Forthe fallen 2 (1)

1. Katia Scarpignato

2. Laurence Binyon
Born Robert Laurence Binyon(1869-1943)
was an English poet, dramatist and art
scholar. His most famous work, For the
Fallen, is well known for being used in
Remembrance Sunday services.
For The Fallen was first published in the
Times on September 21 1914. Laurence
Binyon wrote it while working at the
British Museum, and did not go to the
western front until 1916, as a Red Cross
orderly.
The poem's fourth verse is now used all
over the world during services of
remembrance, and is inscribed on
countless war monuments.

3. Context
‘For the fallen’ 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, Cornwall. The stanza "They Shall
Grow Not Old" was written first and dictated the
rhythmical movement of the whole poem."

4. Initial Impression
The theme that is gradually exposed is that of an ironic yet solemn nature.
The painful, bloody demise of soldiers is commonly depicted as an
unfortunate situation drastically cutting the lives of these men short. In
contrast, Binyon depicts the lives of these young soldiers as eternal and
that while the mortality of humanity disallows others of escaping death,
these deceased will have their lives lengthened to eternity, for as long as
they are remembered.
Binyon’s theme is imparted to the reader with his organized structure that
allows smooth flow and transition throughout the poem. His 7 quatrains
share the same rhyme scheme of “ABCB” allowing a smooth and
comfortable reading of the poem that is appealing to the ear. His frequent
pauses are expressed using punctuation and encourage gradualism to
emphasise certain ideas such as the losses experienced in lines 17-20.
The title ‘for the Fallen’ suggest soldiers fighting in France, perhaps
falling physically because they were brutally killed or fallen from the
grace of God and of their humanity. Ambiguous whether is it
commemorating solely the British or the German Soldiers as well.

5. Stanza
1
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.
A soldiers mother,
proud that her son is
fulfilling his duty.
Mother could also
signify England, she is
sending out her
soldiers or ‘sons’ to
fight for freedom
against the enemy
The sacrifice of
soldiers to fight
for their nation.
England and
mothers give
thanks to their
children
Personifying
England, the
nation of these
men,
emphasises the
grief presenting
a very personal
and painful
reaction to the
death: “flesh of
her flesh” “spirit
of her spirit”.
Nevertheless despite the
suffering it regards the losses
as a necessary and
purposeful sacrifice as it
states the reason “cause of
the free”.
Imagery of soldiers lined
up going over the top,
united in spirit and flesh.
English blood fighting for
King and country, acted as
one
generally
Romanising
War

6. Stanza 2
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.
Mourning the losses. Use of the words
thrill and royal possibly describes the
natural human love of all things
majestic. This verse conjures images of
parents, wives and lovers crying out to
the skies on news of their loved ones'
death . There is a strong sense of pride
that they lost them for a powerful
cause.
The music perhaps acting as a
blanket or a shield to drown
out the utter savagery of mans
inhumanity to man
The tears act as a
consequence the of glory
and pride shield the
mechanised, vast-scale
carnage of 20
th
century
warfare
The midst of glory the
music and the pride
act as camaraderie
perhaps to illustrate
the home front was
blissfully unaware of
the devastation

7. Stanza 3
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.
The soldiers blazing with
pride, true to England
and their beliefs. As time
progressed that soon
diminished, as faith for
England and inhumanity
became blurred
Youthful, a lust for
life. The comma
allows reflection
amongst the
melancholy
statement. That the
youth lost their
humanity and their
zest for life to fight
for king and country.
Staunch
(committed)
to England,
their home,
their
mothers
A bleak conclusion, their
commitment consequently made the
soldiers fall to their enemy. Their
humanity was destroyed as War had
a lasting impact both physically and
mentally
This conjures up images of
proud upright youths and
men in new uniforms,
marching and showing
strength to the end as they
fought on regardless.
Reaching
out to the
exposed
and injured
The speaker
dramatizes the
sadness of the
mourners, elevating
its meaning as he
declaims:

8. Stanza 4
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
(This stanza was written first
and is recited at
remembrance Sunday)
The acknowledgement of
nature’s sacrifice of the
dead, the sun brings a new
day- the cycle of nature
continuing, but as a new
day begins and life is born,
we will remember the past
It is easy to see why that fourth stanza, alone,
should have been rescued from oblivion. It
constitutes the turning-point, the moment when
the poem's argument for consolation emerges:
the dead enjoy an eternal youth, immortalised in
the memory of the living and in other more
permanent ways. They are ‘as the stars that shall
be bright when we are dust'. Their
everlastingness exists outside memory, in a form
of stultification which harks back to a common
motif in Greek myth.
For formal reasons as well, that
fourth stanza is especially effective.
Its foreshortened final line, 'We will
remember them', states without
embellishment. It expresses a
profound recognition which would
only be cheapened by rhetorical
flourish..

9. Stanza 5
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.
Binyon’s choice of diction
represents poignant solemnise.
The young men will not be
coming home or contributing to
the future of the land that sent
them to war.
A timeless portrait of men
struggling to retain their
humanity in an inhuman conflict.
Humour escapes soldiers after
the magnitude of death they
witnessed.
The syntax of ‘not’
after ‘mingle’
perhaps Binyon is
emphasising the fact
that soldiers will ‘not’
and will ‘never’ do
again
‘Familiar’ is what the soldiers knew before
the War, but evidently the War disallowed
the continuity of familiarity. In the sense that
soldiers knew nothing more than their trigger
finger. Killing was what they knew best, and
similar to strange meeting, the trenches was
their home and their comrades was their
family, because the home front were
blissfully unaware of the cataclysm taking
place. They would never fully comprehend
the unnatural violence that soldiers
witnessed

10. Stanza 6
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;
The comparison of a soldiers death and Binyon’s
references to eternity and stars again connotes
that soldiers will live on forever.
Despite the fact that the young
soldiers will not return
physically, they live in the hearts
of their profoundly grateful
countrymen
It is though Binyon
already understood their
grave importance of their
sacrifice to the world,
and the inhumanity
surrounding the War
though when he wrote
this poem the war had
only just began

11. Stanza 7
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.
The repetition of ‘to the end’ signifies
that despite their young deaths they will
live for eternity, though they died young,
it is the young that will live on forever
‘They remain’,
though not physically
with us, but their
sacrifice will always
be remembered
referring to the lost
souls of the dead
The dust, and ashes
are all that would
remain of us, but the
soldiers who fought,
their soul or their star
will shine on for
eternity
In times of sorrow,
we must remember
that our sadness will
be overshadowed by
the magnitude of
distress that the
soldiers faced
Optimistic conclusion to the
poem, their consolation for their
sacrifice is that their bravery will
never be forgotten
The final stanza celebrates the young
soldiers and glorifies further their
mission with an extended comparison
to “the stars”
Yet the soldiers’
souls, of course,
will live eternally
in God, even if the
stars cease to
shine.