Happy new year to everyone! It is fine to reminisce last year but let us dream for a better future for this year. To celebrate new year, here is some new year poetries as resolutions to start your brand-new year.
The Year by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That’s not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that’s the burden of a year.
In this poem, the speaker speaks of reality and truth that will happen in one’s lifetime. Especially in line “The new years come, the old years go, / We know we dream, we dream we know.” It signifies that It does not matter what year, old or new, we will go through the same thing, which is both happiness and sadness.
The lines “We rise up laughing with the light, / We lie down weeping with the night.”, shows that in the daytime we laugh and committed in working, studying, or just going through life, while in the night, when we are all alone, we cry and feeling melancholy.
The tone throughout the poem is pretty much reflective because the speaker is expecting and also reflecting the things happened in the past year, that will happen in this year too. The speaker calling the joy and despair in life as “the burden of a year” that is a cycle in life.
From the poem, Wilcox taught us that in our lifetime, it is obvious to expect bad and good things to happen in the new year. Wilcox is not by any means demotivating the reader. The speaker is telling us that even with all the joyful and sadness in life, we must continue moving forward and accept that all that happens is a reality of life.
“Auld Lang Syne” by Robert Burns
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!
Chorus
We twa hae ran about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit
Sin’ auld lang syne.
Chorus
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun til dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
Chorus
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught
For auld lang syne!
Chorus
The classic poem was written in Scottish by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. The poem is based on the traditional Scottish song and melody that often sung during the new year’s celebration to bid goodbye to the past year. The poem is between the speaker and his friend, who is drinking together with him.
In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker shows the importance of friendship by asking his friend and the readers “Should auld acquaintance be forgot, / And never brought to mind? / Should auld acquaintance be forgot, / And auld lang syne?” which means, whether it is possible to forget all the memories, especially friendship and companionship in the past? The speaker shows that to celebrate the coming of another year, we should not forget the past relationship and continue the relationship for the sake of “auld lang syne” or good old days.
In stanza five, the speaker reminisces the old memories with his friend and how they had fun doing challenging things. However, “seas between us braid hae roar’d / Sin’ auld lang syne”, which means the distance between them broadened by the sea. The sea signifies the sea of life, which is adulthood and life with many responsibilities. In the last stanza, the speaker join hands with his friend and propose to continue talking about the old days while drinking together.
Burns shows through the poem that we should treasure our friendship and relationship with others. To start a new year, one should reach out to their friends just to catch up and cherished the moment together. Burns also taught us that in order to appreciate the future, we have to be grateful and learn from the past.
