If you’re looking to celebrate New Year’s day with some exquisite New Year poems, you’re at the right place!
Time sure flies, doesn’t it? It sure feels like it on New Year’s eve. A whole year gone by in what seems like the blink of an eye. I think it’s fair to say that New Year’s day gives many of us mixed emotions.
Of course, there are feelings of happiness, joy, and celebration, but there’s also this underlying sense of time slipping away, especially if you’re dreaded by the fact that another just went by without anything much happening.
Whether you’re jubilant or not-so-excited about the upcoming year (which is completely understandable, based on how the recent few years have gone by), it’s a good idea to be hopeful and optimistic. Remember and reflect, but do so while looking forward towards the future. Set some new year’s resolutions for yourself if you feel like it!
If you’d like to be encouraged and motivated on this momentous occasion, check out our catalog of the top 0X New Year poems! Our collection features poems that are short, funny, and inspirational. We even have some timeless classics. Share these poems with him/her if you’re celebrating with a special someone. And if not, check out our poems about new beginnings!
Now, onto the first entry on our list:
The Best New Year Poems
1.) The Year
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.
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox
2.) Burning Of The Old Year
Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do
crackle after the blazing dies.
– Naomi Shihab Nye
3.) Tick Tock
I’m writing this in a state of shock,
Watching the clock—tick tock, tick tock,
Advancing, approaching, relentlessly,
A brand new year; Oh, can it be?
The calendar says the same thing, too;
Time races, vanishes for me; Boo hoo!
No, wait! If time flies, I’m having fun!
A year of fun! It’s gone! It’s done!
I now embrace the blur of time,
Because it simply means that I’m
Too busy with pleasure, joy, delight
To mourn the passing days’ swift flight.
So I’m wishing you fast, happy days,
Pleasuring you in myriad ways,
Filled with happiness and cheer,
Oh Happy, Happy Bright New Year!
– Joanna Fuchs
4.) Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
– Robert Burns
5.) New Year’s Morning
Only a night from old to new!
Only a night, and so much wrought!
The Old Year’s heart all weary grew,
But said: “The New Year rest has brought.”
The Old Year’s hopes its heart laid down,
As in a grave; but, trusting, said:
“The blossoms of the New Year’s crown
Bloom from the ashes of the dead.”
The Old Year’s heart was full of greed;
With selfishness it longed and ached,
And cried: “I have not half I need.
My thirst is bitter and unslaked.
But to the New Year’s generous hand
All gifts in plenty shall return;
True love it shall understand;
By all my failures it shall learn.
I have been reckless; it shall be
Quiet and calm and pure of life.
I was a slave; it shall go free,
And find sweet peace where I leave strife.”
Only a night from old to new!
Never a night such changes brought.
The Old Year had its work to do;
No New Year miracles are wrought.
Always a night from old to new!
Night and the healing balm of sleep!
Each morn is New Year’s morn come true,
Morn of a festival to keep.
All nights are sacred nights to make
Confession and resolve and prayer;
All days are sacred days to wake
New gladness in the sunny air.
Only a night from old to new;
Only a sleep from night to morn.
The new is but the old come true;
Each sunrise sees a new year born.
– Helen Hunt Jackson
6.) New Year’s Day
The rain this morning falls
on the last of the snow
and will wash it away. I can smell
the grass again, and the torn leaves
being eased down into the mud.
The few loves I’ve been allowed
to keep are still sleeping
on the West Coast. Here in Virginia
I walk across the fields with only
a few young cows for company.
Big-boned and shy,
they are like girls I remember
from junior high, who never
spoke, who kept their heads
lowered and their arms crossed against
their new breasts. Those girls
are nearly forty now. Like me,
they must sometimes stand
at a window late at night, looking out
on a silent backyard, at one
rusting lawn chair and the sheer walls
of other people’s houses.
They must lie down some afternoons
and cry hard for whoever used
to make them happiest,
and wonder how their lives
have carried them
this far without ever once
explaining anything. I don’t know
why I’m walking out here
with my coat darkening
and my boots sinking in, coming up
with a mild sucking sound
I like to hear. I don’t care
where those girls are now.
Whatever they’ve made of it
they can have. Today I want
to resolve nothing.
I only want to walk
a little longer in the cold
blessing of the rain,
and lift my face to it.
– Kim Addonizio
7.) Happy New Year!
Brush away old heartaches.
Learn from our mistakes.
Another year is finally over.
A new dawn awakes.
Let the old year out.
Welcome the new one in.
Bury the bad things of the past
As a new year now begins.
Make your New Year wishes
As simple as you can.
Pray for peace and love,
Not for wealth or fame.
Pray for health and happiness.
Pray for your fellow man.
Pray for all the ones you love.
Pray for those who’ve lost their way.
As the midnight hour chimes,
We leave the old and embrace the new.
I wish the things you wish for yourself,
And may God’s love stay with you.
– John P. Read
8.) 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 truelove
And the New-year will take ’em away.
Old year you must not go;
So long 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 waste
His 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 snow
I 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 in
That 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.
– Lord Alfred Tennyson
9.) Snowfall
Particulate as ash, new year’s first snow falls
upon peaked roofs, car hoods, undulant hills,
in imitation of motion that moves the way
static cascades down screens when the cable
zaps out, persistent & granular with a flicker
of legibility that dissipates before it can be
interpolated into any succession of imagery.
One hour stretches sixty minutes into a field
of white flurry: hexagonal lattices of water
molecules that accumulate in drifts too soon
strewn with sand, hewn into browning
mounds by plow blade, left to turn to slush.
– Ravi Shankar
10.) Good Riddance, But Now What?
Come, children, gather round my knee;
Something is about to be.
Tonight’s December thirty-first,
Something is about to burst.
The clock is crouching, dark and small,
Like a time bomb in the hall.
Hark! It’s midnight, children dear.
Duck! Here comes another year.
– Ogden Nash
11.) A Song For New Year’s Eve
Stay yet, my friends, a moment stay—
Stay till the good old year,
So long companion of our way,
Shakes hands, and leaves us here.
Oh stay, oh stay,
One little hour, and then away.
The year, whose hopes were high and strong,
Has now no hopes to wake;
Yet one hour more of jest and song
For his familiar sake.
Oh stay, oh stay,
One mirthful hour, and then away.
The kindly year, his liberal hands
Have lavished all his store.
And shall we turn from where he stands,
Because he gives no more?
Oh stay, oh stay,
One grateful hour, and then away.
Days brightly came and calmly went,
While yet he was our guest;
How cheerfully the week was spent!
How sweet the seventh day’s rest!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One golden hour, and then away.
Dear friends were with us, some who sleep
Beneath the coffin-lid:
What pleasant memories we keep
Of all they said and did!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One tender hour, and then away.
Even while we sing, he smiles his last,
And leaves our sphere behind.
The good old year is with the past;
Oh be the new as kind!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One parting strain, and then away.
