The Death of the Old Year
Full knee-deep lies the winter snow,And the winter winds are wearily sighing:Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow,And tread softly and speak low,For the old year lies a-dying.Old year, you must not die;You came to us so readily,You lived with us so steadily,Old year, you shall not die.
He lieth still: he doth not move:He will not see the dawn of day.He hath no other life above.He gave me a friend, and a true, true-love,And the New-year will take ’em away.Old year, you must not go;So long as you have been with us,Such joy as you have seen with us,Old year, you shall not go.
He froth’d his bumpers to the brim;A jollier year we shall not see.But tho’ his eyes are waxing dim,And tho’ his foes speak ill of him,He was a friend to me.Old year, you shall not die;We did so laugh and cry with you,I’ve half a mind to die with you,Old year, if you must die.
He was full of joke and jest,But all his merry quips are o’er.To see him die, across the wasteHis son and heir doth ride post-haste,But he’ll be dead before.Every one for his own.The night is starry and cold, my friend,And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend,Comes up to take his own.
How hard he breathes! over the snowI heard just now the crowing cock.The shadows flicker to and fro:The cricket chirps: the light burns low:’Tis nearly twelve o’clock.Shake hands, before you die.Old year, we’ll dearly rue for you:What is it we can do for you?Speak out before you die.
His face is growing sharp and thin.Alack! our friend is gone.Close up his eyes: tie up his chin:Step from the corpse, and let him inThat standeth there alone,And waiteth at the door.There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend,And a new face at the door, my friend,A new face at the door.
Words in this poem
- wearily adv.
- In a weary manner.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- flicker v. i.
- To flutter; to flap the wings without flying. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Death of the Old Year is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg ebook #8601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Tennyson, The Death of the Old Year, in The Early Poems (1830–1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-early-poems/the-death-of-the-old-year.html, id L16546.
Form and metre
The Death of the Old Year is 54 lines in 6 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAABCDDC, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAABCDDC snowA · sighingB · slowA · lowA · dyingB · dieC · readilyD · steadilyD · dieC
- 2 ABAABCDDC moveA · dayB · aboveA · loveA · awayB · goC · usD · usD · goC
- 3 ABAABCDDC brimA · seeB · dimA · himA · meB · dieC · youD · youD · dieC
- 4 --AA-BCCB jest · o'er · wasteA · hasteA · before · ownB · friendC · friendC · ownB
- 5 ABAABCDDC snowA · cockB · froA · lowA · o'clockB · dieC · youD · youD · dieC
- 6 AAAAABCCB thinA · goneA · chinA · inA · aloneA · doorB · friendC · friendC · doorB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Full knee-deep lies the winter snow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the winter winds are wearily sighing: | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Toll ye the church-bell sad and slow, | 8 | ········ |
| And tread softly and speak low, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For the old year lies a-dying. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Old year, you must not die; | 6 | ······ |
| You came to us so readily, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| You lived with us so steadily, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Old year, you shall not die. | 6 | ······ |
| He lieth still: he doth not move: | 7 | ······· |
| He will not see the dawn of day. | 8 | ········ |
| He hath no other life above. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He gave me a friend, and a true, true-love, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the New-year will take ’em away. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Old year, you must not go; | 6 | ······ |
| So long as you have been with us, | 8 | ········ |
| Such joy as you have seen with us, | 8 | ········ |
| Old year, you shall not go. | 6 | ······ |
| He froth’d his bumpers to the brim; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A jollier year we shall not see. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But tho’ his eyes are waxing dim, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And tho’ his foes speak ill of him, | 8 | ········ |
| He was a friend to me. | 6 | ······ |
| Old year, you shall not die; | 6 | ······ |
| We did so laugh and cry with you, | 8 | ········ |
| I’ve half a mind to die with you, | 8 | ········ |
| Old year, if you must die. | 6 | ······ |
| He was full of joke and jest, | 7 | ······· |
| But all his merry quips are o’er. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To see him die, across the waste | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| His son and heir doth ride post-haste, | 8 | ········ |
| But he’ll be dead before. | 6 | ······ |
| Every one for his own. | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| The night is starry and cold, my friend, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the New-year blithe and bold, my friend, | 9 | ········· |
| Comes up to take his own. | 6 | ······ |
| How hard he breathes! over the snow | 8 | ········ |
| I heard just now the crowing cock. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The shadows flicker to and fro: | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The cricket chirps: the light burns low: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ’Tis nearly twelve o’clock. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Shake hands, before you die. | 6 | ······ |
| Old year, we’ll dearly rue for you: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What is it we can do for you? | 8 | ········ |
| Speak out before you die. | 6 | ······ |
| His face is growing sharp and thin. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Alack! our friend is gone. | 7 | ˘//˘··· |
| Close up his eyes: tie up his chin: | 8 | ········ |
| Step from the corpse, and let him in | 8 | ········ |
| That standeth there alone, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And waiteth at the door. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There’s a new foot on the floor, my friend, | 9 | ········· |
| And a new face at the door, my friend, | 9 | ········· |
| A new face at the door. | 6 | ······ |
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