"In Flanders Fields" by Canadian 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 we break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.



Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian Poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the battle of Ypers. He is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem In Flanders Fields. The heroic doctor died of pneumonia and meningitis while he was still wroking in a field hospital.