Elegy - Siobhan O'Neill

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. This poem fits the criteria of an elegy because it encompasses all three aspects of an elegy. The grief and sorrow expressed in "For the Fallen" can be seen even in the first paragraph. The line "England mourns for her dead across the sea" exemplifies the grief England expressing through her mourning. The grief is describe as something a mother would feel towards a lost child. "Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit". The dead have this special connection with the country of England. Admiration for the fallen is found in the second and third stanza. "There is music in the midst of desolation, and a glory that shines upon our tears." "They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted." This highlights the bravery and selflessness of the soldiers that fell for their country. They did so unflinching even when outcome wasn't bright for then. The consolation and solace of this elegy is exemplified in the last stanza. The author compares the fallen to stars and to highlight the immortality these soldiers now posses. Reverence of the fallen seems to be a common theme in the last two stanzas which becomes a parallel aspect to the poem with consolation and solace.