Auld lang syne

At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, as the ball drops in Time Square, as couples bend close to kiss, as party-goers propose their toasts, millions join together in song, “Should old acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind?… We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”

It is mostly unknown to the multitudes that they are singing a poem by Scotland’s Robert Burns. It so happens that in my tiny library of old books, I have a surviving copy of Burn’s Poems. Apropos to the season is the inscription inside, which reads, in Old English: Mifs Sally L. Ranok, from R.T.C., Dec 25th, 1866.

The month of January is so named because of Roman mythology. The month is named after the god Janus, who was two-faced, with one face looking back at the past year and the other looking forward to the new. The name January could well reflect the spirit in which the song is sung on New Year’s Eve. Most folks assume the song is about forgetting the past and looking forward to the new.

However, what people are thinking when they sing “Auld Lang Syne” is largely a misinterpretation of the words and meaning of the song. Of course, attempting to sing a vanishing dialect doesn’t help. Burns wrote his poetry in Scots, which is a Germanic language in its own right, with its own unique grammar, syntax, vocabulary and idiom. But I digress.

Burn’s poem/song begins with a rhetorical question: “Should auld acquaintance be forgot?”

(To the point, Auld Lang Syne is interpreted Old Long Since, or understood as Days of Long Ago.) To the question, “should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind,” Burns’ answer is “No! Remember and value them, for the sake of friendship and human bonding; for the sake of humanity.”

Remembering a dear comrade, the poet recalls running about the hills and pulling daisies together, but now they have wandered far apart since long ago. Together they paddled in the brook all day, but seas have divided them since long ago. The poem finds these two, close friends together one more time as they meet in an old, favorite tavern; they each buy a pint, and toast “a cup o’ kindness yet, for days gone by.”

“Auld Lang Syne” carries a tinge of nostalgia and is about preserving old friendships and looking back over events of the year. It advocates valuing the strong links of the past, and old acquaintances. It is indeed an appropriate poem/song/ prayer for the New Year.

We raise a cup for the best friend who walked to school with us long ago. We raise a cup for the friend who came for us when we were stranded. We celebrate the mate who kept night watch on deck with us as we sailed the dark seas of that war. We toast the friend who accepted us when no one else would.

We remember that wonderful next-door neighbor who drove us to the hospital when labor came. We will not forget the wonderful couple who for years joined us for evenings of Bridge. We raise a cup for that religious friend who, at times, recalled our footsteps to the path of righteousness. We fondly remember that teacher who, herself, remembered the name of every student she ever encouraged and taught.

Through every new year, there is one best Friend whom I hope you will never forget. Do you recall his words to his best friends? s they “toasted” love at their last supper together, this was his plea: “Remember me!”