"The New Year" by Carrie Williams Clifford

Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Your gift today will help the Academy of American Poets continue to publish the work of 260 poets each year, and share this series with 300,000 readers every day.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
January 1, 2022 

The New Year

Carrie Williams Clifford

The New Year comes—fling wide, fling wide the door
Of Opportunity! the spirit free
To scale the utmost heights of hopes to be,
To rest on peaks ne’er reached by man before!
The boundless infinite let us explore,
To search out undiscovered mystery,
Undreamed of in our poor philosophy!
The bounty of the gods upon us pour!
Nay, in the New Year we shall be as gods:
No longer apish puppets or dull clods
Of clay; but poised, empowered to command,
Upon the Etna of New Worlds we’ll stand—
This scant earth-raiment to the winds will cast—
Full richly robed as supermen at last!

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on January 1, 2022, by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  


“The New Year” first appeared as “For the New Year” in The Crisis XIX, no. 4 (February, 1920).

Carrie Williams Clifford was born in September 1862 in Chillicothe, Ohio. A poet and activist, she is the author of Race Rhymes (R. L. Pendleton, 1911) and The Widening Light (Walter Reid, 1922). A co-founder and the first president of the Ohio State Federation of Colored Women, Clifford helped form a women’s subset of the Niagara Movement, a predecessor of the NAACP.

The Widening Light
(Walter Reid Company, 1922).

“The Year” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 
read more
“Song for the New Year” by Eliza Cook
read more

Thanks to Joseph O. Legaspi, author of Threshold (CavanKerry Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Listen to a Q&A about Legaspi’s curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year.
This free, daily series is made possible by our readers. If you’re able, please consider donating to support this work. 
Make a one-time gift
donate
Make a one-time gift
donate
Copyright © 2022 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.

Our mailing address is:
The Academy of American Poets
75 Maiden Lane
St #901
New York, NY 10038

Add us to your address book


View this email in your browser

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Older messages

"Farewell" by Federico García Lorca, translated by Jenny Minniti-Shippey

Friday, December 31, 2021

If I die, / Leave the balcony open. Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Make a special gift today to sustain this free daily series year-round. Facebook Twitter Instagram December 31, 2021 Farewell

Before the year ends—make your tax-deductible gift today!

Friday, December 31, 2021

Your support of Poem-a-Day will help us pay the poets we publish and distribute this one-of-a-kind series to over 300000 readers each day “Forever – is composed of Nows –” —Emily Dickinson Reader,

"Venus de Milo: On Being Rediscovered" by Karen Head

Thursday, December 30, 2021

It's like that moment, / hair mussed, / teeth coated Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Make a special gift today to sustain this free daily series year-round. Facebook Twitter Instagram December 30,

"Memorial Hoops" by Reginald Dwayne Betts

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

The day broke a record for cold, for us wanting / To be anywhere but outside, Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Make a special gift today to sustain this free daily series year-round. Facebook Twitter

"Weather Forecast" by Adélia Prado, translated by Ellen Doré Watson

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

The spirit of rebellion / also called hopelessness Poem-a-Day is reader-supported. Make a special gift today to sustain this free daily series year-round. Facebook Twitter Instagram December 28, 2021

You Might Also Like

Try 'Pomodoro 2.0' to Focus on Deep Work

Friday, November 8, 2024

Max Is Cracking Down on Password Sharing. The Pomodoro technique is a classic productivity method, but even the classics can stand a little update. Try this adaptation if you want to focus mor Not

What Puerto Rico Can Teach Us About Kamala Harris’s Loss

Friday, November 8, 2024

Today in style, self, culture, and power. The Cut November 8, 2024 2024 ELECTION What Puerto Rico Can Teach Us About Kamala Harris's Loss Growing up on the island, I saw angry voters reject the

Blake Lively’s See-Through Minidress Is A Naked Work Of Art

Friday, November 8, 2024

Plus, Kendall Jenner's balletcore look, Pamela Anderson's beauty routine, your horoscope, & more. Nov. 8, 2024 Bustle Daily Jenny Slate's Favorite Books Are About Isolation There's

Transform Your Muscles With One Kettlebell!

Friday, November 8, 2024

You just need one kettlebell, and this plan Special Offer From Our Friends At Mens Health logo Meet the Ultimate Kettlebell Workout View in Browser Man standing outside in the grass holding a

🌎 Where Mindfulness Meets Climate Action

Friday, November 8, 2024

Processing Grief after the Election ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Featured Fall Books for Young Readers

Friday, November 8, 2024

Our 2024 partners, sponsors, and advertisers present some of their new titles for young readers. View this email in your browser New Books for Young Readers As the days start to get colder, get cozy

Grief is a compass

Friday, November 8, 2024

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

What We’re Buying From Sephora’s Sale

Friday, November 8, 2024

Plus, how to style capris. The Cut Shop November 08, 2024 Every product is independently selected by our editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission. Photo-Illustration: by The

5-Bullet Friday — The Craftsmanship of Robert Caro, Sexy Tunes for the Weekend, and The Mesmerizing Art of Tamara de Lempicka

Friday, November 8, 2024

“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.” ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

New and Old #187

Friday, November 8, 2024

Friday roundup and commentary ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