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!
That’s the first stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s famous “Recessional” (1897), which was published at the height of England’s colonizing military might. It should be read in full for full effect. Although Kipling frequently references a watchful and wrathful Christian God, the poem is respected by those of many religious faiths and of no religious faith.
It’s a reflection on the need for a “humble and contrite heart” instead of pride in military might. It warns of the dire consequences of forgetting the costs of military success and (in his view) the divine help that was needed to achieve such success in the first place.
Some people, including non-religious ones, take it as a call to avoid the hubris of military might and the need to always remember the enhanced value of lives lost while in the service of protecting other lives and ways of life.
(Leighton Archive image taken at Arlington National Cemetery.)