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Robert Laurence Binyon [1869-1943] ENG
Ranked #263 in the top 380 poets

Robert Laurence Binyon  was born in Lancaster, the son of a clergyman, and educated at St Paul`s School and Trinity College, London where he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry. From Oxford Binyon went in 1893 to work in the British Museum`s Department of Printed Books, before transferring two years later to the Department of Prints and Drawings where he eventually became Keeper, and an authority on Oriental Art. His book Painting in the Far East (1908) was the first book on the subject to be written in any European language. Binyon was also an expert on Japanese and Chinese Art.

	His first volume of poetry, Lyric Poetry was published in 1894. His early poems show him experimenting (as did Robert Bridges and Gerard Manley Hopkins) with the natural stress-accent of English. He lectured in the United States in 1912, 1914 and 1926.

	During the War he served with the Red Cross, visiting the Front in 1916. Binyon was already in his mid-forties when he wrote the poem For the Fallen in September 1914. It is the poem for which he will always be remembered as the four lines from the fourth stanza:

	*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 on the sun and in the morning

	We will remember them.*

	are read every year at Armistice services across Britain,and the Commonwealth and feature as an inscription for thousands of memorials. There would be another four years of fighting and more than two million Allied soldiers killed before For The Fallen took on its full meaning and impact. Although not a "Soldier Poet", Binyon is nevertheless remembered as a "War Poet".

	The poems Binyon wrote during the First World War were collected in The Four Years and published in 1919 (Elkin Matthews, London). Other poems from this collection have been neglected undeservedly: The Zeppelin, The Witnesses and The Bereaved are all good examples of the genre of war poems that is usually discredited - war poems from the Home Front. Closer to the reality of battle, yet still celebrating "the beauty of the dead" are Guns at the Front, The Arras Road and Dark Wind.

	Besides publishing many collections of his verse, Binyon also wrote nine verse plays (six of which were performed), including Arthur (1923) a treatment of the Arthurian legend, which was staged at the Old Vic with music by Elgar. Binyon also published books on art and allied subjects; and in 1931 he published his Collected Poems (London) in two volumes. Between the years 1933 and 1943 he published a three volume translation of the whole of Dante`s Divinia Comedia in terza rima (Italian verse-form in triplets). In this translation some commentators have found the best use of Binyon`s craft.

	Binyon`s sensibility, like that of so many of the War Poets (including Edward Thomas and Siegfried Sassoon), were rooted deeply in the English landscape. This fact is reflected both in his own verse and in his critical works on Blake, Girtin, Cottman and Towne.

	Binyon lectured in Japan in 1929, was Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University in 1933-34 and was Byron Professor at the University of Athens in 1940. He died in 1943.

War

YearsCountryPoetInteraction
1885-1972
USA
Ezra Pound
← late influenced by Robert Laurence Binyon


