In article , Chris Mark
writes
From: Peter Twydell

(Where did it get so famous, either? I remember hearing "Lest We
Forget" a lot around 11/11...But have never understood why.

The words are from a poem by Lawrence Binyon: For the fallen

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWbinyon.htm


No, they are not, although that poem contains some memorable and oft repeated
lines.
The lines are in fact from Kipling (of course!). His "Recessional" of 1897:


snip good old Rudyard

As you can see the poem is really not about remembering fallen war dead, but
is, as it is subtitled, "A Victorian Ode," a warning to Britain at her height.

Binyon's poem is much more apt and fitting for Nov. 11 observances, although it
does not contain that famous "Lest we forget."


Chris Mark

My interpretation of John Penta's post was that he was asking where the
original "They shall grow not old" came from, not "Lest we forget".
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!