– William Cullen Bryant
12.) New Year
Another year is coming to a close.
We can forget our troubles and woes.
For me, this year was tough.
It brought many emotions, was tearful and rough.
Now another year is approaching fast.
Let’s hope it’s a New Year with love and health; let’s hope it’s a blast.
May all of your dreams come true
And you find peace and love in all that you do.
May this world know the gentle sound of a hush.
May it calm all its anger and slow its pace from the rush.
May we all hear the sound of joy
And push away all that hurts, all that destroys.
The New Year I hope will be good to us all.
Care and calm, a helping hand when we fall.
Listen more, slow down, and say I love you.
Stop for a moment; take a breath, take in the view.
Appreciate your family; tell them you care.
Do something exciting, a thrill or a dare.
Enjoy all that the New Year may give.
We have but one life, so let’s learn to live.
It’s a New Year, a brand new start.
Always remember, live and love from your heart.
Wishing each and every one a year to behold,
And may it be full of wonders for you to unfold.
Love, hugs, and kisses too…
A very happy New Year from me to you.
– Sandra Hearth
13.) Ring Out, Wild Bells
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,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
– Lord Alfred Tennyson
14.) Happy New Year Wish
My Happy New Year wish for you
Is for your best year yet,
A year where life is peaceful,
And what you want, you get.
A year in which you cherish
The past year’s memories,
And live your life each new day,
Full of bright expectancies.
I wish for you a holiday
With happiness galore;
And when it’s done, I wish you
Happy New Year, and many more.
– Joanna Fuchs
15.) December 31st
All my undone actions wander
naked across the calendar,
a band of skinny hunter-gatherers,
blown snow scattered here and there,
stumbling toward a future
folded in the New Year I secure
with a pushpin: January’s picture
a painting from the 17th century,
a still life: Skull and mirror,
spilled coin purse and a flower.
– Richard Hoffman
16.) On New Year’s Eve
we make midnight a maquette of the year:
frostlight glinting off snow to solemnize
the vows we offer to ourselves in near
silence: the competition shimmerwise
of champagne and chandeliers to attract
laughter and cheers: the glow from the fireplace
reflecting the burning intra-red pact
between beloveds: we cosset the space
of a fey hour, anxious gods molding our
hoped-for adams with this temporal clay:
each of us edacious for shining or
rash enough to think sacrifice will stay
this fugacious time: while stillness suspends
vitality in balance, as passions
struggle with passions for sway, the mind wends
towards what’s to come: a callithump of fashions,
ersatz smiles, crowded days: a bloodless cut
that severs soul from bone: a long aching
quiet in which we will hear nothing but
the clean crack of our promises breaking.
– Evie Shockley
17.) A Journey To A New Year
First day of the New Year.
It’s time to shine for a new day.
Forget your past,
Your sorrow, your pain.
New ideas are waiting ahead.
It’s time to recall all your memories,
Beautiful dreams that remain uncovered,
Painful parts of life when your heart gets crushed.
But don’t be afraid.
The future is in your hand.
Hold it in your hand.
Start your race,
A new journey,
That leads you to success.
You will rise again
You will shine again.
Happy New Year!
– Sumira R. Arain
18.) One Year Ago
One Year ago—jots what?
God—spell the word! I—can’t—
Was’t Grace? Not that—
Was’t Glory? That—will do—
Spell slower—Glory—
Such Anniversary shall be—
Sometimes—not often—in Eternity—
When farther Parted, than the Common Woe—
Look—feed upon each other’s faces—so—
In doubtful meal, if it be possible
Their Banquet’s true—
I tasted—careless—then—
I did not know the Wine
Came once a World—Did you?
Oh, had you told me so—
This Thirst would blister—easier—now—
You said it hurt you—most—
Mine—was an Acorn’s Breast—
And could not know how fondness grew
In Shaggier Vest—
Perhaps—I couldn’t—
But, had you looked in—
A Giant—eye to eye with you, had been—
No Acorn—then—
So—Twelve months ago—
We breathed—
Then dropped the Air—
Which bore it best?
Was this—the patientest—
Because it was a Child, you know—
And could not value—Air?
If to be “Elder”—mean most pain—
I’m old enough, today, I’m certain—then—
As old as thee—how soon?
One—Birthday more—or Ten?
Let me—choose!
Ah, Sir, None!
– Emily Dickinson
19.) People Like You
A brand new year!
A clean slate on which to write
our hopes and dreams.
This year:
Less time and energy on things;
More time and energy on people.
All of life’s best rewards,
deepest and finest feelings,
greatest satisfactions,
come from people–
people like you.
Happy New Year!
– Joanna Fuchs
20.) Poem For A New Year
Something’s moving in,
I hear the weather in the wind,
sense the tension of a sheep-field
and the pilgrimage of fins.
Something’s not the same,
I taste the sap and feel the grain,
hear the rolling of the rowan
ringing, singing in a change.
Something’s set to start,
there’s meadow-music in the dark
and the clouds that shroud the mountain
slowly, softly start to part.
– Matt Goodfellow
21.) After The Gentle Poet Kobayashi Issa
New Year’s morning—
everything is in blossom!
I feel about average.
A huge frog and I
staring at each other,
neither of us moves.
This moth saw brightness
in a woman’s chamber—
burned to a crisp.
Asked how old he was
the boy in the new kimono
stretched out all five fingers.
Blossoms at night,
like people
moved by music
Napped half the day;
no one
punished me!
Fiftieth birthday:
From now on,
It’s all clear profit,
every sky.
Don’t worry, spiders,
I keep house
casually.
These sea slugs,
they just don’t seem
Japanese.
Hell:
Bright autumn moon;
pond snails crying
in the saucepan.
– Robert Hass
22.) New Year
With a new beginning and fresh start,
Full of inspiration and positive thoughts,
Let’s begin this year with an optimistic thought.
Gone are the days of regret and guilt,
Those rooms full of darkness.
It’s time to move with courage,
Full of confidence and hope.
Let’s begin this year with an optimistic thought.
– Somya
23.) Old And New Year Ditties
New Year met me somewhat sad:
Old Year leaves me tired,
Stripped of favourite things I had
Baulked of much desired:
Yet farther on my road to-day
God willing, farther on my way.
New Year coming on apace
What have you to give me?
Bring you scathe, or bring you grace,
Face me with an honest face;
You shall not deceive me:
Be it good or ill, be it what you will,
It needs shall help me on my road,
My rugged way to heaven, please God.
Watch with me, men, women, and children dear,
You whom I love, for whom I hope and fear,
Watch with me this last vigil of the year.
Some hug their business, some their pleasure-scheme;
Some seize the vacant hour to sleep or dream;
Heart locked in heart some kneel and watch apart.
Watch with me blessed spirits, who delight
All through the holy night to walk in white,
Or take your ease after the long-drawn fight.
I know not if they watch with me: I know
They count this eve of resurrection slow,
And cry, ‘How long?’ with urgent utterance strong.
