For The Fallen by Laurence Binyon

 

For the Fallen

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.

© 2020 Poetry Foundation by Laurence Binyon

Original Analysis of the Poem

The poem “For the Fallen” talks about British soldiers who died in battle during WWI.

-          The poem implies that dying for one’s country is the ultimate act of patriotism.

-          England in the poem personified as “mother” mourning the death of “her children” which is British soldiers who died. We can see the relationship between England and the soldiers is presented in familial bonds.

-          The loss of the soldiers is a loss of part of England itself

-          The soldiers are not just a part of England’s body, but also of her soul because they were described as the “spirit of her spirit”.

-          At one level, the poem argues that the soldiers gave their lives in the name of protecting their beloved homeland, England. The soldiers “shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,” and that England “will remember them” in the full of their youth at the time of death.

-          The poem insists that these soldiers won't be forgotten but they live in the deepest “desires” and “hopes” of British citizens.