A poem for New Year's Eve

From John Clare (1793-1864):

               The Old Year

                        1
      The Old Year's gone away
      To nothingness and night
      We cannot find him all the day
      Nor hear him in the night
      He left no footstep mark or place
      In either shade or sun
Tho' last year he'd a neighbours face
In this he's known by none

                        2
      All nothing every where
      Mists we on mornings see
      They have more of substance when they're here
      And more of form than he
      He was a friend by every fire
      In every cot and hall
A guest to every hearts desire
And now he's nought at all

                        3
      Old papers thrown away
      Or garments cast aside
      E'en the talk of yesterday
      Are things identified
      But time once torn away
      No voices can recall
The eve of new years day
Left the old one lost to all

Goodbye, Old Year. May the New Year be a year of greater hope and greater peace for our world.

Related posts
A poem for New Year's Eve (by Ted Berrigan)
Happy New Year (from the film Marty)