Watch with me Jesus, in my loneliness:
Though others say me nay, yet say Thou yes;
Though others pass me by, stop Thou to bless.
Yea, Thou dost stop with me this vigil night;
To-night of pain, to-morrow of delight:
I, Love, am Thine; Thou, Lord my God, art mine.
Passing away, saith the World, passing away:
Chances, beauty and youth sapped day by day:
Thy life never continueth in one stay.
Is the eye waxen dim, is the dark hair changing to grey
That hath won neither laurel nor bay?
I shall clothe myself in Spring and bud in May:
Thou, root-stricken, shalt not rebuild thy decay
On my bosom for aye.
Then I answered: Yea.
Passing away, saith my Soul, passing away:
With its burden of fear and hope, of labour and play;
Hearken what the past doth witness and say:
Rust in thy gold, a moth is in thine array,
A canker is in thy bud, thy leaf must decay.
At midnight, at cockcrow, at morning, one certain day
Lo, the Bridegroom shall come and shall not delay:
Watch thou and pray.
Then I answered: Yea.
Passing away, saith my God, passing away:
Winter passeth after the long delay:
New grapes on the vine, new figs on the tender spray,
Turtle calleth turtle in Heaven’s May.
Though I tarry wait for Me, trust Me, watch and pray:
Arise, come away, night is past and lo it is day,
My love, My sister, My spouse, thou shalt hear Me say.
Then I answered: Yea.
– Christina Rosetti
24.) The New Year
I am the little New Year, ho, ho !
Here I come tripping it over the snow.
Shaking my bells with a merry din –
So open your doors and let me in!
Presents I bring for each and all –
Big folks, little folks, short and tall;
Each one from me a treasure may win –
So open your doors and let me in!
Some shall have silver and some shall have gold,
Some shall have new clothes and some shall have old;
Some shall have brass and some shall have tin –
So open your doors and let me in!
Some shall have water and some shall have milk,
Some shall have satin and some shall have silk!
But each from me a present may win –
So open your doors and let me in!
– Unknown
25.) The Old Year
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:
The last year he’d a neighbour’s face,
In this he’s known by none.
All nothing everywhere:
Mists we on mornings see
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 heart’s desire,
And now he’s nought at all.
Old papers thrown away,
Old garments cast aside,
The talk of yesterday,
Are things identified;
But time once torn away
No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year’s Day
Left the Old Year lost to all.
– John Clare
26.) Written In The Beginning Of The Year 1746
How sleep the brave, who sink to rest
By all their country’s wishes blest!
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold,
Returns to deck their hallow’d mold,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy’s feet have ever trod.
By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung;
There Honor comes, a pilgrim grey,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay;
And Freedom shall a-while repair,
To dwell a weeping hermit there!
– William Collins
27.) Mild Is The Parting Year
Mild is the parting year, and sweet
The odour of the falling spray;
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
And balmless is its closing day.
I wait its close, I court its gloom,
But mourn that never must there fall
Or on my breast or on my tomb
The tear that would have soothed it all.
– Walter Savage Landor
28.) The Darkling Thrush
I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
– Thomas Hardy
29.) New Year’s Eve
The end of the year fell chilly
Between a moon and a moon;
Thorough the twilight shrilly
The bells rang, ringing no tune.
The windows stained with story,
The walls with miracle scored,
Were hidden for gloom and glory
Filling the house of the Lord.
Arch and aisle and rafter
And roof-tree dizzily high
Were full of weeping and laughter
And song and saying good-bye.
There stood in the holy places
A multitude none could name,
Ranks of dreadful faces
Flaming, transfigured in flame.
Crown and tiar and mitre
Were starry with gold and gem;
Christmas never was whiter
Than fear on the face of them.
In aisles that emperors vaulted
For a faith the world confessed,
Abasing the Host exalted,
They worshipped towards the west.
They brought with laughter oblation;
They prayed, not bowing the head;
They made without tear lamentation,
And rendered me answer and said:
‘O thou that seest our sorrow,
It fares with us even thus:
To-day we are gods, to-morrow
Hell have mercy on us.
‘Lo, morning over our border
From out of the west comes cold;
Down ruins the ancient order
And empire builded of old.
‘Our house at even is queenly
With psalm and censers alight:
Look thou never so keenly
Thou shalt not find us to-night.
‘We are come to the end appointed
With sands not many to run:
Divinities disanointed
And kings whose kingdom is done.
‘The peoples knelt down at our portal,
All kindreds under the sky;
We were gods and implored and immortal
Once; and to-day we die.’
They turned them again to their praying,
They worshipped and took no rest
Singing old tunes and saying
‘We have seen his star in the west,’
Old tunes of the sacred psalters,
Set to wild farewells;
And I left them there at their altars
Ringing their own dead knells.
– A.E. Housman
30.) To The New Year
With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
– W. S. Merwin
31.) Song For The New Year
Old Time has turned another page
Of eternity and truth;
He reads with a warning voice to age,
And whispers a lesson to youth.
A year has fled o’er heart and head
Since last the yule log burnt;
And we have a task to closely ask,
What the bosom and brain have learnt?
Oh! let us hope that our sands have run
With wisdom’s precious grains;
Oh! may we find that our hands have done
Some work of glorious pains.
Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year,
While the holly gleams above us;
With a pardon for the foes who hate,
And a prayer for those who love us.
We may have seen some loved ones pass
To the land of hallow’d rest;
We may miss the glow of an honest brow
And the warmth of a friendly breast:
But if we nursed them while on earth,
With hearts all true and kind,
Will their spirits blame the sinless mirth
Of those true hearts left behind?
No, no! it were not well or wise
To mourn with endless pain;
There’s a better world beyond the skies,
Where the good shall meet again.
Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year,
While the holly gleams above us;
With a pardon for the foes who hate,
And a prayer for those who love us.
Have our days rolled on serenely free
From sorrow’s dim alloy?
Do we still possess the gifts that bless
And fill our souls with joy?
Are the creatures dear still clinging near?
Do we hear loved voices come?
Do we gaze on eyes whose glances shed
A halo round our home?
Oh, if we do, let thanks be pour’d
To Him who hath spared and given,
And forget not o’er the festive board
The mercies held from heaven.
Then a welcome and cheer to the merry new year,
While the holly gleams above us;
With a pardon for the foes who hate,
And a prayer for those who love us.
– Eliza Cook
32.) 1 January 1965
The Wise Men will unlearn your name.
Above your head no star will flame.
One weary sound will be the same—
the hoarse roar of the gale.
The shadows fall from your tired eyes
as your lone bedside candle dies,
for here the calendar breeds nights
till stores of candles fail.
What prompts this melancholy key?
A long familiar melody.
It sounds again. So let it be.
Let it sound from this night.
Let it sound in my hour of death—
as gratefulness of eyes and lips
for that which sometimes makes us lift
our gaze to the far sky.
You glare in silence at the wall.
Your stocking gapes: no gifts at all.
