The Old Year Poem by John Clare

The Old Year

Rating: 3.3


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,
All things identified;
But times once torn away
No voices can recall:
The eve of New Year's Day
Left the Old Year lost to all.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Ramesh T A 30 December 2015

Everyone's attention is on Nature now! 2004 Tsunami, harbour wave incidence Everyone remembers on 26th December! Then 2011 Thane storm no one can forget; Storms raging over oceans have attacked Indian Southern coasts along Bay of Bengal! All those natural disasters had happened At the end of December and whenever year Comes to an end we all talk about that....! This cloud bursting rains have lashed All places of South-East India very much Due to climatic changes happening now! Pollution leading to global warming is the cause Behind Climate Change that needs to be stopped!

0 1 Reply
Diane Kordas 30 December 2015

Stunning poem. Very touching...

0 0 Reply
Kim Barney 30 December 2015

Wouldn't it be nice if this were really true? As soon as the new year begins, all of our mistakes from the previous year would be erased and we could just start over? An encouraging poem nevertheless.

3 1 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 30 December 2015

The eve of New Years Day Left the Old Year lost to all. Very decent poem with precious message that a past is always lost. Enjoyed the poem. Thanks for sharing.

1 0 Reply
Babatunde Aremu 30 December 2015

This is a great poem. The old year is indeed lost but is memory is fresh

1 1 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 30 December 2015

Nice work with the muse of the year gone by.

0 0 Reply
Susan Williams 30 December 2015

In my personal experience the events of one year linger on into the next and the next, sometimes it is the tragic events, sometimes even seemingly trivial events can reverberate down the years of a person's life

21 0 Reply
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John Clare

John Clare

Northamptonshire / England
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