History & Politics
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
From The Ballad of St. Barbara, and Other Verses (1922)
The men that worked for England
They have their graves at home:
And bees and birds of England
About the cross can roam.
But they that fought for England,
Following a falling star,
Alas, alas for England
They have their graves afar.
And they that rule in England,
In stately conclave met,
Alas, alas for England
They have no graves as yet.
Codex Note
'The men that worked for England / They have their graves at home.' Fourteen lines on the war dead, who lie unburied abroad, while the rich are safe in 'stately conclave'.
Cite this poem
MLA
Chesterton, G. K. “Elegy in a Country Churchyard.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/chesterton/47/.
Chicago
Chesterton, G. K. “Elegy in a Country Churchyard.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/chesterton/47/.
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