Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE ENGLISH DEAD (IN THE SOUDANESE CAMPAIGN) by WILLIAM WATSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: GIVE HONOUR TO OUR HEROES FALL'N, HOW ILL
Last Line: BUT WITH THE POPPY ALONE, THEIR DEEDS AND DEATH.
Subject(s): DEATH; SOLDIERS; SUDAN; DEAD, THE;

GIVE honour to our heroes fall'n, how ill
Soe'er the cause, that under a baleful sky
Bade them go forth. Honour to him, whom high
In place, more high in hope, 'twas fate's harsh will
With tedious pain unsplendidly to kill.
Honour to him, doom'd splendidly to die,
Child of the city whose foster-child am I,
Who hotly leading up the ensanguin'd hill
His charging thousand, fell without a word;
Fell, but shall fall not from our memory.
Also for them let honour's voice be heard
Who nameless sleep, while dull Time covereth
With no illustrious shade of laurel tree,
But with the poppy alone, their deeds and death.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net