Friday, January 07, 2022

Poetry Friday: "The Year"



We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear, 
And that's the burden of the year. 


Well, Ella, you've summed it up rather nicely. Although I'd add that it's both the burden and the gift of time that it does what it does: it plods on, and we plod with it. 

I have no predictions about 2022. I don't know if it will be better, worse, or the same as 2021 and 2020, both of which passed through my consciousness as if I were in a fugue state. 

I won't say, "2022 has to be better than 2021, right?" because sometimes things get worse. On the other hand, sometimes things do get better, right? (Right?!) Sometimes they do.

And some things never change. I've laughed, wept, hoped, and feared for a goodly number of years now. I think it's called being human. Why should 2022 be any different? 

Happy new year, friends. 



The Year
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox


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 brides, we sheet our dead.

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that's the burden of the year.

~~~~~~~~~~

Carol Varsalona has the round-up at Beyond LiteracyLink

15 comments:

author amok said...

This post is resonating with me, Karen. Time can feel like a gift or a burden. It's been especially heavy, heading into our second year of the pandemic. I hope you do find gifts to savor in the new year. --Laura Shovan

Linda Mitchell said...

Isn't this the truth?! Yes, it can always get worse. I try not to make too much out of a new year to save from disappointment. My only hope for 2022 is healing and lots of it! Thanks for this great poem.

Karen Eastlund said...

Yes, Ella captured it. We breathe and laugh and weep and sigh, and then another year goes by. Thank you for sharing...

Heidi Mordhorst said...

This poem has been important to me too--thanks for bringing it back into focus, Karen! See here...https://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2019/01/not-olw-but-odt.html

Carol Varsalona said...

Karen, each year follows the next and we hope, we pray and live each day. Thank you for this poem that I have been reading and rereading throughout this week.

elli said...

Blessed new year, Karen. Praying for strength and courage, for healing, to walk in the light of Christ, always. 🕊🙏🏽🌟

Bridget Magee said...

Thanks for sharing Ella's wise words, Karen. Happy New Year!

Susan T. said...

Karen, that is such a good poem for right now. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Linda said...

Those last two lines especially sum up the way I'm feeling right now. Thank you for sharing your wonderful poem!

Rose Cappelli said...

Thanks for sharing this poem, Karen. I hadn't heard it before and there is so much truth in it. Here's to a peaceful and healthy 2022 for everyone!

Mary Lee said...

Oh, Ella. Every line in your poem is truth. (Thanks, Karen, for sharing!)

Linda B said...

It is quite a pragmatic look at the year ahead, Karen. Ella knows what we all should know. New to me and thanks for it. Happy New Year blessings to you and the family.

mbhmaine said...

Thanks for sharing this poem here. The words are simple, the message deep. Masterful.

Janice Scully said...

Thank you for sharing this lovely poem, so wise, so full of opposites. New/old, laughing/weeping, Hug/curse.

skanny17 said...

Thank you for this poem share, Karen. I do not know it but find it both wise and comforting, keeping us grounded in reality but letting us know how human we are. I love collecting poems that can give me both comfort and food for thought.
Janet Clare F.