Re: Why I Don't Wear The Poppy

In Flanders Fields
John McCrea (1915)

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.

Project Gutenburg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/353
Vox-Libris: http://librivox.org/in-flanders-fields-by-john-mccrae/

Vimy Memorial:
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/vimy
Recruiting Posters: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/posters/index.htm

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• vimy
• poppies
• war
• wwI
• afghanistan
• mccrea
• flanders
• remembrance
• canada
• canadian

[SpokenVerse]

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?

[watchdog1975]

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.

[SmilingSkeptic]

What a twisted view of a beautiful poem.

[SassoonOwen]

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That's a word and a concept that can never be outdated.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.

[kingsize566]

Some good points here, and great discussion. Good to see some of this on you-tube.

[PEACequaLsanityWORLD]

to resolve any quarrel, all one really needs is LOVE and understanding.

peace. thank you for your posts; very interesting channel.

[BibleForDummies]

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]

"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]

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".