Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson FRS was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria’s reign. Lord Tennyson became the Poet Laureate in 1850, succeeding William Wordsworth after his death and after Samuel Rogers declined the position. He held the position until his death in 1892, the longest tenure of any laureate. Why is Tennyson called Lord? In 1883 Tennyson reluctantly accepted a barony offered by Prime Minister William Gladstone, and he assumed the title lord. He was the first English writer to win so high a title for his work alone. He became the most famous poet of the Victorian era, renowned for his dramatically powerful subjects and highly-wrought melodious style. Among his most celebrated works are ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (1842), ‘Ulysses’ (1842), In Memoriam A.H.H.
In 1850, with the publication of In Memoriam, Tennyson became one of Britain’s most popular poets. Tennyson wrote “In Memoriam” after he learned that his beloved friend Arthur Henry Hallam had died suddenly and unexpectedly. Hallam and Tennyson met at Cambridge in 1829. They both were members of the exclusive Cambridge Apostles, a debating society whose members over the years have included the major figures of Britain’s nineteenth and twentieth century history. After learning of Hallam’s sudden death in 1833, at the age of twenty-two years, Tennyson was overwhelmed with doubts about the meaning of life and the significance of man’s existence. He composed the short poems that comprise “In Memoriam” over the course of seventeen years (1833-1849) with no intention of weaving them together, though he ultimately published them as a single lengthy poem in 1850.
In Memoriam (Ring Out, Wild Bells) is said to have been inspired by the ‘wild bells’ of Waltham Abbey in Essex, United Kingdom. Lord Tennyson, staying in the vicinity, threw open his window on New Year’s Eve to hear the peal bells ringing out the old year and ringing in the new. For the next 17 years, Lord Tennyson composed and edited a sprawling elegy to his dear friend. In this elegy for his sister’s fiancé, who died of cerebral haemorrhage in Vienna, Tennyson wrote the line, “’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Ring Out, Loud Bells was published anonymously in 1850 forms part of “In Memoriam A.H.H.” It is an active invocation to purge societal ills – greed, strife, and the feuds that divide humanity. The ringing bells become a clarion call for purity, truth, and a collective love of goodness that Tennyson yearns to see flourish in the hearts of mankind.
‘Ring Out, Wild Bells’, uses the imagery of bells ringing out the old year and ringing in the new as a metaphor for letting go of grief and negative aspects of life while embracing hope and positive change. It depicts the poet overcoming his grief and regaining his optimism to the sounds of the church bells, ringing in the new year. As such it has come to symbolize hope for the future. There is a call for Truth in this poem – a doing away once and for all with falsehood and embracing the dignity and purity of truth. The phrase, “ring out the old, ring in the new”, and twists it in order to “ring out” all the negative he sees in the world and “ring in” more positive things. It is about the new year and all the ways the world could change for the better.
In Memoriam [Ring out, Wild Bells]
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.
At its core, “Ring Out, Wild Bells” is an energetic cry for human beings to dispense with destructive ideologies and beliefs that lead to destructive actions across the board, as pertains to the human experience. The poem is a discourse on new beginnings – a fresh start for mankind as a whole, and individuals in particular. A spiritual renewal must first take place within the mind of human beings. Only then can other types of renewal take place, including the physical renewal of the earth from the destructive effects of war and other harmful events. Tennyson calls for an end to grief for those who have died. They are at rest; we who remain must move on and live. He also calls for an end to class strife, desiring rich and poor (and all classes in between) to live in harmony with one another.
The renewal that Tennyson calls for is one where the old order and way of thinking and doing things is banished for good. The poet desires an end to political strife. He wants the proper rule of law, in tandem with good manners – people treating others with respect as they all work for the common good in society. Tennyson also desires a renewal in health, both physically and in the inner man. He speaks of mankind ringing out the “old shapes of foul disease” as well as ringing out greed. The renewal he talks about will rejuvenate man, society and the earth. In the end, Tennyson knows all of the above listed here is a tall order for human beings to accomplish. Therefore, he calls on the One whom he believes will accomplish complete Renewal for mankind: Ring in the Christ that is to be.
