In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. According to legend, fellow soldiers retrieved the poem after McCrae, initially unsatisfied with his work, discarded it. "In Flanders Fields" was first published on December 8 of that year in the London-based magazine Punch.

It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war. As a result of its immediate popularity, parts of the poem were used in propaganda efforts and appeals to recruit soldiers and raise money selling war bonds. Its references to the red poppies that grew over the graves of fallen soldiers resulted in the remembrance poppy becoming one of the world's most recognized memorial symbols for soldiers who have died in conflict. The poem and poppy are prominent Remembrance Day symbols throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, particularly in Canada, where "In Flanders Fields" is one of the nation's best known literary works.

Read more about In Flanders Fields:  Background, Poem, Publication, Popularity, Legacy

Famous quotes containing the words flanders fields, flanders and/or fields:

    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.
    John McCrae (1872–1918)

    In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
    John McCrae (1872–1918)

    To the Ocean now I fly,
    And those happy climes that ly
    Where day never shuts his eye,
    Up in the broad fields of the sky:
    John Milton (1608–1674)