In Flanders Field
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 McCrae
John McCrae is a Canadian man who fought in World War Two. His inspiration for this poem was how poppies seemed to spring up quickly around dead soldiers bodies. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) adopted the poppy as one of their symbols in 1922. Every Memorial Day you can find Veterans passing out poppies and accepting donations to assist veterans in financial need.
I picked this poem because it can be for any service member who died in the battle field, it could have been in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the jungles of Vietnam, Korea, Iraq of Afghanistan. The poem says, “We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders fields.” It doesn’t matter where you lie, the heartache is the same, the story never changes for those who have given their life for their country, and I believe this poem embodies that.
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 McCrae
John McCrae is a Canadian man who fought in World War Two. His inspiration for this poem was how poppies seemed to spring up quickly around dead soldiers bodies. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) adopted the poppy as one of their symbols in 1922. Every Memorial Day you can find Veterans passing out poppies and accepting donations to assist veterans in financial need.
I picked this poem because it can be for any service member who died in the battle field, it could have been in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the jungles of Vietnam, Korea, Iraq of Afghanistan. The poem says, “We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders fields.” It doesn’t matter where you lie, the heartache is the same, the story never changes for those who have given their life for their country, and I believe this poem embodies that.