tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4970554022397463322.post8459566045973678684..comments2024-03-26T03:11:42.678-04:00Comments on Behind Their Lines: Breaking Faith -- In Flanders FieldsConnie R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00887098543181126157noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4970554022397463322.post-92104838248837189202022-05-03T05:47:19.287-04:002022-05-03T05:47:19.287-04:00Dear friends all,
I found this wonderful renderi...Dear friends all, <br /><br />I found this wonderful rendering of our In Flanders Fields poem by the wonderful poet and songsmith. <br /><br />I own it in several versions, on cd, in books, in song, on dvd, you name it.<br /><br />Please listen, do not 'enjoy' the message and the words merely on account of it being recited by Cohen, but let the content seep into your minds and hearts.<br />To 'merely listen for Leonard Cohen' is tempting, but hardly does credit to the doctor-cum-poet-cum-soldier that McCrae was, and who had the first half of his text lying around somewhere, until he witnessed the tragic death of a friend of his, one Lt. Alexis Helmer. <br /><br />Try and find out what McCrae intended for his message to mean to his readership, whether then or today. And try to understand why in fact he does want the war to go on, not to stop it. <br />(This you can read in the last 4 lines: Take up the quarrel with the foe...) <br />His call on his fellow-Canadian and British soldiers to continue fighting rather than give it all up and strive for a cease-fire or an Armistice of kinds was just that: his deep feeling that the death of a close pal could but gain some kind of sense, if at all, by resolute fighting on till the last drop of blood and thus effectuate victory. <br />The fact that his friend Helmer fell tragically during the war would thus be obliterated and be 'brought to a next and higher level', viz. the ultimate victory of those who knew or thought they had justice on their side. Recent publications, however, point out that the British imperial etc, and indeed, their educational and sporting systems bore the brunt of the war no less than the Germans. They did so as much as the French, who wanted to assert the claim of being and remaining an international power. <br /><br />However, the best way, looking back on that and, indeed, on any War, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, the Middle East and, indeed, Ukraine, to think about the sense / nonsense balance of war is summed up in Cpl. Young's inscription: SACRIFICED TO THE FALLACY (that is, the misconception, the *blatant* lie) THAT WAR COULD END WAR. In other words: the concept of war and the righteousness ascribed to it is a false assumption. <br />Check this out for yourself, dear reader, and you will find out that no one, neither the defeated army or country or block of countries, nor even the winner, who claims the victory, have ever left the battlefield or entered into history, without dead soldiers or loss of reputation or deep frustration or the sense that their violence was (un-justified. This was and is and forever will be the tragedy of any, of every war... <br /><br />Then watch the clip once more, if but for the sheer sound of Leonard's dark and poetic, but mesmerizing voice. <br /><br />Remember what war is like, and what it does, to all of us, in history and in our own story. <br />I often say that war is like a Lego construction that is called hystory: it is history and hysteria, all in one. <br /><br />And never forget what the cultural historian and philosopher Jakob Burckhardt once wrote, that THE ESSENCE OF TYRANNY IS THE DENIAL OF COMPLEXITY. Food for thought, if you ask me.<br /><br /><br /><br />Never forget. <br /><br />With all best compliments, <br /><br />Chris <br /><br />Kijk 'Leonard Cohen recites “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae | Legion Magazine' op YouTube<br />https://youtu.be/cKoJvHcMLfcc.spriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03362112445796023444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4970554022397463322.post-18143669327877095842017-01-30T10:35:47.566-05:002017-01-30T10:35:47.566-05:00John McCrae's poem has remained as immortal he...John McCrae's poem has remained as immortal here in Flanders as it is in Canada. His insistence on 'accepting the torch' and the duty of fighting on cannot be played down simply as an expression of militarism as McC wrote these lines in the immediate aftermath of the death of his close friend and fellow-soldier Lt. Alexis Helmer. <br /><br />The title and initial line of the poem inspired the name of the well-known WWI museum, the 'In Flanders Fields Museum' here, in Ypres (Ieper). <br />At Essex Farm military cemetery (n. of Ypres and along the Ypres-Yser canal) McC's military aid post has been preserved and can be visited. <br />Best to you, from Flanders Fields.<br /> c.spriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03362112445796023444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4970554022397463322.post-34293474110177460442017-01-22T18:55:37.676-05:002017-01-22T18:55:37.676-05:00It's a special poem, isn't it? Thank you f...It's a special poem, isn't it? Thank you for reading and sharing a comment on Canada's sacrifice in the war. Connie R.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00887098543181126157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4970554022397463322.post-32770144775002957552017-01-22T17:30:12.869-05:002017-01-22T17:30:12.869-05:00There is virtually no Canadian that does not know ...There is virtually no Canadian that does not know about Lt. Col. McRae and his poem. His poem is a strong symbol for Canadians and part of our national heritage. Thank you for sharing this poem.Eric Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08959208873715572891noreply@blogger.com