Occasioned by the Battle of Waterloo
Occasioned by the Battle of Waterloo - context Summary
Composed After Waterloo
Written in direct response to the Battle of Waterloo (1816), Wordsworth's poem is a patriotic tribute that addresses British soldiers and commemorates the fallen. It praises their love of life and duty, presents death in battle as honorable when prompted by national obligation, and frames victory and sacrifice as worthy of a public monument. The tone combines admiration for courage with solemn recognition of war’s mortal costs.
Read Complete AnalysesINTREPID sons of Albion! not by you Is life despised; ah no, the spacious earth Ne'er saw a race who held, by right of birth, So many objects to which love is due: Ye slight not life--to God and Nature true; But death, becoming death, is dearer far, When duty bids you bleed in open war: Hence hath your prowess quelled that impious crew. Heroes!--for instant sacrifice prepared; Yet filled with ardour and on triumph bent 'Mid direst shocks of mortal accident-- To you who fell, and you whom slaughter spared To guard the fallen, and consummate the event, Your Country rears this sacred Monument!
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