Pomp and Circumstance Marches Tabley's poem "The March of Glory", which (as quoted by Elgar's biographer Basil Maine) begins <poem>Like a proud music that draws men on to die Madly upon the spears in martial ecstasy, A measure that sets heaven in all their veins And iron in their hands. I hear the Nation march Beneath her ensign as an eagle's wing; O'er shield and sheeted targe The banners of my faith most gaily swing; Moving to victory with solemn noise, With worship and with conquest, and the voice of myriads.</poem> proclaiming the "shows of things" (Maine's quotation marks): the naïve assumption that the
Pomp and Circumstance Marches by a quiet swirling bass passage, which leads into the "Trio" section (in the tonic major key of A) which consists of a delightfully simple tune in thirds played by the woodwind (flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons), answered conclusively by the strings and brass. This "Trio" section is repeated, and the march concluded with a brilliant little coda, which includes a drum roll on the snare drum, a shattering chord in A Minor, briefly played by horns, and followed by a final cadence. March No. 3 was completed in November 1904 and published in 1905. It was dedicated "To my