In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems written during the First World War, and has been called "the most popular poem" produced during that period. [Paul Fussell, "The Great War and Modern Memory", Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 248.] It is written in the form of a French rondeau. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote it on May 3 1915, after he witnessed the death of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, the day before. The poem was first published on December 8, that year in "Punch" magazine.

Historical context

The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders where war casualties had been buried and thus became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is part of Remembrance Day solemnities in Allied countries which contributed troops to the First World War, particularly in countries of the British Empire that did so.

The poem "In Flanders Fields" was written upon a scrap of paper upon the back of Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, during a lull in the bombings (as recited to his grandson).

In Flanders Fields

quote
"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

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The poem has achieved near-mythic status in contemporary Canada and is one of the nation's most prominent symbols. Most Remembrance Day ceremonies will feature a reading of the poem in some form (it is also sung a cappella in some places), and many Canadian schoolchildren memorize the verse. This is also true of the United Kingdom, where the poem holds as one of the nation's best loved.

A portion of the poem is now printed on Canadian $10 notes, where it spawned a false rumour that the poem had been misprinted, resulting from popular confusion between the first line's "blow" and the penultimate line's "grow."The use of "grow" in the first line is, however, an authentic variation.It appears in at least one autograph (see " [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/353 In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems] "), and schools in Guelph (McCrae's birthplace) once taught that "the poppies grow" could refer to spreading blood stains on the shallow graves.

Criticisms

Critic Paul Fussell, in "The Great War and Modern Memory", points out the sharp distinction between the pastoral, sacrificial tone of the poem's first nine lines and the "recruiting-poster rhetoric" of the poem's third stanza; he argues that, appearing in 1915, the poem would serve to denigrate any negotiated peace that would end the war, and calls these lines "a propaganda argument," saying "words like "vicious" and "stupid" would not seem to go too far." [Fussell, pp. 249-250.] Modern public readings of the poem, however, stress the debt to the dead and the necessity to honour their memory in ceremonies often focussing on the sacrafice and sorrow of war.

Other Versions

An official adaptation into French, used by the Canadian government in Remembrance Day ceremonies, was written by Jean Pariseau and is entitled "Au champ d'honneur".

Notes

References in popular culture

The song "We Are the Lost" by the group Libera paraphrases this poem along with "For the Fallen", sung as a choral hymn.

The poem is referenced by Mort Shuman in his translation of the song "Marieke" by Jacques Brel as well as by Siouxsie and the Banshees in "Poppy Day" from their second LP "Join Hands". The song was adapted as the song "Flanders Fields" by Big Head Todd and the Monsters on their 1989 debut album "Another Mayberry". The Guess Who parody the song in "Friends Of Mine".

In the TV special "What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?", Linus recites the poem while standing in front of the remnants of a battlefield in Ypres, including the British aid station where McCrae was inspired to write the poem.

The poem is referenced in the film "Mr. Holland's Opus" and Herman Wouk's novel "".

The line "To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high" is written on the wall of the Montreal Canadiens' locker room.

In the last scene of the "Blackadder Goes Forth" final episode ("Goodbyeee"), when Captain Blackadder's trench charges on the German machine guns, the scene first fades to black and white and then to the modern day Flanders Fields.

The poem's title is parodied as "When Flanders Failed", a 1991 episode of "The Simpsons".

External links

*The Project Gutenberg ebook of " [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/353 In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems] ".
* [http://librivox.org/in-flanders-fields-by-john-mccrae/ Free audiobook] from [http://librivox.org LibriVox]
* [http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-poppies.html This site] contains an account of the writing of the poem and a facsimile of the author's manuscript.
* [http://www.inflandersfields.be/ In Flanders Fields] , the website of the museum of this name in Ypres, dedicated to this poem
* [http://www.legion.ca/asp/docs/rempoppy/allabout_e.asp Royal Canadian Legion] web page about John McCrae, "In Flanders Fields," and the custom of wearing poppies
* [http://www.toptempo.com/song/song_0000266.html In Flanders Fields] , setting by Canadian composer Michael Roberts
* [http://www.jonbrooks.ca In Flanders Fields] , new musical interpretation by award winning Canadian songwriter Jon Brooks, released on May 3 2007
* [http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/ Lost Poets of the Great War] , a hypertext document on the poetry of World War I by Harry Rusche, of the English Department, Emory University, Atlanta Georgia. It contains a bibliography of related materials.