WorkLangRating
For The Fallen
eng
78
Hunger
eng
24
A Prayer
eng
9
One Year Old
eng
6
Evening Rain
eng
3
The Rain Was Ending, And Light
eng
3
To Women
eng
3
"In the shadow of a broken house"
eng
2
Sonnet: Ypres
eng
2
The Fourth Of August
eng
2
"The shrines of old are broken down"
eng
1
A Glimpse Of Time
eng
1
An Hour
eng
1
Beauty
eng
1
Nothing Is Enough!
eng
1
The Healers
eng
1
" Do kings put faith in fortressed walls, and bar"
eng
0
" No more now with jealous complaining"
eng
0
"A child in nature, as a child in years"
eng
0
"Ah, now this happy month is gone"
eng
0
"As in the dusty lane to fern or flower"
eng
0
"Beautifully dies the year."
eng
0
"Come back, sweet yesterdays!"
eng
0
"How dark, how quiet sleeps the vale below!"
eng
0
"Now that I have won"
eng
0
"O sorrowful thought! But one more flying year"
eng
0
"Pale are the words I build for my delight"
eng
0
"The sun goes down, on other lands to shine."
eng
0
"Vision of peace, Joy without stain"
eng
0
"What shall I say to thee, my spirit, so soon dejected"
eng
0
A Colliquy
eng
0
A Daffodil
eng
0
A Day That Is Boundless As Youth
eng
0
A Dialogue
eng
0
A Dream
eng
0
A Hymn Of Love
eng
0
A Mother’s Song
eng
0
A new Idol
eng
0
A Picture Seen In A Dream
eng
0
A Prayer Of Time
eng
0
A Prelude At Evening
eng
0
A Secret Place
eng
0
A Song
eng
0
A Spring Song
eng
0
A Vision Of Resurrection
eng
0
A Winter Song
eng
0
A Woman
eng
0
Adversaries
eng
0
Airmen From Overseas
eng
0
Amais
eng
0
Amo, Ergo Sum
eng
0
An April Day
eng
0
An Incident At Cambrai
eng
0
An Old Answer
eng
0
Angered Reason
eng
0
Angkor
eng
0
As I Walked Through London
eng
0
Asoka
eng
0
At Evening
eng
0
At Rheims
eng
0
At Rheims 23
eng
0
At Rheims 24
eng
0
August
eng
0
August Afternoon
eng
0
Autumn Moonrise
eng
0
Autumn Song
eng
0
Awakening
eng
0
Bab—Lock—Hythe
eng
0
Bahram The Hunter
eng
0
Because Thou Art Nearest
eng
0
Before Sleep Comes
eng
0
Before The Dawn
eng
0
Between The Mountains And The Plain
eng
0
Carvalhos
eng
0
Chateau Gaillard
eng
0
Cherwell Stream
eng
0
Commercial
eng
0
Companions
eng
0
Dark Wind
eng
0
Dawn By The Sea
eng
0
Day’s End
eng
0
Deptford
eng
0
Disappointment
eng
0
Doing And Making
eng
0
Douro
eng
0
Down In A Shaded Garden
eng
0
Dream—Come—True
eng
0
Edith Cavell
eng
0
Elegy
eng
0
Eleonora Duse As Magda
eng
0
England
eng
0
England’s Poet
eng
0
English Earth
eng
0
Europe, MDCCCCI To Napoleon
eng
0
Ezekiel
eng
0
Fears Of Love
eng
0
February Morning
eng
0
February Night
eng
0
Ferry Hinksey
eng
0
Fetching The Wounded
eng
0
Fide Et Literis
eng
0
First Day Of Summer
eng
0
First Day Of Winter
eng
0
Flame And Snow
eng
0
Flower And Voice
eng
0
Fog
eng
0
Forest Silence
eng
0
Fortunate Moments
eng
0
From Goethe
eng
0
From The Chinese
eng
0
Gallipoli
eng
0
Gift Of Silence
eng
0
Glorous Heart
eng
0
Go Now, Love
eng
0
Goblins
eng
0
Going West
eng
0
Gossamers
eng
0
Grief
eng
0
Guns At The Front
eng
0
Harebell And Pansy
eng
0
Hide Me In Your Heart
eng
0
High Over The Battling Street
eng
0
History
eng
0
Holiday
eng
0
Home--Coming
eng
0
