With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;
As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.
Notes
During September-October 1939 throughout ten Allied countries, and upon the suggestion of FIDAC (Inter-allied Federation of Ex-Servicemen), the 25th anniversary of Laurence Binyon's "For the Fallen", was observed.
This is one of the most famous and enduring war poems, and it was written at an historic moment … just after the retreat from Mons and the victory of the Marne.
As to how it came to be written, Laurence Binyon, who celebrated his 70th anniversary on 10 August 1939, says: "I can't recall the exact date beyond that it was shortly after the retreat. I was set down, out of doors, on a cliff in Polzeath, Cornwall. The stanza "They Shall Grow Not Old" was written first and dictated the rhythmical movement of the whole poem."
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From guest Grace (contact)
who is the intended audience for this poem?
(The poem was composed during World War 1; consider reviewing other comments - MOD) -
Poem re Battle of Mons
From guest Aileen Johnson (contact)
The poem end with the line And Mons shall/will be his password What poem is that line from? I cannot find it. My Dad fought with the RFA in the Battle of Mons -
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The poem is called 'The Password' and was written by T R Hill. Printed in a Military Magazine called the 'The Briggensian' in 1919. Nothing is really known of the author.
The poem is located here: http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/show/122712-Anonymous-British-The-Password.
OP staff: though this comment does not pertain Binyon's poem pleased leave in place. Enquirier contacted by email. I would like to make sure email has been received before comment deletion. Thanks Von
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paragraph 4
From guest Tamar (contact)
my name is tamar and i go to a school in randwick sydney, i am in a choir at school and we are singing the 4th paragraph of the poem for anzac day this year, this song/poem hs inspiried me to learn about the anzac day war and really feel the sorrow for the fallen. -
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I have just found an interesting article by the Australian Dept of Veterans' Affairs on the origins of this poem. It reads thus:
"DVA’s Commemorations Branch has been researching the poem and its background. The lines comprise the fourth stanza of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon, and were written in the bleak early days of World War 1. By mid-September 1914, less than seven weeks after the outbreak of war, the British Expeditionary Force in France had already suffered severe casualties. During this time, long lists of the dead and wounded appeared in British newspapers. It was against this background that Binyon, then the Assistant Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, wrote For the Fallen. This poem was first published in The Times on 21 September 1914."
So there is irrefutable evidence that this WAS written after the first Allied troops' retreat, highly likely after the first Battle of the Marne (6 - 10 September 1914). -
An outstanding piece of poetry.
I disagree that this can be seen as the glorification of war. It is, quite simply, a well-earned tribute to those who gave their country the ultimate sacrifice of love - laying down their lives for it. How many of us, who have responded to this poem, would be prepared to do the same thing, considering the knowledge of almost certain death the men Binyon writes about would have had? I know I wouldn't - and yet, because of them, I am here today. I do agree that the fourth stanza, as a stand alone piece, is just phenomenal. For our tomorrow, they gave their today. -
If the forth stanza had been the only one written,then that would have been a beautiful piece in its own right.
Though I think that there is much more to this one than just the one stanza.Sadly I believe that few apart from the true lover of war poetry would read or even notice how good the whole poem is.as that one stanza has overtaken the rest of the work. Having said that I can not think of another passage of poetry that would stand out so clearly as a tribute to those fallen. -
To Guest:
I cannot believe that this poem was written to glorify War. Binyon was in fact a Quaker pacifist and had already lost a close friend in the early months of WW1 - so glorification No! I don't think so.
Von
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Excellent poem
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It's such a shame that a beautiful poem was written about a very unbeautiful thing such as war. Ah, I dream of a day when poets would have to write about fictional wars or wars of words not physical battles and death.
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Geoff - brilliant work - damn good show, Watson. I really appreciate your research. Now I won't need to admonish the old soldiers in my RSL for using the word 'condemn'. Thank you for that info. and your other relevant observations. Regards, Bob Clinch
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The word "contemn" is not mentioned in the poem as published in the Times (The Times,Monday, Sep 21,1914; pg 9, Issue 40642; col C ). The word is clearly "condemn" and the text is as written above, without the howler indicated.
It is there in a box to itself in the middle of the foot of the page; there is no accompanying text other than it being listed in the newspaper index. Bear in mind that it is still somewhat prominent as pages 1 and 2 are the personal columns, as devoured by Sherlock Holmes, page 3 covering war dead and casualties. Page 9 covers important war news of the day as well as the poem.
I'll look a bit further for more information this week, for those interested.
Regards, Geoff Evans. Penshaw -
Well done Geoff Evans. Now . . . about that word contemn ...?
Regards
Bob Clinch -
To WriteOfSpring. Good day. I am a member of the Returned Services League (RSL) of Australia. On every ANZAC Day, and in fact, every RSL meeting or RSL social event which I attend, the fourth stanza is always recited, followed by "Lest we Forget". I have no problem with, nor comment on your statement. Since you are in the UK, you might be able to access the Times publication of 21 September 1914 and let us all know if the word at the end of the second line was originally 'contemn' or 'condemn'. Regards
Bob Clinch, Queensland, Australia -
This is probably the most famous of all WWI poems and stanza 4 is always read out at Remembrance Day services in the UK, and of course at D-Day commemorations etc.; its use nowadays is calculated to bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye. This was never its intention.
As a previous writer pointed out, the key thing is: it was written AT THE BEGINNING of the war. It was never meant to be a condemnation of war; in fact it was written as a GLORIFICATION of war, praising the coming sacrifices which the brave young men would proudly make and is actually sickeningly romantic and sentimental. The writer (together with most of Europe) hadn't imagined what was to come, the slaughter, the useless waste of life, the hypocrisy of it all. The irony of using the poem as it is now used is truly astonishing. -
Re the word "contemn". Has anyone actually looked up the first publication in The Times? If so would you let us know if the word was 'condemn' or 'contemn'. I would hope it is 'contemn'.
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Yes, I have seen it written "contemn" and think it is a much more appropriate word. I suppose we need to look up the first publication in The Times to get some indication which word was actually written by Binyon
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reply to Michelle - I think the time at which this poem was written makes it all the more poignant - particularly as the 4th stanza is widely used at commemorative services in many parts of the world.
Edited on Nov 28, 10:56 p.m. because ''. -
please help
need to write an essay on this poem if anybody can help please do. -
Excellent
I would just like to point out that the poem was actually written in September 1914 when the Great War was just 7 weeks old -
After having checked with various different sources the word condemn is correct.
Edited on Oct 25, 10:30 p.m. because ''. -
useful site
i have looked at many copies of this poem and all of them say condemn so i was wondering mhy Barry says it should be 'contemn' (though that would make sense too). -
I like your site.
In Binyon's peom the fallen line two verse four should finish with the word "contemn" which has a much more profound meaning than "condemn". You might like to check it out and amend your wording.
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