Anzac Day and Remembrance Day are always important days for me. See Post Lest we Forget from Anzac Day earlier this year.
Borrowed from a line in a well-known poem written in the 19th century, the phrase ‘lest we forget’ means ‘it should not be forgotten’. We say or write ‘lest we forget’ in commemorations to remember always the service and sacrifice of people who have served in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
The phrase ‘Lest we forget’ is from a line in an 1897 Rudyard Kipling poem, Recessional:
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!
‘Lest’ comes from the Old English ‘thӯ lǣs the’ , which translates to ‘whereby less that’. Kipling drew inspiration from a biblical phrase in Deuteronomy 6:12, where ‘lest’ took the meaning ‘for fear that’. See the DVA Anzac Portal
Today it forms part of the response to the Ode of Remberance
The Ode is the fourth stanza of the poem “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon (1869–1943).
“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.”
The audience then responds: “We will remember them. Lest we Forget”
November 11th is a somber day of reflection across the commonwealth. I’ll probably be doing my own post once the 11th hits here in Canada.
We don’t have the equivalent of Anzac Day here, outside of the Newfoundlanders observing Memorial Day on July 1st. They were a separate Dominion in WW1 and they remember the 700 dead at Beaumont Hamel, first day of the Somme.
As an Anglo-Indian the day is spent reflecting on both the Canadian contribution to WW1 and WW2, but also the Indian Army. They were the largest volunteer army in the world at the time, and many fought alongside Canadians, British, Australians, Kiwis, and more besides. I have family on both sides who fought, one in Burma one in North Africa.
Lest we Forget
Nice post mate.
Hear Hear.
We should never forget those who gave their lives, for others.
Amen.