Monday, November 11, 2013

Monday morsel: "In Flanders Fields" {Remembrance Day, 2013}



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.



2 comments:

  1. "The larks, still bravely singing, fly
    Scarce heard amid the guns below."

    This makes me think of a poem by Joy Davidman (wife of C.S.Lewis)

    "Snow in Madrid"

    Softly, so casual,
    Lovely, so light, so light,
    The cruel sky lets fall
    Something one does not fight.
    How tenderly to crown
    The brutal year
    The clouds send something down
    That one need not fear.
    Men before perishing
    See with unwounded eye
    For once a gentle thing
    Fall from the sky.

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    Replies
    1. Wow, Adriana, I got chills reading that! Thanks for sharing it -- I've never heard of that poem before. Isn't that poignant: the idea that soldiers can associate the sky only with things that cause devastation and destruction.

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