World War I Poems - Hale, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 20.104 W 002° 47.936
30U E 513389 N 5909563
In 2004 two commemorative tablets were added to the combined World War I and World War II monument in the village of Hale.
Waymark Code: WMT8XF
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/16/2016
Views: 0
The original monument was a stone Floriated Latin cross on circular column and two stepped base. It had a wreath on the front face at the top with the words 'Pro Patria'.
Robert Laurence Binyon
To the right of the cross is a standing remembrance tablet. It is the 4th stanza of the poem 'For the Fallen' by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914.
link
1914 - 1918 1939 - 1945
They shall grow not old
as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence said in 1939 that the four lines of the fourth stanza came to him first. These words of the fourth stanza have become especially familiar and famous, having been adopted by the Royal British Legion as an Exhortation for ceremonies of Remembrance to commemorate fallen Servicemen and women.
It should be noted that there is a mis-quote on the memorial. According to this
website line 2 of the stanza is
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
On the memorial the word contemn as been inscribed as condemn. Contemn is not a commonly known word but according to Dictioanry.com it means to 'Treat or regard with contempt'. The line does make sense with the word condemn, but I think contemn is better (providing you understand what it means).
John Maxwell Edmonds
In front of the cross embedded in the ground is another memorial tablet. It contains an epitaph written by John Maxwell Edmonds (21 January 1875 – 18 March 1958), an English classicist, poet, and dramatist.
link
When you go home,
tell them of us and say,
For your tomorrows
these gave their today.