For our Men by Edwina Stanton Babcock
"For Our Men" by Edwina Stanton Babcock is a short patriotic poem addressed to the women and civilians left behind during wartime, calling them to honor and support the soldiers who have gone to fight. The poem is structured as a series of pledges or vows, each stanza beginning with the phrase "Let us," creating a collective and communal voice that speaks on behalf of those at home. The speaker urges the home front to maintain warmth, comfort, and normalcy for the sake of the men at war. In the first stanza, this takes the form of keeping the domestic space safe and welcoming, with fires burning, laughter present, beds made, and a sense of peaceful leisure preserved against the day the soldiers might return. The second stanza shifts to the practical labor of care, calling on those at home to prepare nourishing and comforting food, sweet preserves and wholesome breads, acknowledging the deep physical hungers that fighting men endure and the simple human satisfactions that sustain the spirit. The third stanza moves into the spiritual dimension, urging those at home to hold faith high and bright like candles, steady and upright. The poem suggests that the men in the trenches found spiritual sustenance more valuable than material wealth, and that those at home owe them a continued holding of that light in their absence. The fourth stanza turns inward and moral, asking those on the home front to grow in character, to elevate their thoughts and conduct to a level worthy of the sacrifice being made. The implication is that the soldiers' honor and the meaning of what they fight for depends in part on whether those they left behind prove deserving of it. There is a quiet gravity here, a sense that personal and communal virtue is itself a form of tribute. The final stanza brings the poem to an emotional resolution by distinguishing between two groups: those men who survive and return, and those who do not. For the living, the pledge is one of hard work and joyful welcome. For the fallen, the poem offers something that transcends practical action, expressing passionate love and enduring honor as the only fitting memorial. The repetition of "evermore" lends a sense of permanence and solemnity to this final vow, closing the poem on a note of grief tempered by reverence. Overall, the poem functions as a wartime rallying call directed at civilians, particularly women, framing domestic virtue, spiritual faithfulness, moral seriousness, and devoted remembrance as parallel forms of service to those bearing arms. The tone is tender but earnest, sentimental but not shallow, and the poem reflects the characteristic voice of home-front poetry from the era of the First World War, in which the grief of separation and loss is channeled into purposeful dedication.
By Edwina Stanton Babcock · First published 1918 · Genre: War Poetry, Patriotic Literature, Elegiac Poetry · 196 words
First lines
Let us keep home safe for them -- / Fires, laughter and song, / The curtains close, the beds all smooth and white, / The leisure long.
Let us make good things for them -- / Sweet meats and bright conserves, / Nourishing breads and all the dear delights / Hunger deserves.
Let us lift high God for them, / And like tall candles hold / The straight white lights that in the trench they knew -- / Were more than gold.
Let us grow up for them, / And hold us to impassioned lofty thought -- / So they shall never come to be ashamed / Of that for which they fought.
Genres
- War Poetry — The work directly addresses soldiers in trenches and those who died in war, with explicit references to combat and sacrifice, making it a central example of war poetry.
- Patriotic Literature — The poem emphasizes duty, honor, and national commitment to soldiers, encouraging civilians to support and honor those who fought for their country.
- Elegiac Poetry — The work mourns and honors the fallen, with particular poignancy in the final stanza's acknowledgment of those who will not return, characteristic of elegiac verse.
- Lyric Poetry — The work employs musical language, emotional expression, and personal reflection through structured verse, typical of lyric poetry's intimate and meditative qualities.
Tags
war poetry · World War I · soldiers · patriotism · American literature · early 20th century · women writers · military service · home front · sacrifice · courage · tribute
What this Textopian page supports
For our Men is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwina Stanton Babcock, dated 1918 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwina Stanton Babcock
- Date: 1918 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: War Poetry, Patriotic Literature, Elegiac Poetry, Lyric Poetry, Religious Poetry
- Length: 196 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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