Apr 21 2008
Ode of Remembrance
For the Fallen, by British Poet Robert Laurence Binyon, is a moving poem written to honour the World War I British war dead and, in particular, the British Expeditionary Force.
It was first published in September, 1914, after the news of the high casualty rates at the Battle of the Marne on the Western Front.
The fourth verse from that poem is known today as the Ode of Remembrance.
Carved on numerous war memorials and cenotaphs, it is recited on Remembrance days in Canda and the UK, and on every evening in Australia’s Returned Service League Clubs.
A Returned Serviceman will face the west, at the going down of the sun and recite
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.
Lest we forget
This is followed by one minute of silence.The “Silent Minute” was first signalled by the chiming and stroking of Big Ben at 9 pm each evening and is now a customary element of memorial services.
Australians also commemorate ANZAC Day in dawn services across the country.
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