Laurence Binyon's speaker celebrates the transcendence of the soldiers who have fought so bravely and died for freedom.
In Laurence Binyon’s “For the Fallen,” the speaker honors the brave British soldiers who died in World War I. The poem consists of seven stanzas, each with the rime scheme, ABCB.
First Stanza: “With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children”
In the opening stanza, the speaker metaphorically compares England to a mother who is in mourning for her children who have died. England’s literal children are, of course, her soldiers who have bravely fought and given their lives “in the cause of the free.”
Second Stanza: “Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal”
The speaker dramatizes the sadness of the mourners, elevating its meaning as he declaims: “Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal / Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.” Earthly sorrow, the speaker, insists transcends itself when, “There is music in the midst of desolation / And a glory that shines upon our tears.”
Third Stanza: “They went with songs to the battle, they were young”
The speaker avers that music is one of the instruments of transcendence for warriors: “They went with songs to the battle, they were young.” The young soldiers died heroes as they met their enemy face to face.
Fourth Stanza: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old”
With a similar logic used by A. E. Housman in “To an athlete dying young,” this speaker declares about the fallen soldiers, ”They shall grow not old // Age shall not weary them.” Those of us left behind will still face these disfiguring life qualities, and “We will remember [those who fell.]”
Fifth Stanza: “They mingle not with their laughing comrades again”
In the fifth stanza, the speaker mourns as he details the activities that are now proscribed the fallen heroes: they will not laugh with their friends again nor share meals with family, nor will they hold day jobs—all because they metaphorically “sleep beyond England’s foam.”
Sixth Stanza: “But where our desires are and our hopes profound”
Despite the fact that the young soldiers will not return physically, they live in the hearts of their profoundly grateful countrymen: “To the innermost heart of their own land they are known / As the stars are known to the Night.” They shine brightly for their fellow citizens.
Seventh Stanza: “As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust”
The final stanza celebrates the young soldiers and glorifies further their mission with an extended comparison to “the stars”: “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 speaker likens the souls of the fallen to the stars, that “march[ ] upon the heavenly plain.” Yet the soldiers’ souls, of course, will live eternally in God, even if the stars cease to shine.
