November 9, 2025
A moving war poem will be read across Canada at Remembrance Day ceremonies this week on November 11. The author, a Canadian military doctor, threw it out after writing it in May of 1915.
However, a fellow officer retrieved it and sent to British newspapers. The beauty of the language and heartfelt message captured hearts across England. It is the reason we in Canada wear poppies at this time of year.
In 1918, Colonel John McCrae was seriously wounded and died three nights later in a French hospital. He was buried in the cemetery of Wimereux, France.
In Flanders Fields
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’s 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.
