"Lest we Forget" is the phrase commonly used at remembrance services and inscribed in stone at memorials. Before the term was used in reference to soldiers and war, it was first used in an 1897 poem written by Rudyard Kipling called “Recessional" to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
"Recessional" contains five stanzas of six lines each. As a recessional is a hymn or piece of music that is sung or played at the end of a religious service.
Initially, Kipling had not intended to write a poem for the Jubilee. It was written and published only towards the close of the Jubilee celebrations, and represents a comment on them — an afterword.
The poem went against the celebratory mood of the time, providing instead a sombre reminder of the transient nature of Imperial power. Though the poem expresses pride in the British Empire, there is a melancholic perception that the seemingly unassailable Empire must eventually go the way of all previous empires. Just as Queen Victoria's earthly empire was at its zenith, Kipling foresaw its inevitable demise.
The title and its allusion to an end rather than a beginning add solemnity and gravitas to Kipling's message. The poem argues that complacent arrogance and boasting were inappropriate and vain in light of the permanence of God.
The phrase "Lest we Forget" forms the refrain of "Recessional". It is taken from Deuteronomy 6:12 — "Then beware lest you forget the Lord which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt.” The reference to the "ancient sacrifice" as a "humble and a contrite heart" is taken from Ps 51.
This Remembrance Day as we remember the dead and the hubris of empires long gone, let us remember that our grand, and decadent and affluent empire of late modernity — eternal and invincible though it seems — stands on a precipice.
The phrase "Lest we Forget" forms the refrain of "Recessional". It is taken from Deuteronomy 6:12 — "Then beware lest you forget the Lord which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt.” The reference to the "ancient sacrifice" as a "humble and a contrite heart" is taken from Ps 51.
This Remembrance Day as we remember the dead and the hubris of empires long gone, let us remember that our grand, and decadent and affluent empire of late modernity — eternal and invincible though it seems — stands on a precipice.
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
*** *** ***
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!
The tumult and the shouting dies;
The Captains and the Kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the Law—
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word—
Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!
Rudyard Kipling 1897