As a Canadian, when I read "In Flanders Fields" I don't feel hatred for the Germans or for anyone else...I am simply remembering those who fell in the War (both world wars, actually) who died for an idea: that idea was freedom.
That's a word and a concept that can never be outdated.
That is why I wear a poppy...not to glorify war, but to remember those (like McCrae) who fought and died for that freedom.
Buying a poppy isn't a political act. The purchase supports the families of soldiers killed or disabled in war.
McCrae saw his friend Alexis killed and wrote the poem the next day. The words "quarrel" and "faith" do not have the meaning you assign to them. It's not political: it's about young men killed in battle who, if they had voices, would ask for some purpose, that they should not have died in vain.
Isn't that the only consolation for those whose loved ones are killed in battle?
It's plain and simple. We wear the poppy as an act of rememberance for those who fought and died. If you don't wear a poppy thats your personal decision.
I see it as a poem for life & peace. The "quarrel" is not a referance to kaiser - this could hardly be described as a "quarrel". The clue to the "quarrel" is in the lines " The larks...bravely singing...fly...scarce heard amid the guns below".
"We lived...We loved and were loved" this is not the talk of war and hatred...nor a battle cry. No it is a "quarrel" for restoration of love, life and peace as once they all knew. The "torch" is this truth and reality of dying through war and the "foe" is the anyone who perpetuates it.
The "faith" is ultimately in "love and life" and the voices from the grave, like the brave larks singing, are scarcely heard.
The 'quarell' is a mild and relatively passive form of battle...but necessary to state the dead's case. I think the "larks" are "bravely singing" because they believe in and pursue life, flying in the face so to speak, of the ugliness of war below.
I could go on but you might totally disagree with all this - so I'll stop here.
As an slight aside Paul Fussell's book The Great War and Modern Memory is a great analysis of some of the popular artifacts of WWI — such as In Flanders Fields — and the stark contrast between the reality they portray and the actual realities of the war. His comment on the last stanza: "words like vicious and stupid would not seem to go too far."
What a twisted view of a beautiful poem.
SmilingSkeptic 1 year ago
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I don't wear a poppy either. Those who died are fools cause they died for nothing. Nothing is worth dying for.....Nothing
kellystone84 1 year ago
As a Canadian, when I read "In Flanders Fields" I don't feel hatred for the Germans or for anyone else...I am simply remembering those who fell in the War (both world wars, actually) who died for an idea: that idea was freedom.
That's a word and a concept that can never be outdated.
That is why I wear a poppy...not to glorify war, but to remember those (like McCrae) who fought and died for that freedom.
SassoonOwen 2 years ago
Buying a poppy isn't a political act. The purchase supports the families of soldiers killed or disabled in war.
McCrae saw his friend Alexis killed and wrote the poem the next day. The words "quarrel" and "faith" do not have the meaning you assign to them. It's not political: it's about young men killed in battle who, if they had voices, would ask for some purpose, that they should not have died in vain.
Isn't that the only consolation for those whose loved ones are killed in battle?
SpokenVerse 3 years ago 4
Some good points here, and great discussion. Good to see some of this on you-tube.
kingsize566 4 years ago
It's plain and simple. We wear the poppy as an act of rememberance for those who fought and died. If you don't wear a poppy thats your personal decision.
watchdog1975 4 years ago 2
to resolve any quarrel, all one really needs is LOVE and understanding.
peace. thank you for your posts; very interesting channel.
PEACequaLsanityWORLD 4 years ago
I see it as a poem for life & peace. The "quarrel" is not a referance to kaiser - this could hardly be described as a "quarrel". The clue to the "quarrel" is in the lines " The larks...bravely singing...fly...scarce heard amid the guns below".
BibleForDummies 4 years ago
"We lived...We loved and were loved" this is not the talk of war and hatred...nor a battle cry. No it is a "quarrel" for restoration of love, life and peace as once they all knew. The "torch" is this truth and reality of dying through war and the "foe" is the anyone who perpetuates it.
The "faith" is ultimately in "love and life" and the voices from the grave, like the brave larks singing, are scarcely heard.
BibleForDummies 4 years ago
The 'quarell' is a mild and relatively passive form of battle...but necessary to state the dead's case. I think the "larks" are "bravely singing" because they believe in and pursue life, flying in the face so to speak, of the ugliness of war below.
I could go on but you might totally disagree with all this - so I'll stop here.
BibleForDummies 4 years ago
I actually went to elementary school with a relative of John McCrae's. great-granddaughter of his brother or some such.
Good thoughts, bro.
rowsdowersavesus 4 years ago
As an slight aside Paul Fussell's book The Great War and Modern Memory is a great analysis of some of the popular artifacts of WWI — such as In Flanders Fields — and the stark contrast between the reality they portray and the actual realities of the war. His comment on the last stanza: "words like vicious and stupid would not seem to go too far."
naphra2 4 years ago