Elegy- Haley Longworth

For the Fallen BY LAURENCE BINYON 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. 
 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 contemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. 
 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. 
 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; 
 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. Binyon, Laurence. "For the Fallen." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 1 Jan. 1914. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. . An elegy is a piece of writing written in response to death. It is characterized by three parts: grief and sorrow, praise and admiration, and consolation and solace. This poem begins with the author expressing grief and sorrow. He says that "England mourns for her dead across the sea" and uses the phrase "sings sorrow up into immortal spheres" to convey the sad feelings of the country of England in regards to the soldiers who lost their lives fighting in a war. He then goes on to praise the soldiers, saying "they were young, straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow" and admires their bravery when falling "with their faces to the foe." Lastly, the author consoles England by stating that "to the innermost heart of their own land they are known as the stars are know to the Night." He is comforting them by reassuring that the soldiers will never be forgotten. This poem contains the three parts of an elegy and is a perfect example of what an one is. It follows the order of the three elements and even uses words like "sorrow", "steady and aglow", and "they remain" to fit in with each element respectively. In this poem, the author comments on loss because the main subject of the poem is the loss of soldiers by means of war. Its purpose is to pay tribute to the soldiers who died in the war and understands that there will be grief because the men who died were risking their lives for the country, and the citizens of England can find comfort knowing that those men died for a noble cause and that they will be missed.