24/04/2017
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.
The Ode came from 'For the Fallen', a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems on the Great War in 1914. The verse which became the League Ode was already used in association with commemoration services in Australia in 1921.
For the Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flash of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.
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.
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.