In summary, the ringing of the wild bells represents a call for change and a call to leave behind the grief, the feud, and the want that has sapped our minds and held us back. In addition, we are called to leave behind old shapes of foul disease, the narrowing lust for gold, and the thousand wars of old and, instead, ring in the thousand years of peace. As representatives of humanity, we must work toward a better world, a world of love and kindness, a world where the valiant and free can thrive and where the darkness is replaced by the Christ that is to be. However, 19th-century Evangelicalism required belief in literal interpretations of The Holy Bible against the theory of human evolution; thus, in Canto CXXIX, Tennyson alludes to “the truths that never can be proved” – the Victorian belief that reason and intellect would reconcile science with religion.1
Trump’s election has become a dark night for America’s soul as he turns the United States into an authoritarian regime. The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation.2 It’s an ugly, disordered world of raw power, brute force, selfish arrogance, dodgy deals and brazen lies. Trump’s minions attack or subvert the agencies of government, the judiciary and free press, terrorizing and intimidating those whose loyalty they impugn. Trump’s big beautiful bill, the tax and spending bill, will provide tax breaks for the wealthy and reduce social services for the middle class, while significantly increasing the national debt. It is a gift to the billionaire class while causing massive pain for working families – increasing income inequality in America. The response: Nonviolent civil resistance is far more successful increasing broad-based change than violent campaigns are.
Project 2025 calls for establishing a government that would be imbued with “biblical principles” and run by a president who holds sweeping executive powers. The MAGA ideology neofascist movement, which, like all movements within the fascist genus, is rooted in a tenuous alliance between sections of the monopoly-capitalist ruling class at the top of society and a mobilized army of lower-middle class adherents far below. The latter see as their chief enemies, not the upper echelons of the capitalist class, but the upper-middle class professionals immediately above them and the working class below. The plan is authoritarian and Christian nationalist and threatens separation of powers (as created by the U.S. Constitution), separation of church and state (created by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights) and civil liberties.3 The main goal of Project 2025 is to destroy the system of checks and balances and create a system that would strip the ordinary citizen of their fundamental rights while supporting the grift of the wealthy.
The Serenity Prayer is used as a source of strength and guidance when facing difficult circumstances: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.” Notably, that prayer is attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr as he was watching the rise of Nazis in Germany. We need to grieve over all the things that have been lost under Trump’s watch. In this manner we can find hope. The world can be and often is a dark and harsh place, one where sorrow and loss are often compounded again and again, where we seem to lose no matter what we do. As the now Internet famous quote goes, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”4 By integrating the Serenity Prayer into daily life, we not only enhance our ability to deal with personal and professional challenges but also cultivate a more peaceful and purposeful existence.
Tennyson insisted that we hold fast to our faith in a higher power in spite of our inability to prove God’s existence: “Believing where we cannot prove.” He reflects early evolutionary theories in his faith that man, through a process lasting millions of years, is developing into something greater. In the end, Tennyson replaces the doctrine of the immortality of the soul with the immortality of mankind through evolution, thereby achieving a synthesis between his profound religious faith and the new scientific ideas of his day. Today, citizens need to assemble in the street to protest the dark messages from authoritarian governance. Remember Occupy Wall Street put inequality on the political agenda.5 The ‘No Kings’ protests were a nod against authoritarian governance, the roots of the protests stemming from President Trump’s immigration crackdowns. Tennyson didn’t explicitly champion radical social change, his works highlighted the limitations imposed by societal structures and the human cost of inequality.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Memoriam_A.H.H.
2 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/03/donald-trump-world-leaders-democracy
3 https://questioningandskepticism.com/connecting-project-2025-and-scopes-monkey-trial/
4 https://wagingnonviolence.org/2024/11/10-things-to-do-if-trump-wins/
5 https://questioningandskepticism.com/occupy-wall-street-success/