This poem, "In Flanders Fields," was written by John
McCrae, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army during World War I. He served as a
surgeon, and the poem is clearly a reaction to the horrors and death as well as the
moments of poignant beauty he experienced during his time of service. The site I've
included gives more background, if you're interested.
The
poem is fairly straightforward. Stanza one depicts moments of beauty in the midst of
death.
In
Flanders Fields the poppiesBlow between the crosses row on
rowThat mark their place; and in the
skyThe larks, still bravely singing,
flyScarce heard amid the guns
below.
Poppies are a
brilliant red, which is certainly appropriate for the tenor of the poem; otherwise, in
this stanza, everything seems so peaceful and calm and normal despite the ravages of war
which rage on the ground. The next line dispels this normalcy with three simple
words:
We are the
Dead.
Stanza two goes on to
say that just a few "short days ago" these men did everything "normal" people
did:
We
lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved,
and now we lieIn Flanders
Fields.
The final stanza is
a call to arms made from the grave. Those who have died are passing their weapons and
"passing the torch" of their intent to win this war to those who can still fight. The
last lines could possibly be seen as a threat, beginning with the words "If you don't."
Instead, it's more of an encouragement.
If ye break faith with us who
die
We shall not sleep, though poppies
grow
In Flanders
Fields.
This is a typical war
poem in the sense that it treats the war as an unpleasant reality. It is particularly
striking, again, because of that peaceful field of poppies blowing in the wind as
soldiers fight and men die.
On a personal note, I had
students memorize this poem one year more than twenty-five years ago, and that haunting
image of poppies blowing in a field has stayed with me ever
since.
No comments:
Post a Comment