Killed in Action, 1915
Let Pride with Grief go hand in hand:They join the hallowed hosts who diedIn battle for their lovely land;With light about their brows they ride.
Young hearts and hot, gray heads and wise,Good knights of all the years foregone,Faith in their England in their eyes,Still ride they on, still ride they on!
By altars old their banners fadeBeneath dear spires; their names are setIn minster aisle, in yew-tree shade;Their memories fight for England yet.
Let Pride with Grief go hand in hand,Sad Love with Patience, side by side;In battle for their lovely landNot vainly England’s sons have died!
And well may pride this hour befit;For not since England’s days beganMore fiery-clear the word was writ:Who dies for England, dies for Man!
About this text
Killed in Action, 1915 is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, Killed in Action, 1915, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/killed-in-action-1915.html, id L22042.
Form and metre
Killed in Action, 1915 is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB handA · diedB · landA · rideB
- 2 ABAB wiseA · foregoneB · eyesA · onB
- 3 ABAB fadeA · setB · shadeA · yetB
- 4 ABAB handA · sideB · landA · diedB
- 5 ABAB befitA · beganB · writA · manB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Let Pride with Grief go hand in hand: | 8 | ········ |
| They join the hallowed hosts who died | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In battle for their lovely land; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With light about their brows they ride. | 8 | ········ |
| Young hearts and hot, gray heads and wise, | 8 | ········ |
| Good knights of all the years foregone, | 8 | ······// |
| Faith in their England in their eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still ride they on, still ride they on! | 8 | ········ |
| By altars old their banners fade | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beneath dear spires; their names are set | 8 | ········ |
| In minster aisle, in yew-tree shade; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their memories fight for England yet. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Let Pride with Grief go hand in hand, | 8 | ········ |
| Sad Love with Patience, side by side; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In battle for their lovely land | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Not vainly England’s sons have died! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And well may pride this hour befit; | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| For not since England’s days began | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| More fiery-clear the word was writ: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who dies for England, dies for Man! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.