It’s clear that you are now too old
to trust in good Saint Nick;
that it’s too late for miracles.
—But suddenly, lifting your eyes
to heaven’s light, you realize:
your life is a sheer gift.
– Joseph Brodsky
33.) New Year’s Eve
“I have finished another year,” said God,
“In grey, green, white, and brown;
I have strewn the leaf upon the sod,
Sealed up the worm within the clod,
And let the last sun down.”
“And what’s the good of it?” I said.
“What reasons made you call
From formless void this earth we tread,
When nine-and-ninety can be read
Why nought should be at all?
”Yea, Sire; why shaped you us, ‘who in
This tabernacle groan’—
If ever a joy be found herein,
Such joy no man had wished to win
If he had never known!”
Then he: “My labours—logicless—
You may explain; not I:
Sense-sealed I have wrought, without a guess
That I evolved a Consciousness
To ask for reasons why.
”Strange that ephemeral creatures who
By my own ordering are,
Should see the shortness of my view,
Use ethic tests I never knew,
Or made provision for!”
He sank to raptness as of yore,
And opening New Year’s Day
Wove it by rote as theretofore,
And went on working evermore
In his unweeting way.
– Thomas Hardy
34.) This New Year
Even during the worst of times
When I feel the years go slipping by
Life seems rife with possibilities
When the New Year arrives.
Buoyed by hope at the New Year coming
I feel renewed and want to start living.
This year I’ll travel and see the sights,
I’ll be bold, I’ll be courageous.
I’ll reach out and go beyond.
I might even try being flirtatious!
I’ll be a new fish in a brand-new pond.
This new year I’ll be brave and I’ll be strong.
Even though time does fly,
I won’t let this year be wasted.
I’ll look forward to new adventures
And be open to opportunities I am graced with.
I’ll learn and laugh and have good times.
I won’t dwell on years gone by.
I’ll start each new morning a brand-new way.
I’ll pretend it is New Year’s Day!
– Aleena
35.) New Year On Dartmoor
This is newness : every little tawdry
Obstacle glass-wrapped and peculiar,
Glinting and clinking in a saint’s falsetto. Only you
Don’t know what to make of the sudden slippiness,
The blind, white, awful, inaccessible slant.
There’s no getting up it by the words you know.
No getting up by elephant or wheel or shoe.
We have only come to look. You are too new
To want the world in a glass hat.
– Sylvia Plath
36.) New Year’s Eve
There are only two things now,
The great black night scooped out
And this fire-glow.
This fire-glow, the core,
And we the two ripe pips
That are held in store.
Listen, the darkness rings
As it circulates round our fire.
Take off your things.
Your shoulders, your bruised throat!
Your breasts, your nakedness!
This fiery coat!
As the darkness flickers and dips,
As the firelight falls and leaps
From your feet to your lips!
– D.H. Lawrence
37.) New Year’s Poem
The Christmas twigs crispen and needles rattle
Along the window-ledge.
A solitary pearl
Shed from the necklace spilled at last week’s party
Lies in the suety, snow-luminous plainness
Of morning, on the window-ledge beside them.
And all the furniture that circled stately
And hospitable when these rooms were brimmed
With perfumes, furs, and black-and-silver
Crisscross of seasonal conversation, lapses
Into its previous largeness.
I remember
Anne’s rose-sweet gravity, and the stiff grave
Where cold so little can contain;
I mark the queer delightful skull and crossbones
Starlings and sparrows left, taking the crust,
And the long loop of winter wind
Smoothing its arc from dark Arcturus down
To the bricked corner of the drifted courtyard,
And the still window-ledge.
Gentle and just pleasure
It is, being human, to have won from space
This unchill, habitable interior
Which mirrors quietly the light
Of the snow, and the new year.
– Margaret Avison
38.) Year’s End
Now winter downs the dying of the year,
And night is all a settlement of snow;
From the soft street the rooms of houses show
A gathered light, a shapen atmosphere,
Like frozen-over lakes whose ice is thin
And still allows some stirring down within.
I’ve known the wind by water banks to shake
The late leaves down, which frozen where they fell
And held in ice as dancers in a spell
Fluttered all winter long into a lake;
Graved on the dark in gestures of descent,
They seemed their own most perfect monument.
There was perfection in the death of ferns
Which laid their fragile cheeks against the stone
A million years. Great mammoths overthrown
Composedly have made their long sojourns,
Like palaces of patience, in the gray
And changeless lands of ice. And at Pompeii
The little dog lay curled and did not rise
But slept the deeper as the ashes rose
And found the people incomplete, and froze
The random hands, the loose unready eyes
Of men expecting yet another sun
To do the shapely thing they had not done.
These sudden ends of time must give us pause.
We fray into the future, rarely wrought
Save in the tapestries of afterthought.
More time, more time. Barrages of applause
Come muffled from a buried radio.
The New-year bells are wrangling with the snow.
– Richard Wilbur
39.) New Year’s Night
Now you are mine, to-night at last I say it;
You’re a dove I have bought for sacrifice,
And to-night I slay it.
Here in my arms my naked sacrifice!
Death, do you hear, in my arms I am bringing
My offering, bought at great price.
She’s a silvery dove worth more than all I’ve got.
Now I offer her up to the ancient, inexorable God,
Who knows me not.
Look, she’s a wonderful dove, without blemish or spot!
I sacrifice all in her, my last of the world,
Pride, strength, all the lot.
All, all on the altar! And death swooping down
Like a falcon. ‘Tis God has taken the victim;
I have won my renown.
– D.H. Lawrence
40.) In Tenebris
All within is warm,
Here without it’s very cold,
Now the year is grown so old
And the dead leaves swarm.
In your heart is light,
Here without it’s very dark,
When shall I hear the lark?
When see aright?
Oh, for a moment’s space!
Draw the clinging curtains wide
Whilst I wait and yearn outside
Let the light fall on my face.
– Ford Madox Ford
41.) January Drought
It needn’t be tinder, this juncture of the year,
a cigarette second guessed from car to brush.
The woods’ parchment is given
to cracking asunder the first puff of wind.
Yesterday a big sycamore came across First
and Hawthorne and is there yet.
The papers say it has to happen,
if just as dribs and drabs on the asbestos siding.
But tonight is buckets of stars as hard and dry as dimes.
A month’s supper things stacks in the sink.
Tea brews from water stoppered in the bath
and any thirst carried forward is quenched thinking you,
piece by piece, an Xmas gift hidden
and found weeks after: the ribbon, the box.
I have reservoirs of want enough
to freeze many nights over.
– Conor O’Callaghan
42.) Happy New Year
Ring out the old, and ring in the new,
Another year passes, but one thing is true,
A thousand small blessings have slipped through my hands,
Moments uncountable, vast as the sands.
Ordinary days that have come,
And then gone,
A sunrise, a sunset,
A whisper,
A song.
Times spent with family,
Long summer days,
Here for a moment,
Then gone in a haze.
