Laurence Binyon (1869–1943) was an English poet and an expert on Asian art at the British Museum. His poem For the Fallen, written in September 1914, provided the lines recited at remembrance ceremonies throughout the Commonwealth.
Poet and curator
Robert Laurence Binyon was born on 10 August 1869 in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman. He studied classics at Trinity College, Oxford, where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry.
In 1893 he joined the British Museum, where he worked for forty years, becoming Keeper of Oriental Prints and Drawings. His books on Chinese and Japanese painting helped introduce Asian art to Western readers and influenced the poet Ezra Pound.
For the Fallen
Binyon wrote For the Fallen in mid-September 1914, after the first weeks of the war and the retreat from Mons, while walking on the cliffs of north Cornwall. It was published in The Times on 21 September 1914.
Its fourth stanza, read at ceremonies on Remembrance Day and Anzac Day, is known as the Ode of Remembrance.
War and later years
Too old to fight, Binyon volunteered in 1915 and 1916 as an orderly at a British hospital for French soldiers at Arc-en-Barrois, and wrote about the experience.
After retiring he translated Dante's Divine Comedy into English verse (1933–1943) and lectured at Harvard. He died in Reading on 10 March 1943.
Anecdotes
Set to music by Elgar
Edward Elgar set For the Fallen and two other poems by Binyon to music in The Spirit of England, first performed in 1916–1917.
The Ode in Australia
In Australia and New Zealand, the fourth stanza of For the Fallen is recited at dawn on Anzac Day, 25 April, followed by the response 'We will remember them'.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ode of Remembrance?
The fourth stanza of Binyon's For the Fallen, recited at remembrance ceremonies in Britain and the Commonwealth.
Where did Binyon write For the Fallen?
On the cliffs of north Cornwall, between Pentire Point and The Rumps, in September 1914, according to his own account.
What was Binyon's profession?
He was a curator at the British Museum for forty years, a specialist in Chinese and Japanese art.