|
 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.
In Flanders Fields first appeared in Punch
magazine on the 8th December 1915. John McCrae, a Canadian
doctor, was brought up in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He served in Canadian
contingent in the South African War in 1900 and he volunteered to serve in
France in 1914. He saw extensive service in dressing stations and
hospitals in France and Flanders.
Exhausted by his work and the stresses of war Lt
Colonel McCrae died of pneumonia and meningitis on the 28th
January 1918 aged 45 and he is buried at Wimereux Cemetery near Boulogne. |
