The Soldiers Epitaph - He Died for England.

For Armistice Day I have chosen this poem by an unknown author.

It was published in the New York Times – June 1915 and captures the spirit and feelings of the time.

Under the Heading “The Soldiers Epitaph’ the poem was entitled “HE DIED FOR ENGLAND”.

It was an inscription on the tombstone of a private soldier killed in action.

"HE DIED FOR ENGLAND."

These four short words his epitaph,
Sublimely simple, nobly plain;
Who adds to them but addeth chaff,
Obscures with husks the golden grain.
Not all the bards of other days,
Not Homer in his loftiest vein,
Not Milton's most majestic strain,

Not the whole wealth of Pindar's lays,
Could bring to that one simple phrase
What were not rather loss than gain;
That elegy so briefly fine,
That epic writ in half a line,
That little which so much conveys,
Whose silence is a hymn of praise
And throbs with harmonies divine.