Our speaker asks us what sort of notice or holy ritual marks the deaths of soldiers who are slaughtered in battle. He then answers his own question, pointing out that there are no special occasions or pleasant ceremonies on the front—only the sounds of weapons and battle, which he compares to a demented sort of song and ceremony.
Then he asks what ritual can be done to make those deaths a little easier to swallow. He concludes that only tears and the pale, drained faces of their loved ones will send these deceased boys off; the tenderness of patient minds will be like flowers on their graves. In the last image, our speaker shows us an image of civilians pulling down their blinds at dusk.