Lest We Forget

"In Flanders Fields" is a war poem written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.  He was inspired to write it after presiding over the funeral of friend and fellow soldier who died in the Second Battle of Ypres.  It is one of the most popular and most quoted poems from the war.

In Flander's Fields

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.