In flanders fields - 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. |
‘In Flanders fields’, is a poem written by John McCrae during World War One that aims to represent the honor and recognition that soldiers bring when they fight and die
for their country. During First World War, the allied nations were cause to believe that war was an honorable thing, bringing joy and heroism to a nation. John McCrae was a Canadian doctor who treated soldiers on the Western Front. He was directly exposed to the death and pain associated with war, although was still able maintain the opinion that war brings great honor. Throughout the poem, imagery is used in order to get convey meaningful tone. McCrae uses imagery in the poem to help bring the ‘dead back to life’, to narrate the poem. The first stanza provides a visual imagery of the graveyard, which sets the scene of the poem. This is seen though the line “That mark our place: and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly”. Through the use of having the ‘fallen’ narrate the poem, Crae is able to make an emotional connection to the reader, causing the reader to remember the loss of the soldiers, which was his secondary aim in the writing of the poem. Lines such as “We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow”evoke a sense of sorrow on the reader whilst still maintaining the tone the war is an honorable thing. Symbolism plays a major role in the poem, adding depth and meaning to each line. In the first stanza, the symbolism of the larks still singing infers that although people die though battle, and however awful man is to man, nature will always remain the same. This is significant to the poem because nature will always remain faithful although human will stray from honorable things. In the second stanza, Crae uses the symbolism of seeing ‘sunset glow’ and‘loving and being loved’ in order to display that before they had fallen in Flanders Fields, they were men just like any other men. This means Crae’s representation of war is that war does not strip people of identity, instead enforcing that it adds dignity and honor to the men dying in battle. Towards the end of the poem, the tone changes in order to encourage others to sign up and fight for their country. Although the poet morns the loss of the soldiers, he still keeps the predicament of the worldview that it was a man’s solemn duty to fight. The symbolism of ‘The torch’ is the honor linked with war. Crae is trying to encourage others to support war though using the voice of the fallen persuading the reader to carry their ‘torch’ of honor. Through the use of imagery and symbolism, along with rhyme personification John Crae is able to describe his first hand experiences of war, reflecting honor to the reader. |