Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky (Tennyson)

537 Wild Bells L. M. D.

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 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.

2 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 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.

3 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.
                         Alfred Tennyson
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Yes, that Tennyson. I didn't think he had written any hymns, and it turns out that he didn't. According to hymnary.org, "Although Lord Tennyson has not written any hymns, extracts from his poems are sometimes used as such" (John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II, 1907). So now you know.
</idle musing>