‘In Flanders Fields’

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” is a poem written by John McCrae. It is divided into three stanzas, the first stanza is made up of 5 lines, the second stanza consists in 4 lines and the third stanza is made up of 6 lines.

The rhyme scheme is: AABBA AABC AABBAC. This poem is a remembrance, a call for the living to not forget the dead who are buried in a foreign land.

The poem means that we should be thankful that the soldiers fought in war, because without them we wouldn’t live in peace.

This poem teaches that the soldiers who die in war lie in peace after their death “…Flanders fields” fields suggests that they have a lot of space and the description of the place doesn’t suggest that the dead bodies are close. In fact “…the poppies blow…” the intelligent reader can think that the poppies are symbolic of the soldiers who are making the air. The poet is giving authority to the dead by saying that they blow and what they blow out makes the air we breathe.

The ‘crosses’ refer to the graves of the soldiers, but they also have religious references; Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on the cross like the soldiers sacrificed themselves for their country.

The second stanza starts with “We are the Dead”. The reader can understand that the subject pronoun “we” refers to soldiers. The soldiers, after life “lie in the Flanders fields”.

The last stanza calls the reader to continue the “work” of the fallen soldiers, which was to stop war. The torch is symbolic of the peace they wish to achieve.