Canadian Singers and Their Songs/John McCrae

by John McCrae

For other versions of this work, see In Flanders Fields.

JOHN McCRAE

AUTHOR OF "IN FLANDERS FIELDS AND OTHER POEMS."

SURGEON FIRST BRIGADE FIELD ARTILLERY, C.E.F., 1914-15 ; LIEUT.-COLONEL
MEDICAL DIVISION No. 3 CANADIAN GENERAL HOSPITAL, 1915-18. DIED
28TH JANUARY, 1918. BURIED AT WIMEREUX, FRANCE.

In Flanders Fields

—

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
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.

John McCrae

NOTE—THE WORD "GROW" (INSTEAD OF "BLOW,"
AS IN THE ORIGINAL) IN THE FIRST LINE IS
EVIDENTLY AN INADVERTENT ERROR OF THE
AUTHOR IN TRANSCRIBING THE POEM FOR A
FRIEND—EDITOR.