For the Fallen
Robert Laurence Binyon, 'For the Fallen'
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.
About the poem
This famous and deeply moving poem was published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914.
Today, we share two stanzas from it to mark Armistice Day: the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 when, at 11:00 a.m., the peace treaty signed at Compiegne in France earlier that morning came into force in Paris to signal the end of World War I, the 'Great War.'
The fighting ceased at that time, but nearly 3,000 men died on that morning before the treaty came into effect.
You can read the poem in full at:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57322/for-the-fallen
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