The Ode of Remembrance is a poem that is commonly recited at Anzac Day services to commemorate wartime sacrifice.
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.
The Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by English poet and writer Laurence Binyon. The poem was first published in The Times on 21 September 1914. It was later published in the Winnowing Fan - Poems of the Great War.
By mid-September 1914, less than seven weeks after the outbreak of war, the British Expeditionary Force in France had already suffered severe casualties. Long lists of the dead and wounded appeared in British newspapers. It was against this background that Binyon wrote For the Fallen.
The Ode is the fourth stanza of the poem. The verse, which became the League Ode, was already used in association with Anzac Day commemoration services in Australia in 1921.
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 glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eyes, 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 daytime,
They sleep beyond England's foam.
But where our desires and 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 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.
- Written by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)
LEST WE FORGET
I always observe ANZAC day, to honor those young soldiers who crossed the planet to fight, and many didn't come home. Here it will be tomorrow, time difference.
ReplyDeleteSo many didn’t come home. And those that did were damaged in so many ways.
DeleteOnly ones who like war are those that profit from it. Like arms dealers
Visit an RSL early evening and you will hear The Ode recited at 6pm followed by 1 min silence. Everyone stands quietly - the only noise heard is maybe the infernal ‘ding’ of the poker machines
ReplyDeleteYes I used to work at an RSL. And lights went off and we stopped serving at the bar. We all stood for the last post
DeleteIn Canada, we use the same verse from "For the Fallen" during our Remembrance Day services on November 11th every year. We call that verse the "Act of Remembrance." It is always very powerful and moving, isn't it? The epitome of grief and longing.
ReplyDeleteIt goes straight to the heart and soul
DeleteThat's a powerful piece of poetry. I've never read it right through before.
ReplyDeleteWe had better not forget
Unfortunately I see it all happening again. And it breaks my heart
DeleteGrandpa ended up in the Australian army somehow...but they looked after him well.. thanks to Anzacs I exist.
ReplyDelete