Ring Out The Old

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.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam

 

 

As an aficionado off all things Scottish, it is ever so tempting to quote Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” tonight, especially when I remember that poignant scene from “Out of Africa” where Baroness Blixen, aka Isak Dinesen, realizes on a fateful New Year’s Eve that she is no longer in love with her husband, but with the handsome and unattainable Denys Finch Hatton.  But as always, I tend to wander from the main theme of tonight, which is a theme of thankfulness.

To all of my friends and family who kept me somewhat sane during this difficult past year, much of which I have shared with you on this blog, I say “Thank you.”  To all of the readers whom I’ve never met but who put up with my quirky musings on cancer, family, dogs, cats, horses and life in general, I am ever so grateful for your encouragement.  Next year I hope to continue to inform you, to make you laugh and cry and above all, to make you wish that you, like Baroness Blixen, had a Scottish Deerhound, or two, or perhaps even three.

As a radiation oncologist, it’s been a very long time since I took call on New Year’s Eve. I am at home tonight, with a nice glass of wine in hand, getting ready to cook dinner and watch the last few episodes of “Breaking Bad” on Netflix—a little sadly because I don’t think everything is going to turn out all right in the end, and I for one thrive on happy endings.  But before I sign off on 2013, I want to thank the good people who are out there “in the field” tonight, taking care of the rest of us across the country and abroad—the ER doctors and trauma surgeons, the nurses in the emergency rooms and in the ICUs, the firefighters and paramedics and police officers who are all vigilant and on high alert tonight, and of course, our armed forces at home and far away.  I wish you all a Happy, Healthy New Year.  Live long and prosper, and stay safe out there!  With gratitude, Miranda.

8 comments

  1. For all the season of snow and sins,
    The days dividing lover and lover,
    The light that loses, the night that wins;
    And time remembered is grief forgotten,
    And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
    Blossom by blossom, the spring begins.

    “Atalanta in Calydon”
    Algernon Charles Swinburne

  2. Happy New Year to you and your blog! Yes, let us remember t let the past stay there…and thanks for continuing to take us along on new adventures in your Crab Diaries!

  3. Than kyou! For those musings, for a glimpse into the worlds of your life and those patients of yours, whose lives are filled with cares I cannot imagine, for the humor. Happy New Year to you!

  4. Happy New Year. May it be filled with health, happiness, and love. I am grateful to share this year with you thru your wonderful writing.

  5. Your sharing makes my day in hospice more focused on what needs to be done. You write what your heart thinks and it has enabled me to evaluate my own life a little deeper and with more passion.

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