More on Kipling's poem

I erred somewhat. Memory is not to be trusted!! It has been a long time but I should have checked first. C'est la vie. Here is the scoop. Although it does speak of war and battles, it does not commemorate or focus on any particular one but it was well before World War I. While it might not go over well now, it is still profound and somber. And the 'lest we forget' appears as almost a refrain or chorus through the poem. As you can see, it was kind of a hymn and also a warning, and certainly not in praise of war or colonialism, which he was often accused of being. So I was not quite right on; mea culpa. Still I share it for the quality. IMHO, Kipling was a great writer and an early inspiration to me.

"Recessional" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, which he composed on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

The poem is a prayer. It describes two fates that befall even the most powerful people, armies and nations, and that threatened England at the time: passing out of existence, and lapsing from Christian faith into profanity. The prayer entreats God to spare "us" (England) from these fates "lest we forget" the sacrifice of Christ.

The poem went against the celebratory mood of the time, providing instead a reminder of the transient nature of British Imperial power.In the poem Kipling argues that boasting and jingoism, faults of which he was often accused, were inappropriate and vain in light of the permanence of God.

 Text of Poem:

God of our fathers, known of old—
Lord of our far-flung battle line—
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies—
The Captains and the Kings depart—
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called our navies melt away—
On dune and headland sinks the fire—
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe—
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard—
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not Thee to guard.
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy Mercy on Thy People, Lord!