Saturday, November 9, 2013

Flanders Fields, yes, it's all over the web, but this one has a little history with it


In Flanders Fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses row on row, 
That mark our place; and in the sky 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly 
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved, and now we lie 
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 
To you from failing hands we throw 
The torch; be yours to hold it high. 
If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders fields.



John Mc Crae  was a surgeon during the Boer War and was attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, in the Canadian Army during WWI .  The fields referred to are battlefields in Flanders Belgium, and McCrae remarks how quickly poppies grew over the graves of the fallen.  The poem was written early in the war while sentiment was still somewhat romantic about "The War to End All Wars"  and before  fighting forces and civilians became disillusioned as both sides dug 400 miles of trenches.
This poem is popularly believed to have been written in 1915, after he witnessed the death of and presided over the funeral of his friend. 
People occasionally interpret it as a pro-war poem although it is often read as an anti-war poem.

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