The Ode of Remembrance

Not for Ourselves, but for Others

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The “Ode of Remembrance” is an ode taken from Laurence Binyon’s poem, “For the Fallen”, which was first published in September 1914.

For the Fallen was specifically composed in honour of the casualties of the British Expeditionary Force, which by then already suffered severely at the Battle of Mons and the Battle of the Marne in the opening phase of the war on the Western Front. Over time, the fourth stanza of the poem has been claimed as a tribute to all casualties of war, regardless of state, and it is this selection of For the Fallen to which the term “Ode of Remembrance” usually refers.

For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon (Stanza 4 only)

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.