I wish I could hold all these moments forever,
Time marches onward,
But love ceases never.
So I’m thankful, so thankful,
For all that has been,
For the highs and the lows,
And the bits in between,
This journey of life
With its ups and its downs,
The trials and the triumphs,
The joys and the frowns,
This life I’ve been given,
I long to embrace,
To cherish each moment,
Each dear, precious face,
Yet to live in surrender,
Not grasping too tight,
To live for eternity
To walk in the light,
Knowing this life is a gift from above,
That it all comes from you,
Oh great Father of love.
– Angela Jelf
43.) The Passing Of the Year
My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,
My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.
Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter’s chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.
That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, whate’er the cost:
O Maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan
What hath the Old Year meant to you?
And you, O neighbour on my right
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope? O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?
And You, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear?
O haggard, haunted, hidden One
What see you in the dying year?
And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
Old weary year! it’s time to go.
My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that’s true,
For we’ve been comrades, you and I —
I thank God for each day of you;
There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!
– Robert W. Service
44.) Pavane For The New Year
Soul, plucking the many strings
Of my limbs like puppet’s, make them dance,
Dance, dance, in sombre joy,
That after all the sullen play
The old world falls, the new world forms.
A thought like music takes us now,
So like, that every soul must move,
Move in a most stately measure,
And souls and bodies tread in time
Till all the trembling towers fall down.
And now the stones arise again
Till all the world is built anew
And now in one accord like rhyme,
And we who wound the midnight clock
Hear the clock of morning chime.
– Elder Olson
45.) A New Year Foretold
This New Year has been foretold.
Your future is at hand.
God knows the fate and outcome
of each and every man.
God has chosen the narrow road.
His wisdom is leading the way.
His great strength can carry your load.
His compassion you will feel every day.
With a new dawn over the horizon,
and the Lord to lead the way,
you can spread your wings like an eagle
and soar through every day.
– Debra L. Brown
46.) New Year’s Blast
Another year is gone; it’s finally past.
It sometimes seemed a grind, sometimes a blast.
Looking forward to a brand new year,
My source of joy and fun is very clear.
In all the happy times I can recall
People create pleasure most of all.
As I ponder the new year, each hour and minute,
I’m very glad my life still has you in it.
My appreciation for you is sincere,
So I wish for you a happy, bright new year.
– Joanna Fuchs
47.) January’s Dawn
Deep in this dark, cold, last night of December,
is one tiny flame of a flickering ember.
like so many memories of Decembers gone by,
tucked in our hearts, memories safely reside,
reminiscing our blessings through all the past years,
of those we have loved, our regrets, and our tears.
As December surrenders to January’s dawn,
that one tiny ember still flickers on,
sparking the flame to new memories born
on the horizon of this New Year’s morn!
– Patricia L. Cisco
48.) New Year’s Resolution
I will drain
Long draughts of quiet
As a purgation;
Remember
Twice daily
Who I am;
Will lie o’ nights
In the bony arms
Of Reality and comforted
– Elizabeth Sewell
49.) In the New Year
In this new year,
Let’s talk more, chat less.
Let’s call more, text less.
Let’s meet more, Skype less.
Let’s travel more, collect less.
Let’s care more, ignore less.
Let’s do more, gossip less.
Let’s praise more, blame less.
Let’s share more, accumulate less.
Let’s experience more, fear less.
Let’s love more, hate less.
– Trupti Paliwal
50.) New Year
a child carrying flowers walks toward the new year
a conductor tattooing darkness
listens to the shortest pause
hurry a lion into the cage of music
hurry stone to masquerade as a recluse
moving in parallel nights
who’s the visitor? when the days all
tip from nests and fly down roads
the book of failure grows boundless and deep
each and every moment’s a shortcut
I follow it through the meaning of the East
returning home, closing death’s door
– Bei Dao
51.) Look For The Good
In the New Year, let’s resolve
to get less stressed, upset, anxious
about things over which we have no control.
Lets have a narrower focus on our lives,
loving and helping our family and friends,
making our community a better place to live,
to create peace and contentment.
In the New Year, let’s resolve
to pay less attention to depressing stories
on TV, in magazines and newspapers,
and to stop focusing on what we want
that we haven’t got,
instead of appreciating
the many blessings we do have.
In the New Year, let’s look for the good.
We may have to search
through a mass of negative media,
but the good is there,
all around us.
I wish for you a New Year filled with good,
engulfed in serenity and happiness!
– Joanna Fuchs
52.) Seasons Yet To Come
They gave us all a calendar
At work this afternoon.
Suddenly it dawns on me,
The year is ending soon!
Comes January, cold and gray.
The new year’s just beginning.
And February, short and bright
With Valentine hearts winning.
Comes March, the windy roaring one
And warm the sun of spring.
Then April, bright of shining sky
And flowers blossoming.
Comes May, and school comes to a close
With children’s happy laughter.
Then June, with open city pools
And picnics soon thereafter.
July comes booming with a bang
Of red-glared rockets blasting.
Then August lingers with its heat
That seems so…everlasting.
September, gold September comes.
The year is growing older.
October with sweet Halloween.
The nights grow dark and colder.
November smells of harvest,
Of turkey and Thanksgiving.
December comes with joy and light
To fill hearts of the living.
Each page I flip and see these things
Of days yet to come.
My calendar is a door to me,
An adventure just begun!
– Rick W. Cotton
53.) A Pumpkin At New Year’s
Heads were rolling down the highway in high slat trucks.
I knew it was time to buy you and found you,
The last sphere unscarred and undistorted in the store,
Big as my own head.
It was time too to leave you uncut and full-featured,
Like the grandpa of twenty-five pumpkins in my past,
Khrushchev-cheeked and dwelling on yourself,
Great knee of my childhood.
I plainly thought you would rot.
I remembered the fetor of other pumpkins,
Their blue populations coming out of hiding as if at the end
Of some apocalypse.
I devoted a day to reading up on minor cucurbits:
I learned your dozen names in African
And came home ready to raise or raze you,
Positive of change.
But so far—eternity. I think I would not like
Eternity, after I had used my senses up,
As I’ve tried with you—fingertips dragging over your world
Pole to pole
Till they go dead like explorers, nostril cilia
Detecting your fragrance more delicate than they—
And my patience. It’s Christmas, it’s a new year
And I hear
Of a family who’s kept you for four …
You endure like matter manufactured
And indeed your stem seems punched into your orange gathers
Like a button in a mattress.
Shall I give you a room or a shrine? And shall I
Purchase you a mate and family,
When ours is so inadequate, fixed upon your window
Deathbed as we are,
Centered upon a time and birth, new holiday, new friends,
New pumpkins, celebrating when all
That has failed us has passed away.
You have not failed.
– Sandra McPherson
54.) New Year’s Resolution
Here comes the New Year,
And it’s time to make resolutions.
For I promise to be sincere
And bring in me a revolution.
In class, I’ll talk less.
