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Wreaths of artifical poppies used as a symbol of remembrance

"In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous poems about World War I. It was written by Canadian physician John McCrae, who died of pneumonia and meningitis while serving in a field hospital in Belgium. The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders fields where war casualties had been buried; they became a symbol of Remembrance Day. The poem is part of Remembrance Day solemnities across Canada. It reads:

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.

A portion of the poem is now printed on Canadian $10 notes. The lines "To you from failing hands we throw / The torch; be yours to hold it high" have been adopted as the motto of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.

External links

• The Project Gutenberg ebook of In Flanders Fields, and Other Poems.
• This site contains an account of the writing of the poem and a facsimile of the author's manuscript [1]