The festive poem 'Ring Out, Wild Bells' did not start off as a Christmas poem.

Taken from the elegy 'In Memoriam', Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote 'Ring Out, Wild Bells' in in 1850 in tribute to his sister's fiancé Arthur Henry Hallam, who died suddenly at the age of 22.

It depicts the poet overcoming his grief and regaining his optimism to the sounds of the church bells, ringing in the new year. As such it has come to symbolise hope for the future.

It has also been set many times to music, not least by the composers Charles Gounod, August Read Thomas and Jonathan Dove, as well as by George Harrison, who used excerpts of it in his song 'Ding Dong, Ding Dong.'

We named Alfred, Lord Tennyson the greatest poet of all time

'Ring out, wild bells' words

More Christmas poems and songs

‘Twas The Night before Christmas’
In the Bleak Midwinter'
'Up On The Housetop' lyrics
'We wish you a merry Christmas' lyrics
Go tell it on a Mountain' lyrics
'Jingle Bells' lyrics

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