A Song Of Defeat Poem by Gilbert Keith Chesterton

A Song Of Defeat

Rating: 3.2


The line breaks and the guns go under,
The lords and the lackeys ride the plain;
I draw deep breaths of the dawn and thunder,
And the whole of my heart grows young again.
For our chiefs said 'Done,' and I did not deem it;
Our seers said 'Peace,' and it was not peace;
Earth will grow worse till men redeem it,
And wars more evil, ere all wars cease.
But the old flags reel and the old drums rattle,
As once in my life they throbbed and reeled;
I have found my youth in the lost battle,
I have found my heart on the battlefield.
For we that fight till the world is free,
We are not easy in victory:
We have known each other too long, my brother,
And fought each other, the world and we.

And I dream of the days when work was scrappy,
And rare in our pockets the mark of the mint,
When we were angry and poor and happy,
And proud of seeing our names in print.
For so they conquered and so we scattered,
When the Devil road and his dogs smelt gold,
And the peace of a harmless folk was shattered;
When I was twenty and odd years old.
When the mongrel men that the market classes
Had slimy hands upon England's rod,
And sword in hand upon Afric's passes
Her last Republic cried to God.
For the men no lords can buy or sell,
They sit not easy when all goes well,
They have said to each other what naught can smother,
They have seen each other, our souls and hell.

It is all as of old, the empty clangour,
The Nothing scrawled on a five-foot page,
The huckster who, mocking holy anger,
Painfully paints his face with rage.
And the faith of the poor is faint and partial,
And the pride of the rich is all for sale,
And the chosen heralds of England's Marshal
Are the sandwich-men of the Daily Mail,
And the niggards that dare not give are glutted,
And the feeble that dare not fail are strong,
So while the City of Toil is gutted,
I sit in the saddle and sing my song.
For we that fight till the world is free,
We have no comfort in victory;
We have read each other as Cain his brother,
We know each other, these slaves and we.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Mahtab Bangalee 10 October 2020

powerful cities of the world still marching forward defeating the weak cities but there is nothing, no humanity or fear of God that's why still the earth is unpeaceful!

1 0 Reply
Chinedu Dike 10 October 2021

An insightful work of art, well articuated and nicely brought forth with conviction.

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Ratnakar Mandlik 06 August 2019

" Earth will go worse till men redeem it " A fine and profound theme.

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Deluke Muwanigwa 10 October 2020

And we shall fight in the villages we shall fight in the jungle we shall fight in the sky till lil' England knows 10 000 years we was rulers under King Tahaka and Phianki while the savages roamed loose. We niggards are not what we seem. Do not ever mistake our smile for a weakness. Remember you all so called progressive world will wander the earth like rabid wolves and come back cooled chilled contrite back to your father. Me the niggard.Check your genes conquerors of yourself.

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Deluke Muwanigwa 10 October 2020

Lol. Its just a free style loaded with gist. Great poem. Not mine. The other one

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Sylvia Frances Chan 10 October 2021

We have no comfort in victory; is the Poet's concluding line, so very true I am with you!

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Sylvia Frances Chan 10 October 2021

5 Stars full and to my Favourites.I have enjoyed this sad song of deafeat, but at least I KNOW about what winning the war mean, from a poet who himself was amidst it.

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Sylvia Frances Chan 10 October 2021

Insightful message is this most deserving Classic Poem Of The Day! CONGRATULATIONS!

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Sylvia Frances Chan 10 October 2021

THis IS a sad poem, a very sad Ode to Winners of the War, BUT on the other hand this poem is a very sad and touching, winning the war does not always mean that the soldier is happy, on the contrary!

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Sylvia Frances Chan 10 October 2021

I cite you here: I sit in the saddle and sing my song. For we that fight till the world is free, We have no comfort in victory; We have read each other as Cain his brother, We know each other, these slaves and we.

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