by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936)
In battles of no renown
Language: English
In battles of no renown My fellows and I fall down, And over the dead men roar The battles they lost before. The thunderstruck flagstaffs fall, The earthquake breaches the wall, The far-felled steeples resound, And I lie under the ground. O soldiers, saluted afar By them that have seen your star, In conquest and freedom and pride Remember your friends that died. Amidst rejoicing and song Remember, my lads, how long, How deep the innocent trod The grapes of the anger of God.
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Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Edward Housman (1859 - 1936), "The defeated", appears in Additional Poems, no. 19, first published 1939 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Ramsden Williamson (1929 - 2015), "The defeated - In battles of no renown" [baritone and piano] [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-03-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 84