One of the most familiar and beloved poems of the Great War was written by Canadian John McCrae, surgeon and
major in the 1st Brigade Canadian Field Artillery, "In Flanders Fields" was written on May
3rd, 1915 and is credited with inspiring the use of the poppy as a symbol to commemorate the dead of the war.
What
does it mean to "keep faith" with soldiers at war or with those who
die in unpopular wars? The
poem's question is as relevant today as it was one-hundred years ago. You can listen to Canadian songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen read the poem here.
In
Flanders Fields
by 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.
The poem speaks with the voice of ghostly warriors who solemnly proclaim,
"We are the Dead." Their stark
wooden crosses mark recently dug graves where the churned earth and charnel
richness of the soil have given birth to a carpet of flowers as scarlet as
blood. But
there is no peace to be found at these gravesides: birds sing in an effort to be heard
over the din of a war that carries on and on and on. The dead themselves seem restless, so much so
that one wonders if they truly are
dead, for their hands and arms are not stiff and immobile, but merely
"failing" as they "throw/The torch." Some critics have suggested that this symbol alludes to the Statue of Liberty, and its use may have been an attempt to provoke America to abandon its neutrality or to shame America into entering the war on the side of the Allies.
These
soldiers who have died in battle do not protest the war, nor do they grieve for
what is lost. Instead, the Dead of McCrae's
poem urge the living to a fiercer fight, exhorting them to "Take up our
quarrel with the foe." In death, these
spectral warriors lead a renewed attack, and they threaten to haunt any who
"break faith" or retreat from battle.
Paul
Fussell, in The Great War and Modern
Memory, argues that the last six lines of the poem "are a propaganda
argument – words like vicious and stupid would not seem to go too far –
against a negotiated peace" (250). And
yet many others love the poem, and it continues to be used in many Remembrance ceremonies, particularly in Canada. On Veterans Day in 2011, the poem appeared on
America's National Public Radio website as part of an appeal that we "pay tribute to our
veterans, to the fallen, and to their families." The article asked readers to pause, to read the poem, and to remember the military, "to honor their contributions to our Nation," and "strive with
renewed determination to keep the promises we have made to all who have
answered our country's call."
The
poppy-as-symbol has not escaped controversy either. In the UK, in the weeks before Remembrance
Sunday, poppies are distributed and donations are collected by the Royal British Legion to support
current military, veterans, and their families.
In 2014, the Poppy Appeal successfully met its goal of raising 40 million pounds. However, for many in both Northern Ireland
and the Republic of Ireland, the wearing of the poppy implies support for the
British military and acceptance of its actions during The Troubles. As has previously been discussed on this blog
(in the post on Thomas Kettle's poem "To My Daughter
Betty"),
remembering the sacrifice of Irish soldiers in World War I has always been complicated. In 2014, Irish footballer James McClean made headline news with his
decision to not wear a poppy on his jersey during a Remembrance weekend
soccer match. In
2009, British television newsperson Jon Snow protested what he called
"a rather unpleasant breed of poppy fascism out there – 'he damned well
must wear a poppy!' Well I do, in my private life, but I am not going to wear
it or any other symbol on air."
One-hundred
years later, waves of poppies still bloom over the battlefields of the First
World War, and we are no nearer to understanding how to keep faith with
soldiers who fight and die in controversial wars.
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.
ReplyDeleteJohn 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.
DeleteThe 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).
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.
Best to you, from Flanders Fields.
It's a special poem, isn't it? Thank you for reading and sharing a comment on Canada's sacrifice in the war.
ReplyDeleteDear friends all,
ReplyDeleteI found this wonderful rendering of our In Flanders Fields poem by the wonderful poet and songsmith.
I own it in several versions, on cd, in books, in song, on dvd, you name it.
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.
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.
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.
(This you can read in the last 4 lines: Take up the quarrel with the foe...)
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.
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.
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.
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...
Then watch the clip once more, if but for the sheer sound of Leonard's dark and poetic, but mesmerizing voice.
Remember what war is like, and what it does, to all of us, in history and in our own story.
I often say that war is like a Lego construction that is called hystory: it is history and hysteria, all in one.
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.
Never forget.
With all best compliments,
Chris
Kijk 'Leonard Cohen recites “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae | Legion Magazine' op YouTube
https://youtu.be/cKoJvHcMLfc