In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

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.

Analysis:

In Flanders Fields is a poem written by John McCrae during the 1^st World War. Considering the title, it points to the magnificent landscapes of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The poem is structured in three stanzas. The first is organizes into five lines, the second into 4 and the third into 6. If the reader did not know the poem was written in wartime he/she would expect an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. Indeed, despite the beauty of the nature of the first line, together with poppies sprout many crosses. The first stanza introduces the semantic field of the war through the line-up of the dead soldiers’ crosses and the distant sound of the guns. As a matter of fact, the images of a green and luxuriant landscape and the songs of larks are brutally juxtaposed with images of the war.

The second stanza begins with "We are the Dead". The reader knows that the "we" in a prominent position is referred to soldiers and is repeated anaphorically in the next verse. Death is opposed to life and natural elements are taken up: the sunrise and sunset. The soldiers blend into the natural cycle: after having seen and suffered the horrors of war now they can “lie in the Flanders fields”.

The third and last stanza is an invitation to posterity. You need to remember the sacrifices of the ancestors who struggled against death for peace. Now that they are in the ground, is the "we" of the future that have to continue to pursue the ideal of peace, the "torch" that sheds light into the darkness of war. Only by remembering, the soldiers will continue to live and rest in peace in the Flanders fields in which step forward to grow poppies. This is the message of the poem.