How Will You 'Ring in the New Year?'

Everyone around the world celebrates the New Year differently and at different times. But they may also observe New Year traditions from other religions or cultures. For example, many Asian cultures celebrate the Lunar New Year. This date changes from year to year. The date of the Islamic New Year also changes from year to year. And in India, each religious group has its own date for the beginning of the year. For example, the Hindu New Year comes in April or May. No matter when you celebrate the New Year, it usually involves thinking about the past year and planning for the year ahead. People have many different ways of ringing out the old and ringing in the new. But why are bells linked to the calendar change? In the Christian and Buddhist religions, bells are often connected with the New Year. The website CatholicCulture.org explains that "bells serve as a beautiful symbol introducing a new year to be spent together as a community of families ..." Another website describes how bells are used in Japan on New Year's Eve. "As midnight approaches, Buddhist temples around the country begin ringing out the old year, sounding the temple bell 108 times." Each ring of the bell stands for each of the earthly desires a Buddhist must try to overcome -- all 108 of them! These age-old traditions have given us the phrase "to ring out the old and ring in the new." The English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) made the phrase popular with his poem “In Memoriam [Ring Out, Wild Bells].” In this poem, Tennyson rings out, or says farewell to, the bad, and he rings in, or says hello, to the good. The friends almost became family when Hallam became engaged to the poet's sister, Emily. However, before they could wed, Hallam died of a brain hemorrhage. To remember his good friend, Tennyson wrote the poem “In Memoriam.” He also named one of his two sons Hallam. Here is Jonathan Evans reading the first part of that poem. 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, For the New Year, what do you plan to ring out and what do you plan to ring in? Also in the coming New Year, what words, expressions or phrases would you like to learn more about?