How to Make a Memory
eng
0
I Am Here, And You
eng
0
I Want A Thousand Things
eng
0
Illumination
eng
0
In Carissimam Memoriam A.S.P.
eng
0
In Hospital
eng
0
In Memory
eng
0
In memory Of George Calderon
eng
0
In Memory Of Richard Henry Powell
eng
0
In Misty Blue
eng
0
In The British Museum
eng
0
In The Firelight
eng
0
In The Forest
eng
0
In The High Leaves Of A Walnut
eng
0
Inheritance
eng
0
Initiation
eng
0
Invocation To Youth
eng
0
John Winter
eng
0
Kennack Sands
eng
0
Kitchener
eng
0
Koya San
eng
0
La Patrie
eng
0
Lament
eng
0
Liberation
eng
0
Little Hands
eng
0
Look Not Too Deep
eng
0
Louvain - To Dom Brunt Destrtt, O.S.B.
eng
0
Louvain 19
eng
0
Louvain To Dom Bruno Destrée, O.S.B.
eng
0
Love Infinite
eng
0
Love Of My Love
eng
0
Lovers
eng
0
Love’s Portrait
eng
0
Lullaby
eng
0
Lycabettus
eng
0
Magnets
eng
0
Malham Cove
eng
0
Martha
eng
0
Matsushima
eng
0
May Evening
eng
0
May Morning
eng
0
May Night
eng
0
Mediterranean Verses
eng
0
Men Of Verdun
eng
0
Mid Atlantic
eng
0
Midsummer Noon
eng
0
Midsummer Vigil
eng
0
Milton
eng
0
Miyajima
eng
0
Montenegro
eng
0
Morn Like A Thousand Shining Spears
eng
0
Mother And Child
eng
0
Mother Of Exiles
eng
0
My Boat Swings Out And Back
eng
0
Naked
eng
0
Name, That Makes My Heart Beat
eng
0
Narcissus
eng
0
Nature
eng
0
Nightfall
eng
0
Niobe
eng
0
Not Even Love
eng
0
November
eng
0
Numbers
eng
0
O Crudelis Amor!
eng
0
O Summer Sun!
eng
0
O World, Be Nobler
eng
0
Ode For September
eng
0
On A Figure Of Justice With Bound Eyes
eng
0
On The Hills
eng
0
Orphans Of Flanders
eng
0
Orpheus In Thrace
eng
0
Our Tree Has Flowers
eng
0
Over The Sea
eng
0
Oxford In War—Time
eng
0
Pain
eng
0
Parting And Meeting
eng
0
Past And Future
eng
0
Peace
eng
0
Penthesilea
eng
0
Pine Trees
eng
0
Porphyrion
eng
0
Present And Future
eng
0
Pricking Thorns
eng
0
Psyche
eng
0
Queen Venus
eng
0
Recollections Of Cornwall
eng
0
Red Night
eng
0
Reminiscence
eng
0
Ricordi
eng
0
Ruan’s Voyage
eng
0
S. Francesco Del Deserto
eng
0
Santa Christina
eng
0
Seeking And Finding
eng
0
Separation
eng
0
Seven Years
eng
0
Shabby House—Wall
eng
0
Shelley’s Pyre
eng
0
Silences In The Mind
eng
0
Sirmione
eng
0
Solitude
eng
0
Song. Love, Like Cordial Wine
eng
0
Song. What Boat Is This That Bears
eng
0
Songs Of The World Unborn
eng
0
Sorrow
eng
0
Sowing Seed
eng
0
Spring Has Leapt Into Summer
eng
0
Stars
eng
0
Stonehenge
eng
0
Strange Fruit
eng
0
Stray Seed
eng
0
Strike Stone On Steel
eng
0
Sudden Joy
eng
0
Surrender
eng
0
Sursum Cor!
eng
0
Testamentum Amoris
eng
0
The Antagonists
eng
0
The Anvil
eng
0
The Apple Boughs
eng
0
The Arras Road
eng
0
The August Weeds
eng
0
The Autumn Crocus
eng
0
The Bacchanal Of Alexander
eng
0
The Bather
eng
0
The Bathers
eng
0
The Battle Of Stamford Bridge
eng
0
The Belfry
eng
0
The Belfry Of Bruges
eng
0
The Bereaved
eng
0
The Birch Tree
eng
0
The Bowl Of Water
eng
0
The Bridal
eng
0
The Builders
eng
0
The Burning Of The Leaves
eng
0
The Cathedral Porch
eng
0
The Cause
eng
0
The Cherry Trees
eng
0
The Chestnut
eng
0
The Children Dancing
eng
0
The Clue
