Learn English – Meaning of “play up” in Henry Newbolt’s poem “Vitai Lampada”

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From Vitai Lampada:

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!"

I looked up the meaning of play up in several online dictionaries and the main meaning seems to be "misbehave", the second meaning is "emphasize (something)". Both seem unfit in this context.

What is the meaning of play up in this poem?

Best Answer

I would take it to mean "play on" or "step up." However, you must consider the way that it is used in the other verses, as well, to get a better picture of how it should be interpreted. It is not just in the context of a game, but in the context of life itself.

These words, according to Coulson Kernahan, author of Six Famous Living Poets, were a call to all men and women to defend their country in an hour of need. These famous lines demand that “in life’s battle-field [sic], whether a battle-field only figuratively, or a battle-field in reality to play the game.”

(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/henry-newbolt)

So when I use those two phrases above, it is more a matter of persevering in the face of the present challenges being faced, than it is simply a call to start up the game again. The first verse describes a very tense situation in the cricket match. The game is drawing to a close. The penultimate batter was just caught out. The captain is encouraging his (final) batsman as he sends him in to make the last ten runs needed to win the match. That encouragement that will stay with the man throughout his life, to spur him on in the middle of a dire situation in WWI, and it's the exhortation he will leave to the generations to follow him as his life ends.

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