In studies, I’ll surely progress.
All my lies I’ll confess.
I’ll go to play with egress.
To my friends, I’ll be kind,
Have my character refined,
To a helper of mankind
With a sound mind.
I’ll follow my teacher’s advice.
Regularly I’ll exercise.
My mother I’ll idolize.
Beyond doubt I’ll civilize.
These are my resolutions
To bring in me an evolution.
To follow them, I’ll try my best.
Until then, I’ll not rest.
– Aditya Chattopadyay
55.) Promise
Remember, the time of year
when the future appears
like a blank sheet of paper
a clean calendar, a new chance.
On thick white snow
You vow fresh footprints
then watch them go
with the wind’s hearty gust.
Fill your glass. Here’s tae us. Promises
made to be broken, made to last.
– Jackie Kay
56.) Good-bye, Old Year
Good-bye, Old Year, the hours are swiftly flying;
The night has come at last and thou art dying.
Doth no repentance, no remorse assail thee,
As far and wide the wintry winds bewail thee?
Good-bye, good-bye.
Good-bye, Old Year; thou hast been most unkindly
To one who welcomed thee so fondly, blindly;
Who gave thee largess as a royal guest;
Whose trust thou didst betray with wild unrest.
Good-bye, good-bye.
Good-bye, Old Year who came in clouds of glory;
Thy breath upon my locks has left them hoary;
Thy lips were chill and filled me with alarms;
My roses faded in thy clasping arms.
Good-bye, good-bye.
Good-bye, Old Year; thy cruel hand, relentless,
Robbed memory of joy and made it Icentiess;
The wine of love poured from a shattered glass,
In blood-red drops upon a mound of grass.
Good-bye, good-bye.
Good-bye, Old Year. And now, since thou must leave me,
Wouldst sue for pardon wherein thou didst grieve me?
Restore sweet trust, make whole the broken heart,
And from remembrance pluck the poisoned dart; –
No answer – ruthless Year;
Good-bye, good-bye.
– Lila R. Munro Tainter
57.) Promises To Keep
We resolve to turn a new leaf in our lives
Yet go back to whining old ways in no time
Why do we break promises ever so often
When we want a better future than our past or present?
Why do we not care for ourselves
Yet want a story that the world will tell?
But if you want to change your story forever
Inspiration and motivation will have to go together
An inspired heart can move mountains and cut the seas
Don’t the stories of these people inspire thee?
Then comes the role of a motivated mind
If left idle it can behave weird many a times
Convince the mind before getting down to work
Else you will have to fight yourself first
But the protagonist of your story has the biggest role to play
If you don’t care, then nobody will anyway
So be the change, and script your story your way
Start with fulfilling the promises you made
It is said a journey of thousand miles begins with one step
Likewise, success in future depends on the promises you kept
We have a long way to go and many promises to keep
So treasure every moment and every New Year equally
– Hemant Bohra
58.) Happy New Year
A Happy New Year to you,
Life has bright days for thee in store;
Like stars thine eyes shine and dance with glee,
In joy may they sparkle evermore.
E’en thy sweet voice has for me a charm,
Singing sweetly like nightingale;
May no pow’r assail thee, fraught with harm,
E’en for a moment thy cheek to pale.
If long days to thee are given,
Try to love all, and keep the chain riven
Here on earth, and forever in heaven.
– Eloise A. Skimings
59.) Happy New Year
As the world celebrates
With fireworks and cakes
I’m standing here alone
Far away from home
With nothing but a suitcase and memories
As the stars surround me like water
I raise my hands in full surrender
To God, my Redeemer
Lord, this year is far from ordinary
I’ve never seen such extraordinary
People, places, and things
Amazing human beings
Searching for purpose, just like me.
Looking around, I wonder
Since a year is like clashing thunder
Booming suddenly
Then vanishing instantly,
Why waste time uselessly?
The old year came and went
I hope your time was wisely spent
On helping others and working hard
So that many people may regard
Your lifetime as truly great
And not just because of fate
So learn this lesson, but not from me!
Try it yourself and you will see
Making a difference starts with one step
With one foot, then the next
So walk right now into the light
And find yourself shining bright
Don’t worry what people think
Because right now you’re on the brink
Of showing others what is true
Happy New Year, from me to you.
– Hope Galaxie
60.) Just For You
This New Year Poem is just for you
Be happy and live life through
Look forward to coming the days
May happiness be your way.
No matter what challenges you face
Find the good and you will find your place
Being optimistic is the way
To be successful every day!
– Kate Summers
61.) Same Old Love
Only the same old love, you know,
I sent it to you long ago.
Only the memories of old
That never have grown changed or cold.
No, I have nothing new: and yet
I scarcely think I need regret
That it is so, for you and I
Have precious things from days gone by.
And if good wishes, good can bring,
Mine are with you in everything:
So take the old love tried and true
On from the old year to the new.
– Unknown
62.) His Unfailing Presence
Another year I enter
Its history unknown;
Oh, how my feet would tremble
To tread its paths alone!
But I have heard a whisper
I know I shall be blest;
“My presence shall go with thee,
And I will give thee rest.”
What will the New Year bring me?
I may not, must not know; will it be love and rapture,
Or loneliness and woe?
Hush! Hush! I hear His whisper;
I surely shall be blest;
“My presence shall go with thee,
And I will give thee rest.”
– Unknown
63.) Live Your Dream
Another year is almost over.
A new one’s about to begin.
Say goodbye to all the negative stuff.
Move on with the positive things.
Forget those New Year’s resolutions.
They are never what they seem.
Resolutions are no sooner made than broken.
It’s far better to follow your dreams.
Let’s pray for health and happiness
And for peace in the New Year too.
And as those bells ring out at midnight,
I hope those dreams you dream come true.
– John P. Read
64.) Happy 365 Days
Happy New Year to you and your family too
May you celebrate the day and look forward to the new
May you see a year full of happiness and health
May your pockets be full and you will have your share of wealth.
Each year brings challenges that is for sure
Persist and persevere and you will endure.
For success will be found for the one who does that
At the end of the year you will deserve a good pat.
Take the time to enjoy those near to you
And always stay positive never be blue.
The important things in life are never things
It is the relationships we have and the love they bring.
Always be thankful for the blessings you have
And that includes being thankful for your Mom and Dad.
Be sure to thank God each and every day
For with God in your life you will not go astray.
Let your attitude be positive and bright
And always walk away from those who want to fight.
For life is too short for anger and jealousy
Instead live your life with zealously.
Life each day and take the time to see
How wonderful the simple things of life can be.
And always make sure you have balance in your work and play
By doing that you will enjoy 365 days.
By following these suggestion you will be glad
As a very happy new year you will have!
– Catherine Pulsifer
65.) I Wish You
Love cannot bind us more truly
In golden or silken chain;
Like friends, we’ll journey together,
Love must in our bosoms remain,
I wish you a Happy New Year,
Ev’ry joy, no sorrow, no pain.