eng
0
The Cockatoo; From The Chinese
eng
0
The Convalescent
eng
0
The Convict
eng
0
The Crucible
eng
0
The Crusader
eng
0
The Dark Garden
eng
0
The Dead To The Living
eng
0
The Death Of Adam
eng
0
The Deportation
eng
0
The Deserted Palace
eng
0
The Destroyer
eng
0
The Disobedient Heart
eng
0
The Distant Guns
eng
0
The Dray
eng
0
The Dream—House
eng
0
The Driftwood Gatherers
eng
0
The Dryad
eng
0
The Ebb Of War
eng
0
The Elm
eng
0
The Enemy
eng
0
The English Graves
eng
0
The English Youth
eng
0
The Escape
eng
0
The Evening Takes Me From Your Side
eng
0
The Eyes Of Youth
eng
0
The Fire
eng
0
The Forest Pine
eng
0
The Full Heart
eng
0
The Golden Gallery At Saint Paul’s
eng
0
The Harvest
eng
0
The Heather Branch
eng
0
The House That Was
eng
0
The Idols
eng
0
The Junipers
eng
0
The Lamp Of Greece
eng
0
The Last Evening
eng
0
The Little Dancers
eng
0
The Lure
eng
0
The Meeting
eng
0
The Mirror
eng
0
The Moment
eng
0
The Mother
eng
0
The New World
eng
0
The Night Walk
eng
0
The North Star
eng
0
The Oak
eng
0
The Offering
eng
0
The Orchard
eng
0
The Paralytic
eng
0
The Pine Woods Of Grijo
eng
0
The Pity Of It
eng
0
The Porch Of Stars
eng
0
The Promise
eng
0
The Rag—Picker
eng
0
The Reformer
eng
0
The Renewal
eng
0
The Road Menders
eng
0
The Secret
eng
0
The Seven Isles
eng
0
The Sibyls
eng
0
The Sirens
eng
0
The Sleepers
eng
0
The Snows Of Spring
eng
0
The Sower (Eastern France)
eng
0
The Statues
eng
0
The Storm
eng
0
The Supper
eng
0
The Tamarisk Hedge
eng
0
The Test
eng
0
The Things That Grow
eng
0
The Thistle
eng
0
The Threshold
eng
0
The Tie
eng
0
The Tiger—Lily
eng
0
The Toy—Seller
eng
0
The Tram (In The Midlands)
eng
0
The Trembling Tree
eng
0
The Tunnel
eng
0
The Two desires
eng
0
The Unreturning Spring
eng
0
The Victoria, Lost Off Tripoli, June,1893
eng
0
The Vision Of Augustine And Monica
eng
0
The Voices Of Hellas
eng
0
The Voices Of The Ocean
eng
0
The Way Home
eng
0
The Wharf On Thames—Side; Winter Dawn
eng
0
The Winds Of All The World
eng
0
The Witnesses
eng
0
The Wonder Night
eng
0
The Woods Entry
eng
0
The Wound
eng
0
The Zeppelin
eng
0
There Is Still Splendour
eng
0
Thule
eng
0
Thunder On The Downs
eng
0
Tintagel
eng
0
To A Derelict
eng
0
To A Solitary Fir—Tree
eng
0
To Elsie Fogerty
eng
0
To Goethe
eng
0
To Goethe 21
eng
0
To The Belgians
eng
0
To The Belgians 7
eng
0
To The End
eng
0
To The Enemy Complaining
eng
0
To The Summer Night
eng
0
To Time
eng
0
To Women 27
eng
0
Towers Of Italy
eng
0
Trafalgar Square
eng
0
Trees are For Lovers
eng
0
Tristram’s End
eng
0
Twilight
eng
0
Umbria
eng
0
Under A Flowering Tree
eng
0
Unsated Memory
eng
0
Venice
eng
0
Vigil
eng
0
Violets
eng
0
Walnut—Leaf Scent
eng
0
Wanderers
eng
0
Westward
eng
0
When All The World Is Hidden
eng
0
When I Am Only I
eng
0
When Old Wounds Bleed Again
eng
0
Whitechapel High Road
eng
0
Wild Peace
eng
0
Wind At Midnight
eng
0
Windows At Chatres
eng
0
Wingless Victory
eng
0
Winter Sunrise
eng
0
Words
eng
0
Youth
eng
0
Ypres
eng
0

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