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
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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