Vitaï Lampada The torch of life
Sir Henry Newbolt
There’s a breathless hush in the Close to-night
Ten to make and the match to win
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season’s fame,
But his captain’s hand on his shoulder smote
‘Play up! play up! and play the game! ‘
The sand of the desert is sodden red,
Red with the wreck of a square that broke;
The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
‘Play up! play up! and play the game! ‘
This is the word that year by year,
While in her place the school is set,
Every one of her sons must hear,
And none that hears it dare forget.
This they all with a joyful mind
Bear through life like a torch in flame,
And falling fling to the host behind
‘Play up! play up! and play the game!
The Battle of Abu Klea
This was written about a schoolboy cricketer who grows up to fight in Africa, the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan in January 1885 during the unsuccessful expedition to rescue Major General Gordon. The poem was both highly regarded and repeatedly satirized by those who experienced World War I. There, in the panic of battle the boy is stirred to heroic action by schooldays memories:
” his Captain’s hand on his shoulder smote – Play up! Play up! And play the game! “
Let’s look at in depth of the value this poem generates. This is a highly purposive and moral poem. It aims to teach a honorable lesson and provide a guiding principle for the demeanor of a better life. It is possible to imagine its audience as young men educated in public schools who were needed to command or govern in the British colonies. But it probably also has a wider meaning, valuing tradition and personal discipline for the sake of the whole society.
This first verse refers to boys at school playing a cricket match. The team is in a difficult situation; it’s late in the day, the condition of the cricket pitch isn’t conducive, the sun is setting and the light is in the batsman’s eyes. He’s the last man in to bat, there is only an hour left to play, and things are getting tense “there’s a breathless hush“. Will he be able to score the necessary ten runs and win the match? His motivation is not fame or winning a medal, but playing the game well despite the pressure on him. The poet suggests that learning to be a team player is better than thinking of personal gain –
‘not for the sake of a ribboned coat’
In the second verse, those men who may once have been boys playing cricket are now in a foreign land facing an even more difficult situation -. In the bitter reality of the battlefield, the poet tells us, the principles of selflessness learnt on the school cricket pitch still hold good.
‘ The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead ‘
their gun has jammed, their commanding officer is dead, their square, a defensive combat formation of the time, has been broken by the enemy action and many of the men are dead too. The survivors cannot see well for dust and smoke, and they are a long way from home and reputation is just a word when they are fighting for survival. And then the men hear a rallying cry that inspires them to keep fighting,
‘But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks: / “Play up! play up! and play the game!”
As English schoolboys they have all been taught to keep going even when things are difficult.
The final verse makes an appeal for the values of permanence and custom and discipline learnt at school to be handed down from generation to generation. Every son of the British empire has to learn and remember this philosophy and carry it with them throughout their life. When they fall in battle this cry, or ethic, must be passed on to the ones who are coming behind them so that they will continue to live up to this high standard – Play up (try your hardest, do your best) and play the game. (Fight life’s battles in a spirit of sportsmanship).
Those words have become famous through the years, symbolized Newbolt’s view that war should be fought in the same spirit as school sports. The poem was well received both critically and publicly at the time, and his work underwent a further revival at the outbreak of the First World War, when optimism was high; however as gloom set in, Newbolt’s verse consequently suffered in popularity.
I hope the poem and its meaning will be helpful to you in situations when you need a ‘kick to go in your life’. So then, see you all in my next post.