– Eloise A. Skimings
66.) Thankful For The Day
Once a year, every year it comes
Marching in drum by drum.
One year ends and another begins
Often time it brings a grin.
Some people are glad to see the old year go
But others feel time has gone to slow.
Some people wish time would stand still
But a thought like that gives me a chill.
You see an opportunity exists each year
To help others and bring good cheer.
Our attitude towards our time
Can be worth a dollar or just a dime.
This coming year live each day
Keep negative thoughts at bay.
Life is too short to live with regrets
Life is too short to live with big debts.
Appreciate and be content
Do not spend your time in lament.
Awake each day and always pray
Be thankful for another day.
– Catherine Pulsifer
67.) On To A New Year
This is the year that things will change,
And last year will be just that.
We have learned from our mistakes and now look forward,
It’s our year to be up to bat.
Money won’t be an issue as we will make more,
And all of our bills will get paid.
We will reframe from overspending and get a vacation,
And last year will start to fade.
Although those memories will start to fade,
We will never truly forget that year.
It was one of the hardest years we’ve had,
But this year will bring us great cheer.
So to the year that will bring us cheer,
We welcome this wonderful change.
And we hope and we pray for a year full of fun,
It will be up to us to arrange.
– Julie Hebert
68.) End Of Year
Daylight, my friend seldom seen
Your absence tells which season’s close
Time to reflect on months gone by, but not yet
Christmas nears, no time to think.
Passing smiles caught through busy streets
Indoors we flee in front of fires
Glasses clink, we toast the year’s end
You catch my eye, next year we’ll meet.
One last farewell, down family roads we head
It’s late now, a window candle is lit
One more drink poured, the last stories shared
Another year, things change, the same warmth’s felt.
– Detlin
69.) The New Year
“A good New Year, with many blessings in it!”
Once more go forth the kindly wish and word.
A good New Year! and may we all begin it
With hearts by noble thought and purpose stirred.
The Old Year’s over, with its joy and sadness;
The path before us is untried and dim;
But let us take it with the step of gladness,
For God is there, and we can trust in Him.
What of the buried hopes that lie behind us!
Their graves may yet grow flowers, so let them rest.
To-day is ours, and it must find us
Prepared to hope afresh and do our best.
God knows what finite wisdom only guesses;
Not here from our dim eyes the mist will roll.
What we call failures, He may deem successes
Who sees in broken parts the perfect whole.
And if we miss some dear familiar faces,
Passed on before us to the Home above,
Even while we count, through tears, their vacant places,
He heals our sorrows with His balm of Love.
No human lot is free from cares and crosses,
Each passing year will bring both shine and shower;
Yet, though on troubled seas life’s vessel tosses,
The storms of earth endure but for an hour.
And should the river of our happy laughter
Flow ‘neath a sky no cloud yet overcasts,
We will not fear the shadows coming after,
But make the most of sunshine while it lasts.
A good New Year! Oh, let us all begin it
With cheerful faces turning to the light!
A good New Year, which will have blessings in it
If we but persevere and do aright.
– E. Matheson
70.) Our Old Acquaintance
Our old acquaintance, thine and mine,
Can never fade or cease to be.
And all our days of “Auld Lang Syne”
Are precious still to thee and me.
I love to call them all to mind,
Those years of long ago;
Each one has round my heart entwined
A tie that no one else can know.
Oh! may the coming New Year send
The best of all that’s good and sweet,
And love and happiness, dear friend,
Unite to make thy life complete.
– Grinnell Willis
71.) Let’s Prepare For Another One
Completed another revolution around the sun.
Let’s prepare for another one…
Ups and down, lows and high, yet more to come.
Let’s prepare for another one…
Learn from the past, get ready for tasks undone.
Let’s prepare for another one…
Spread happiness, kindness, and love to everyone.
Let’s prepare for another one…
Live every moment, enjoy, and have lots of fun.
Let’s prepare for another one…
Happy New Year!
– Pankaj K. Negi
72.) New Year Brings
This New Year could bring so many things
But when I stop and ponder I know what I want it to bring.
First on my list would be
peace for all and people living free
Second would be food for all
No more hunger or empty stalls
We would find more people sharing
and a lot more caring.
Imagine such a place
It would bring a smile to my face
Let this New Year be the one
That these things may be done.
– Kate Summers
73.) A Happy New-Year Party
I awoke this morning
When the sun was shining bright
And looked out of my window
On a world all dressed white.
Every hill was frosted
Like a “happy birthday” cake,
The icing growing thicker
With each fluffy sifted flake.
The fence posts stood like candles
In each swirly, frosted holder;
A birthday party, I exclaimed,
The world is one year older.
I dressed myself and hurried
To the whitest, softest drift,
And made a jolly snowman
For the New Year’s birthday gift!
– Mary Helm
74.) A New Start
A New Year is a new start
Never doubt the feelings of your heart.
And we determine how it will be
In our own attitude you see.
We can celebrate the day
but our thoughts show us the way
Do we change or stay the same
Are we looking for fortune or fame.
Think of how you want your life to be
The new year can set you free
A time to rethink what life will bring
A time to see that life can sing.
So as this year does begin
Let your attitude be one that wins
Set your goals, take action too
And then the best will come to you.
– Catherine Pulsifer
75.) Happy New Year
December is fading away.
There’s a new year coming your way.
All frustrations drowned
with the chill of cold air around
as the new year rises array.
Everybody say hip, hip hurray!
Do you remember the things that made you laugh,
cry like a calf?
Never forget the luck you had the whole year;
If you didn’t have any, don’t moan saying, “Oh dear!”
’cause there’s more to come in the New Year!
There comes Santa with yummy goodies
for the sweet charming little buddies.
Goodbye is what is said to this year,
expecting more to happen in the next year.
Have fun everyone, and
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
– Unique
76.) Closing Of The Year
And now at the closing, I want to remind you,
Of the many good times you have left far behind you.
How the thoughts will come up as we meet here each year,
Of the many dear friends who no longer are here;
Not the good times alone this occasion endears.
But as we look back down the vista of years,
Loved faces we see through the mellowing haze
Of sweet retrospect, going back to the days
That friendship has hallowed, whose memory still
We cling to and cherish; the bright thoughts that thrill
Our hearts with a rapture we would not forego
For all that the future may hold: and we know
‘Tis joy of past pleasures and friendships which gives
The charm that shall linger while memory lives.
– Unknown
77.) This New Year
Don’t carry grudges into this new year
Move forward and have no fear
And as far as mistakes
Learn from them and do what it takes
To make the coming year nothing but great.
Each year gives us experience for us to gain
Learn from them and do not blame
Take each day as it comes
Do not worry as it helps no one.
You now have 365 days ahead
Remember the words of those who said:
“You are writing your own story
Make it a best seller and give God the glory”.
– Catherine Pulsifer
78.) The Old Year And The New
Gone forever out of our sight,
Its good and bad, its wrong and right,
The grand Old Year!
