"We two have run about the hills
And pulled the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered manys the weary foot
Since long, long ago.”
-Robert Burns, “Auld Lang Syne”
Anybody who partook in the revelry that ushered in the new year undoubtedly heard, whether they can recall as much, the great old tune which is “Auld Lang Syne.”
I am fairly certain everyone who heard it instantly recognized it and probably hummed along, arm in arm with chums, stumbling gracefully, but who even knows what the hell they’re singing? Is it even English?
Don’t feel bad if you have no idea what the words to the song are. According to NPR, most people in our generation are ignorant of the song’s lyrics and meaning.
Well, here we are: “Auld Lang Syne” was composed by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788. According to correspondences of the poet, the ballad itself was his compilation of some popular folk verses that had been passed down in the oral tradition but never recorded in print.
Furthermore, the poem was composed in the so-called Scots language, a dialect of Scottish English in the Anglic language family, and as such a Germanic language closely related to English, not Scottish Gaelic.
As such, auld lang syne means “old long since,” which can be interpreted idiomatically as “long, long ago,” or even “days gone by,” and functions similarly in Scots to the classic preface “once upon a time.” Other scholars assert that the title implies an initial “for,” meaning “for old time’s sake.”
Hence, the song concerns historical memory and nostalgia and serves as a call to group cohesion and solidarity. According to Ruth Perry, a professor of literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it is regretful that people are largely ignorant of its meaning — especially given the song is about drinking, friendship and the past. She maintains further that the decline of the song’s popularity over the past few decades is unfortunate, as the singing of songs in communal fashion remains an important means of forming social bonds.
I exhort you all to look up the full text of the song and reflect on the verses. As I reflected on them, I was struck by the weight of memory in our daily lives. The holiday season is not only a time of gratitude for memories and for what we have, but also melancholy in that we inadvertently mourn the absence of all that is lost, whether our innocence, good fortune or those we love.
Furthermore, in reflecting on years past, it’s all laid out: shame, sorrow, exultation and triumph. Looking back, we can visualize how we were shaped as human beings, often in ways radically different than our plans, or by events simply unforeseen.
Sitting here after the close of 2015, a year that was indeed marked by disheartening levels of human cruelty and increased division among mankind, I can but hope those aspects of years past will not continue to plague our fragile planet, for they are not the stuff of nostalgia, but of shame.
So, to truly comprehend the theme of the song, what exactly do we long for in the past? Are we also to deny the progress we have undoubtedly made in the long struggle of human history? That is for each one of you to figure out.
As we reflect on years past and make, in whatever fashion, resolutions for the coming year, we ought to resolve, in some sense, to do our part to forge a society and a world in which our descendants long for the past and hope it, in turn, inspires them to forge a better future for themselves. Lest we ever forget, beauty is fleeting but goodness endures.
“And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand of yours!
And we’ll take a deep draught of good-will
For long, long ago.”
Jordan MacKenzie is a second-year UF linguistics master’s student. His column appears on Wednesdays.
