"In Flanders Field"

“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

Written by John McCrae in 1915, “Flanders Field” is without doubt one of my favorite poems. John McCrae was a field surgeon for the Canadian army during the First World War. The death of his friend and student, Alexis Helmer, motivated McCrae to write “In Flanders Field.” The poem itself was written during the Second Battle of Ypres, a period during which McCrae was under constant German artillery fire and threat of death. The story of the author himself contributes to the understanding and perception the audience will have of the text. For me, the duress McCrae was under, as well as the knowledge that McCrae wrote the poem during the actual battle adds meaning to the work. It adds an element of realism and truth that wouldn’t be present if the author had not been present at the battle or if the poem had been written many years later. McCrae, himself, died during the war in 1818 of pneumonia.

            The first stanza introduces the setting of the poem. Flanders is the northwestern part of Belgium where a significant portion of World War 1 battles was fought. Flanders has an oceanic climate with colder temperatures and rain on most days. McCrae mentions blowing “poppies” due to the abundance of poppy fields in which many battles were fought. Poppies are known for their abilities to grow on very uneven terrains, such as the thousands of artillery craters McCrae would have seen from his trench on the front lines. Poppies are also bright red in color, reminiscent of the bloodshed that occurred during the battle. The “crosses, row on row,” was included by McCrae as a way for the audience to picture the number of lives that were lost in the battle. McCrae also mentions the larks “still bravely singing.” Larks are known in popular culture for the beauty of their song. McCrae uses the singing of the larks to sharply contrast the screaming of the “guns below.” Larks are also used in literature to symbolize one’s passage from the Earth to Heaven, a fitting symbolism, given the thousands who died at Ypres.

            The narrator is introduced as being the dead of the battle. In the poem McCrae capitalizes the word “Dead,” to show that victims of the war are now collectively referred to as “the dead,” thereby replacing their actual names. This demonstrates the lack of humanity in war, where the dead lose their identity and are just one more casualty. McCrae emphasizes the suddenness of death by recounting that only days ago, the dead had felt sunrises and sunsets, which are popularly known for their emotion and feeling. The last stanza is a plead by “the Dead” for others to finish what they started. The torch mentioned by McCrae is a reference to the Olympic torch, which is passed by one runner to another, for the next part of the journey. McCrae finishes the poem by saying that if the task of fighting “foe” is not taken up, the Dead’s deaths will be meaningless and they will not be able to rest in peace.