McCrae's In Flanders Fields

Poppies and Crosses

Nov 12, 2009 Linda Sue Grimes

"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most celebrated poems of the World War I era. Lt. Col. John McCrae was a surgeon in the Canadian Army, when he wrote this poem.

First Stanza: “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow”

In Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” the speaker of this memorial tribute is a fallen soldier, who begins by describing the place called “Flanders Fields,” an area in western Belgium, where the blood of many soldiers had stained the earth.

The speaker reveals, “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row, / That mark our place.” Many soldiers had been buried here, and their graves were marked with crosses. And the land was remarkable because many red poppies were growing “between the crosses.”

The outstanding visual image of thousands of red poppies decorating the landscape, blowing gently in the light breeze between the white crosses, creates a stunning effect, and thus the first three lines of the poem alone demonstrate the impact of this widely celebrated poem.

The speaker then draws the listener’s eye to the “sky” where “the larks, still bravely singing, fly.” But the songs of these brave birds are hardly audible because the war is still ongoing, and the sound of the guns nearly drowns out the birdsongs.

Second Stanza: “We are the Dead. Short days ago”

The speaker then declares, “We are the Dead.” He reminds his listener of how alive they used to be and only a few “short days ago.” They were living, breathing human beings who “felt dawn, saw sunset glow.” They “loved and were loved.” Yet now they “lie / In Flanders fields.”

Third Stanza: “Take up our quarrel with the foe”

The final stanza dramatizes an outstanding call to duty. The speaker commands his listener who represents not only his fellow living soldiers but all succeeding generations who will be met by “the foe” with whom they will necessarily “quarrel.” The speaker’s use of the term “quarrel” may be viewed as somewhat optimistic even euphemistic. If only wars could be avoided by the sides engaging in “quarrels” instead of killing, this world would be a very different place.

But the speaker presciently understands that the war in which he served and died will not be the last one, and thus he passes “the torch” from the fallen hands of today’s soldiers to tomorrow’s. He bids the future warriors to hold that torch high, metaphorically to stand and fight valiantly against those who would usurp your precious freedom and kill you.

He admonishes his contemporary soldiers and all who follow, those who are still part of the brigade of the living that if they “break the faith with” those who have so bravely fought and died, if they abandon their duty before they have tasted victory over the foe, they will, in fact, dishonor the spirit of those who have died, and despite the fact that these brave soldiers are buried where sleep-inducing poppies grow, they will not rest.

The copyright of the article McCrae's In Flanders Fields in Poetry is owned by Linda Sue Grimes. Permission to republish McCrae's In Flanders Fields in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Lt. Col John McCrae

Poppies

Military Cemetery West-Belgium