Just like a bride, all dressed in white,
All full of love and grace and light,
The blest New Year!
Passed up to God, and left for aye,
Weighed down by age and great decay,
The loved Old Year!
With youthful look and full of peace,
Having of life a twelve months’ lease,
The good New Year!
Away from sight, no more to give,
With not another day to live,
The old, Old Year!
With gifts of love and holy cheer,
With all things great and good and dear,
All hail, New Year!
Thanks for the past, and all that’s given
Of light and strength and truth and heaven,
Great thanks, Old Year!
And hope for every coming day,
That wisdom’s light may guide our way,
All hope, New Year!
– Caleb David Bradlee
79.) The Old Is Gone – A New Year
Silent now!
Be still!
Do your hands tremble?
Does your heart beat fast?
For a year has passed,
And a new one is to begin.
Do you fret?
Do you fear?
A new year is here.
Some have achieved their goals.
To some, their dreams have turned to soot and coals.
Some will never see another dawn.
Oh poor, poor souls!
But to your beating heart I say:
“I wish for you the very best.
May goodness and favor light your way.
For your health and promise I promise to pray.”
What I can’t promise is a bed of roses.
Sadness and bitterness can be in little doses.
But may you find strength
In your toils and tests
And the worst and best!
It’s going to be a bumpy ride –
So tie up your shoelaces.
Let’s now raise our glasses
And make this toast
With all those near and dear,
With everyone about whom you care.
With your truest friends and lover – so rare:
May your days be bright and fair! (Hear! Hear!)
Also, my dear reader,
I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
– Solomon Kingsley
80.) A Time To Shine
Look at this coming year as a time to shine.
Stay away from negative people who constantly whine.
Surround yourself with people who share
And people who do the things that show they care.
The year will pass quickly and you will look back
And be happy to see the difference you made in lives that lack.
– Catherine Pulsifer
81.) The New Year
New Year, if you were bringing Youth,
As you are bringing Age,
I would not have it back, in sooth;
I have no strength to wage
Lost battles over. Let them be,
Bury your dead, O Memory!
Good-by, since you are gone. Old Year,
And my past life, good-by!
I shed no tear upon your bier.
For it is well to die.
New Year, your worst will be my best-
What can an old man want but rest?
– R.H. Stoddard
82.) A Carol At The Gates
Here we come a-whistling through the fields so green;
Here we come a-singing, so fair to be seen.
God send you happy, God send you happy,
Pray God send you a happy New Year!
The roads are very dirty, my boots are very thin,
I have a little pocket to put a penny in.
God send you happy, God send you happy,
Pray God send you a happy New Year!
Bring out your little table and spread it with a cloth,
Bring out some of your old ale, likewise your Christmas loaf.
God send you happy, God send you happy,
Pray God send you a happy New Year!
God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress, too,
And all the little children that round the table strew.
God send you happy, God send you happy,
Pray God send you a happy New Year!
– Unknown
83.) Another Year
Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be,
In working or in waiting.
Another year with thee.
Another year of progress.
Another year of praise;
Another year of proving
Thy presence “all the days.”
Another year is dawning!
Dear Master, let it be.
On earth, or else in heaven,
Another year for thee.
– Frances R. Havergal
84.) New Year’s Poem
This is the start of a new year.
We have the chance to change the life or keep the life,
that we may have lived before.
For the wrong doings that we may have done to others
that we can’t take back.
For the mistakes we’ve made that we can’t fix or undo
Our Father, Our Lord gives us a New Year every January 1.
The chance to change the life or keep the life,
that we may have lived before.
– Romelia Gomez
85.) Success In The New Year
For success in the New Year
And for a life full of cheer
Keep your attitude positive
And disregard the negative.
No matter what happens in the year
Keep looking forward without fear
Find the good in all things
Show gratitude and thanksgiving
And the year will end
On a positive ring.
– Kate Summers
86.) How To Be Happy This New Year
To leave the old with a burst of song
To recall the rights and forgive the wrong;
To forgive the thing that binds you fast
To the vain regrets of the year that’s past;
To have the strength to let go your hold
Of the non-worthwhile of the days grown old;
To dare to go forth with a purpose true;
To the unknown task of the year that’s new
To help your brother along the road
To do his work and lift his load;
To add your gift to the world’s good cheer,
Is to have and to give a Happy New Year.
– Unknown
87.) Contentment
Have you been content in the year now past?
Were your achievements heroic or vast?
Was every moment put to good use?
Or, did you in some way this privilege abuse?
These hours of time you cannot retract;
History was made and is now become fact.
Did you spend time with your wee ones in prayer?
Teach them of Jesus, His love and His care?
Did you make time to visit the lonely?
A time of sweet sharing they feel with you only?
Can you now say as the year is near gone;
“It has been bright, as bright as the dawn?”
Or were there moments you’d like to undo?
Erase an impression and start it anew?
Recall hasty words you would never have said,
Had you been guided by His Spirit instead.
Were you contented in the place that He called you?
Faithful and willing in all that you must do?
Or were there times when you slackened your pace?
Shunning your duties, forgetting His grace?
Would you be willing, with all things accounted,
For God to keep record, your life to be mounted?
Or are there changes you feel you would make,
If God would allow you to erase each mistake?
The goal of perfection you cannot achieve,
The moments gone by us we cannot retrieve.
But cheer up, dear Christian, continue to strive,
Be of good courage, your faith is alive.
Intention of good will and peace to all men,
A new year is dawning, be joyous again.
Give praise for achievements, though humble and small,
Because of His mercy they existed at all!
The future holds brightness if His will be done,
Continue the efforts your zeal has begun.
Let God guide you onward, sufficient each day,
Constantly blessing and leading the way.
– Greta Zwaan
88.) I Cannot Tell
I cannot tell what thou wilt bring to me,
O strange New Year,
But tho’ thick darkness shrouds thy days and monthly
I will not fear.
Why should I fret my heart to know before
What may befall?
With this one thought content – I ask no more-
God knows it all.
– J. S. Ogilvie
89.) The New Year
Behold, the New Year ‘beckons, like a flower
Hid in its roots among the untrodden hills:
God show thee how its sweetness every hour
Grows only as His breath thy spirit fills!
Behold, the New Year beckons, like a star,
A splendid mystery of the unfathomed skies:
God guide thee through His mystic spaces far,
Till all His stars as suns within thee rise!
The New Year beckons. He too, beckoning, nears;
Forget not thou that all its gifts are His!
Take from His hand all blessings of the years,
And of the blossoming, starred eternities!
– Lucy Larcom
Summary
And that wraps up our list. How did you like our selection? We hope browsing through our hand-picked, carefully curated poems inspired you and encouraged you to plan ahead for the upcoming year.
These poems are perfect for sharing with your friends and family so you can all enjoy the festive spirit together. They make for great social media posts and stories, and you can also write them down on a gift card for a more personal experience.
Before you leave, Happy new year!
