| 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. |
This was the poem written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada 's First Brigade
Artillery. It expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders'
battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image
of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought
in the First World War. The first printed version of it reportedly was in December 1915, in the British magazine
Punch.
McCrae's poem had a huge impact on two women, Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina
Michael. Both worked hard to initiate the sale of artificial poppies to help orphans and others left destitute by the
war. By the time Guerin established the first sale in the U.S., in 1920 with the help of The American Legion, the
poppy was well known in the allied countries — America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand —
as the "Flower of Remembrance." Proceeds from that first sale went to the American and French Children's
League.
Guerin had difficulty with the distribution of the poppies in early 1922 and sought out Michael for help. Michael
had started a smaller-scaled Poppy Day during a YMCA conference she was attending in New York and wanted
to use the poppies as a symbol of remembrance of the war. Guerin, called the "Poppy Lady of France" in her
homeland, and Michael, later dubbed "The Poppy Princess" by the Georgia legislature, went to the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW) for help. Following its first nationwide distribution of poppies in 1922, the VFW adopted the
poppy as its official memorial flower.
However, a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled
veterans to produce the artificial flowers. In 1924, a poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, Pa., providing a
reliable source of poppies and a practical means of assistance to veterans. Today, veterans at Department of
Veterans Affairs medical facilities and veterans homes help assemble the poppies, which are distributed by
veterans service organizations throughout the country.
Donations received in return for these artificial poppies have helped countless veterans and their widows,
widowers and orphans over the years. The poppy itself continues to serve as a perpetual tribute to those who
have given their lives for the nation's freedom.
Dept of Veterans Affairs
Artillery. It expressed McCrae's grief over the "row on row" of graves of soldiers who had died on Flanders'
battlefields, located in a region of western Belgium and northern France. The poem presented a striking image
of the bright red flowers blooming among the rows of white crosses and became a rallying cry to all who fought
in the First World War. The first printed version of it reportedly was in December 1915, in the British magazine
Punch.
McCrae's poem had a huge impact on two women, Anna E. Guerin of France and Georgia native Moina
Michael. Both worked hard to initiate the sale of artificial poppies to help orphans and others left destitute by the
war. By the time Guerin established the first sale in the U.S., in 1920 with the help of The American Legion, the
poppy was well known in the allied countries — America, Britain, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand —
as the "Flower of Remembrance." Proceeds from that first sale went to the American and French Children's
League.
Guerin had difficulty with the distribution of the poppies in early 1922 and sought out Michael for help. Michael
had started a smaller-scaled Poppy Day during a YMCA conference she was attending in New York and wanted
to use the poppies as a symbol of remembrance of the war. Guerin, called the "Poppy Lady of France" in her
homeland, and Michael, later dubbed "The Poppy Princess" by the Georgia legislature, went to the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW) for help. Following its first nationwide distribution of poppies in 1922, the VFW adopted the
poppy as its official memorial flower.
However, a shortage of poppies from French manufacturers led to the idea of using unemployed and disabled
veterans to produce the artificial flowers. In 1924, a poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, Pa., providing a
reliable source of poppies and a practical means of assistance to veterans. Today, veterans at Department of
Veterans Affairs medical facilities and veterans homes help assemble the poppies, which are distributed by
veterans service organizations throughout the country.
Donations received in return for these artificial poppies have helped countless veterans and their widows,
widowers and orphans over the years. The poppy itself continues to serve as a perpetual tribute to those who
have given their lives for the nation's freedom.
Dept of Veterans Affairs
WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH An answer to Lt.Col. John McCrae by Moina Michael - 1918 Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields, Sleep sweet - to rise anew! We caught the torch you threw And holding high, we keep the Faith With All who died. We cherish, too, the poppy red That grows on fields where valor led; It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies, But lends a luster to the red Of the flower that blooms above the dead In Flanders Fields. And now the Torch and Poppy Red We wear in honor of our dead. Fear not that ye have died for naught; We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought In Flanders Fields. |
| IN FLANDERS NOW An answer to Lt.Col. John McCrae by Edna Jaques We have kept faith, ye Flanders' dead, Sleep well beneath those poppies red, That mark your place. The torch your dying hands did throw, We've held it high before the foe, And answered bitter blow for blow, In Flanders' fields. And where your heroes' blood was spilled, The guns are now forever stilled, And silent grown. There is no moaning of the slain, There is no cry of tortured pain, And blood will never flow again In Flanders' fields. Forever holy in our sight Shall be those crosses gleaming white, That guard your sleep. Rest you in peace, the task is done, The fight you left us we have won. And "Peace on Earth" has just begun In Flanders' now. |
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