God’s kingdom.

Tennyson hears the church bells ring in the New Year, and he turns the sound into a prayer:

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.

A Poem Born Out of Grief

Tennyson’s heart was broken by loss. Many of you reading this know that grief yourself. But instead of turning inward, he turns outward — toward truth, justice, love, and Christ.

The poem moves like a prayer litany:

ring out what is broken
ring in what is holy

There is realism here: He names things as they are — false pride, greed, slander, injustice, war, coldness of faith, disease, class division.

There is also longing here: He calls for truth, right, kindness, purified hearts, healed divisions, just laws, peace — and Christ Himself.

And he ends not in despair, but in Advent hope:

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

That is not vague optimism. It is Christian eschatology — the sure hope that Jesus Christ will return to reign.

As St. Paul wrote:

We look for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.— Titus 2:13

and

For the trumpet will sound… and we shall be changed.— 1 Corinthians 15:52

The bells cry out what our hearts long for:

Not simply a new year — but a new creation.

What We Long to Ring Out

Tennyson permits us to say:

Enough.

Enough of greed, enough of hatred, enough of lies, enough of war, enough of cold religion, enough of hard hearts.

Those are not merely political wishes — they are moral desires shaped by Scripture.

And they begin not only in the world, but in us.

“Ring out the want, the care, the sin…”Lord, begin with my heart.

“Ring out false pride…”Lord, humble us.

“Ring out the narrowing lust of gold…”Lord, free us from loving money.

“Ring out the feud of rich and poor…”

Lord, teach Your church to love across every barrier.

This is repentance — set to bells.

What We Long to Ring In

Tennyson prays that God would ring in:

truth
justice
kindness
purity
courage
large-hearted generosity
peace
Christ Himself

These are the fruits of the Spirit made public — when the church lives as light in a dark world.

And so his final line is not political reform, nor social optimism, but Christological hope:

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

A New Year Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, As the old year dies and the new one dawns, Ring out of our hearts all that is false —our pride, our fear, our greed, our coldness of faith.

Ring in what only You can give —truth, righteousness, compassion, courage, and peace.

Heal our land. Renew Your church. Deepen our love for Your Word. And teach us to long — truly long —for Your appearing.

Until that great day, keep us faithful.

In Your holy Name,Amen.

Reflection Questions

What do you most long for God to “ring out” of your life this year?
What Christlike grace do you most desire Him to “ring in”?
And above all — do you long for Him?

**********************

Come with us, O blessed Jesus,

With a faith forever new;

And in leaving now your altar,

Let us nevermore leave you.

O let your angel chorus

Cease not the heav'nly strain;

But in us, your loving children,

Bring peace, good will again.

2 You are God from everlasting.

God of God and Light of Light;

You are God, your glory veiling,

That we all may bear the sight.

Sustain us, Lord, and help us,

Our daily life to bear,

That through us, your holy teaching

May shine forth ev'rywhere.

----Author: John Henry Hopkins 1820-1891.